April 24, 2023
Growing up, I remember being told I was Jewish and celebrated the holidays with my family but nothing else. I didn’t go to Hebrew school, nor did I have a Bar Mitzvah like my brother did. I knew I was Jewish, but I would always make the joke that I was “Jew-ish” and didn’t know much more about Judaism or...
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April 20, 2023
My journey with this organization started way before my Birthright Israel trip. As a Persian Jew growing up in Beverly Hills, I was raised Jewish and surrounded by a Jewish community. For all my life, my parents had instilled a Jewish value system in me, but I didn't really know what my true Jewish identity meant — I had never...
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April 16, 2023
Every Birthright Israel experience incorporates a meaningful and well-contextualized encounter with the Shoah (Holocaust, from the Hebrew word for “catastrophe”), introducing its place in Jewish life and Israel and its relation to the Jewish narrative in today’s world. Many groups learn about the Holocaust by visiting Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center. While at Yad Vashem or another approved...
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March 30, 2023
My name is Sophie Milstein, and I will share a tale of rediscovery with you. Here is how this will look: I will tell you my common experience being a Midwest American Jew. I will describe to you a likely familiar experience of lost connection. But stay with me; after all, this is a redemption story. I grew up in...
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March 9, 2023
The easiest way to get someone to disappear is to make them feel ashamed of who they are. And the best way to combat hate is actually with pride. I understand both things as a Jew and a person of color. I grew up in the projects of Brooklyn, NY, to a dark-skinned Jamaican father and an Ashkenazi mother —...
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February 10, 2023
Words cannot describe how dear Birthright Israel is to my heart. To understand why I have to give you context about me and my childhood. I grew up in Buckhead, an Atlanta neighborhood, and as close I was to the Jewish community, I had zero Judaism in my upbringing. I'm a sixth-generation Russian Orthodox Jew, but within the last two...
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February 8, 2023
Why did you swab for Gift of Life on your Birthright Israel trip? Billy Richman: "I never questioned it. There are not many Jews in the world, and it can be very hard for a Jewish person to find another with matching DNA. Anything I can do to help others, Jewish or not, is a no-brainer. I was just telling...
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February 1, 2023
Brett Cooper is a 2009 Birthright Israel alum and Birthright Israel Foundation donor. He learned from his grandfather, Milton Cooper, that philanthropy is a must, as is taking care of the Jewish people. As parents, Brett and his wife Michelle hope that by paying it forward and helping other young Jews claim their birthright, they are making the world a...
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February 1, 2023
In 2004, Noa Tadmor was an IDF solider serving in Gaza when she was asked to join a Birthright Israel group as part of the Mifgash. Like many soldiers who are invited to join a trip, Noa was excited to have a few days off from her base and meet young Jews from the US. Noa felt a connection to...
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January 30, 2023
Growing up, my family practiced Reform Judaism. I went to Sunday school and Hebrew school, attended high holiday services and observed other Jewish traditions. I have fond memories of dropping ping pong balls from the top of the staircase with my cousins. At the same time, we acted out the ten plagues during the Passover seder, going apple picking to...
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