October 16, 2025
October 16, 2025
August 21, 2025
August 21, 2025
July 25, 2025
My name is Annie Michaels, I’m 32, and I live in Chicago. I was part of a Birthright Israel Volunteer trip in September 2024. This trip was created for individuals with disabilities from the U.S. and Canada who had attended Camp Ramah in the past. The purpose of the trip was to volunteer during a time of war and to...
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July 23, 2025
I was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, and came to the U.S. when I was a year and a half old. Fresh off the boat except it was a flight with a layover in Italy and I had no say in the matter. Russian was my first language. My second language was also Russian. English eventually showed up, uninvited but necessary....
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July 21, 2025
I grew up in Richmond, Virginia. It’s not the smallest Jewish community, but it’s not L.A. either — where I live now. Growing up, I was nearly always the only Jewish kid in my class. One of maybe three or four in my entire grade. We observed the High Holy Days, did some Shabbat dinners, and I had a bar...
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July 8, 2025
I live in Manhattan, where I’m part of the leadership team at a software infrastructure and technology company. My family is originally from Kyiv, Ukraine. They fled after Chernobyl, first to Israel, and then finally to Toronto, Canada, where I was born and raised. I’ve walked a path that’s taken me deeper and deeper into Jewish life, something that truly...
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July 1, 2025
In honor of Birthright Israel’s 25th anniversary, we’re proud to spotlight 25 outstanding alumni and share their inspiring stories with you. I’m from Havana, Cuba, and I’ve been part of the Jewish community since I was a child. My family is deeply involved: my mom is the vice president of the Beth Shalom Synagogue, the most important congregation in Cuba....
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June 11, 2025
In honor of Birthright Israel’s 25th anniversary, we’re proud to spotlight 25 outstanding alumni and share their inspiring stories with you. I was raised in Los Angeles in a proud, close-knit Iranian Jewish family. My father left Iran during the Revolution. My mother grew up in Israel and moved to the U.S. when she was seventeen. Most of my extended...
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