October 22, 2025
I grew up in Seattle and live in D.C. now. I’m a legal assistant who’s interested in world history and birdwatching. When I was younger, my family wasn’t terribly observant. We'd observe Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah, have a Seder, and light a Chanukiah, but not much more than that. When I was fifteen, my parents got divorced, and my...
Read More
October 16, 2025
I’m from Utah—a fourth-generation Shapiro born and raised in Salt Lake City. Being Jewish in Utah means standing out, but it’s made my pride that much stronger. My great-grandpa emigrated to the U.S. from the Ukraine–Lithuania area around 1900 and made it to Salt Lake City about a decade later, where he met and married my great-grandmother—a well-educated Jewish woman...
Read More
October 16, 2025
Birthright Israel Volunteer recently partnered with Hebro, a New York–based organization for gay Jews, to help bring new life to Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha, one of the Gaza envelope communities that has largely been empty since October 7th. Now, as residents return, Birthright Israel volunteers are working beside them to restore shared spaces and bring back the warmth and rhythm of...
Read MoreOctober 16, 2025
I’m a trumpet player and teacher based in New York City. I play on Broadway and on tours around the world, and I also perform as a soloist. I love commissioning new works by composers and performing music that’s about the issues I care deeply about—women’s rights, climate change, social justice. I didn’t grow up with any Jewish background or...
Read More
October 16, 2025
David Rittberg is the Senior Director of the U.S. Jewish Grantmaking team at the Schusterman Family Philanthropies, where he oversees Jewish and Israel-related giving alongside foundation leaders and the Schusterman family. After 13 years at Schusterman, he still traces the origins of his career in Jewish philanthropy back to his Birthright Israel trip. David grew up in a family deeply...
Read More
October 10, 2025
I’m from Long Island, New York. I’m in my third year at Binghamton University, majoring in economics, and I love it here. Binghamton has a strong Jewish community, which was a big reason I chose it. I wasn’t very religious when I was younger, but over time, my family became more observant. My sisters and I went to Jewish day...
Read More
October 9, 2025
I am from Baltimore, and I went to Israel with the Johns Hopkins Birthright Israel trip. I wasn’t actually a student there. I worked on their medical campus at a gym for alumni, students, and doctors. One day someone who came through the gym said, “Hey, I heard you’re Jewish. Have you heard about the Hopkins Hillel?” Later I saw...
Read More
October 9, 2025
I grew up in Buffalo, New York, in a place where being Jewish wasn’t the norm. Most of my classmates celebrated Christmas, and during Passover or Rosh Hashanah, I was often the only one missing school. My parents had enrolled me in Hebrew school to instill those Jewish values I was missing, and I spent summers at a Jewish camp...
Read More
October 9, 2025
I’m from Texas. I officially joined the Tribe when I was twenty-three. But my journey to conversion began years earlier, at a Jewish day camp in Austin where I worked as a camp counselor. I felt like myself there. Being among Jewish people who shared the same values, and getting to impart those values to the campers, felt like home....
Read More
September 3, 2025
I grew up going to Hebrew school three times a week, celebrating the High Holidays, and having Seder with my family. Being Jewish was an important part of my identity, but it was directed and led by my parents. It wasn’t like they were asking me, “Do you want to be Jewish? Do you want to go to Hebrew school?”...
Read MoreWithout your donations to Birthright Israel Foundation, this gift isn't possible. Secure the Jewish future today by investing in this transformational trip for Jewish young adults.
Donate Now