On the Taglit Birthright website they call this experience an "educational journey". "One of the primary objectives of our trips is to motivate participants to explore their Jewish identity through a peer educational experience of historic and contemporary Israel".
Birthright is not about brainwashing people to think or act a certain way but to educate them on their religion and state. This is not a mandatory trip in any way, it is a privilege to have this opportunity and it is up to the individual whether or not they would like to participate. In fact it is not always easy to get on one of these trips, most people are rejected the first time they apply because spots are limited and you have to meet the eligibility requirements. There are a lot of factors taken into consideration that decide if you are eligible such as age, previous Israel experience, whether or not they are involved in a Jewish studies program and of course Jewish heritage. Since religion in our present time can be a complicated thing to define for an individual, Birthright lays out a guideline on how they define having a strong enough Jewish heritage to be eligible for the trip: you must identify as Jewish without practicing another religion, have at least one Jewish birth parent or have completed Jewish conversion and be recognized as Jewish by one of the denominations of Judaism.
The program was first founded to address the growing divide between Diaspora Jewish youth and the land and people of Israel. Judaism is unlike most other religions in the way that is not only a faith but also a culture. If people of a culture are spread all across the world how can you keep that culture as one? To preserve our culture it is necessary to bring our people together to learn, grow and form bonds that keep our culture and loyalty so strong.
"Taglit-Birthright Israel aims to change the course of Jewish history and ensure the continuity of the Jewish people by strengthening Jewish identity, Jewish communities, and solidarity with Israel via an educational trip to Israel for Jewish young adults around the world". So does this disturb the natural evolution that Borris speaks of? Perhaps. Did the Holocaust disturb the natural evolution of the Jewish people? Absolutely.
Borris compared the natural progression of people losing their Jewish identity to the fact that more and more Muslims are moving into France and the number one religion is changing from Catholic to Islam. So what he is trying to say is that if Birthright did not exist, the number one religion in Israel would not be Judaism, or not for long at least. These are in fact two very different situations. First of all people in France are choosing not to practice religion which is driving the population of Catholics down drastically. Second of all there are more Muslims moving in who practice another religion. The difference between France and Israel is that France is not based upon a religion while Israel is. So if the number one religion in France changes that does not directly change their politics but it would in Israel. Another difference is that the people who go on this trip do not live in Israel so do not affect the population of the country unless they decide to move there (which sometimes happens but is not the main purpose of the trip). Also it is extremely difficult to continue a culture if the people are not physically together, making this trip a necessity to keep it alive.
Israel is the state of the Jewish people - the only country built off of religion. This puts Israel and its people in a very different category than most other countries. The Jewish people are also fortunate enough to have this unique opportunity to learn about their heritage and religion which is fantastic. Can you really disagree with a people for wanting to educate their youth and pass on ancient traditions?
Comments