At first it's easy to see that the Birthright experience would be a formiddable topic for debate in Jewish Identity. The explanation for it is quite easy: if you haven't been on an organized trip to Israel, you are elligible to go for free in certain programs of Birthright. The goal that Birthright hopes to get from it's participants is a taste and usual once in a lifetime experience in Israel for ten days, and to bring people together within its own trip while in Israel, creating long lasting friendships.
Don't get me wrong, Birthright is a very structured and great program for people who haven't been to Israel before, but isn't the idea here for people going to Israel a complete exploration and not a vacation? I feel that Birthright tries it's best to get that idea out, but it falls short because of the such short amount of time spent there, so people on the program treat the trip as a vacation rather than an exploration of their Jewish heritage and identity.
The summer youth programs that Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett mentions are a lot longer and more structured than Birthright due to each one's length of six weeks. Those on the program get a more prolonged experience of Israel, through multiple experiences in many more sites in Israel. The programs don't just encourage to explore Israel, but to find oneself as well. Also, a lot of these programs help promote Alyiah as an option from Tourism, as these programs are often considered "the next step" to living in Israel. I have often made that viewpoint an important aspect in life in Israel to me, as I have been on more and more prolonged programs during my time in Israel. In terms of Judaism, I do believe the connection can still be made in Israel, as long as the explorations in Israel and Jewish self identity within Israel are continuously expored.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment