Birthright’s Challenge Is Our Challenge

by Edward Spilka
Special To The Jewish Week

Oranim, the largest trip provider for Birthright Israel, accounting for about 25 percent of the participants, left the fold over the summer. The head of Oranim, Shlomo Lifshitz, known as “Momo,” has announced plans to launch his own version of the free 10-day group trip to Israel. Even if one takes his statement at face value that “I’m not competing with anyone,” he is certainly competing for increasingly limited funds.
That inconvenient fact isn’t Momo’s fault, and competition can be a good thing. But he has issued a clear challenge to those with the resources to fund these programs. Federations and philanthropists need to step back and refocus on what they want to accomplish by sending young adults to Israel and then consider the best way to achieve those goals.

Birthright Israel has been heralded as one of our community’s greatest initiatives. The program was created to encourage a relationship with Israel, develop solidarity among world Jewry and enhance Jewish identity. There is no doubt that it has influenced many of the more than 200,000 participants who have taken advantage of the opportunity, as studies over the years have indicated.

But a closer look at the Birthright Web site descriptions submitted by the 16 trip providers — those who actually direct the trips around Israel — suggests an uneven approach toward these goals. A connection to Israel is universally stated, but for many providers that is the sole goal. Some stress deeper Jewish spiritual connectedness through increased religious observance. Others highlight leadership development and a greater connection to Jewish communities upon returning to the States.

Perhaps funders’ aspirations don’t go beyond creating a “lifetime of memories” for an 18-year-old. But if one’s priority is strengthening your Jewish locality, you may want to know if the trip’s leaders are encouraging their participants to make aliyah, because the two goals are mutually exclusive.

In fact, if a priority is keeping participants engaged upon their return, you may prefer to follow Michael Steinhardt, a Birthright founder who is focused on Birthright Israel Next, a separate charity dedicated to “Jewish life and nurturing the first steps of involvement in Jewish community” in North America. Other programming being discussed recognizes that many participants would spend additional time in Israel if given the choice. The Jewish Agency’s program, Masa, offers subsidies to those spending at least a semester studying or doing social service in Israel. These ideas have the added benefit of being a very cost effective way to reinforce the initial experience.

Regardless, the point is to determine your goals and to be knowledgeable about the choices that will allow you to accomplish them.

Another issue to consider is that Oranim is a private company. Momo’s recent announcement demands that we examine when it is appropriate to direct charitable dollars to “for profit” businesses. A strong argument can be made that, at times, “for profit” structures can more effectively deliver social services than traditional nonprofits. But it is not so simple with Birthright.

About one-third of Birthright’s current trip providers are “for profit” businesses and in recent years have been responsible for the overwhelming majority of participants. Beyond certain requirements, all providers have some flexibility to adjust itineraries to augment their goals. If that goal is profit, programmatic choices will reflect cost considerations. If the goal is to successfully inspire and motivate, different decisions will be made.

For example, to enrich the trip, some providers have gone beyond the required tour guides and chosen to hire additional educators. In another situation, one former organizer added, at its own expense, four more days focused on community building. Why? Because the extra programming enhanced the organization’s mission of boosting a participant’s Jewish engagement upon returning to the States.

Principles like solidarity and identity are difficult to instill and are likely to be fleeting if approached superficially. The profit objective of a privately held company conflicts in innumerable ways with a project whose intention is to instill a sense of Jewish pride. In addition, there are simply too many ways to cut corners when the participants are too unsophisticated to know the difference.

So Momo has issued a challenge to us. We must determine what our goals are and understand how to best achieve them. If need be, we should constructively raise our voices in order to effect that vision. n
Edward Spilka , a philanthropist and private investor, is a former president of the United Jewish Federation of Greater Stamford, New Canaan and Darien, Conn.

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