{"id":238829,"date":"2026-08-06T17:56:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T17:56:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/238829\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T17:56:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T17:56:17","slug":"birthright-israel-celebrates-25-years-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/238829\/","title":{"rendered":"Birthright Israel Celebrates 25 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Jewish young adults explore the streets of Tel Aviv through the Taglit Birthright Israel Urban Experience. (Courtesy of Birthright Israel Foundation)<\/p>\n

JE Staff<\/p>\n

At 25 years old, Birthright Israel is nearing the upper limit of the age range for those eligible for a free trip to Israel. But \u201cfree\u201d trips aren\u2019t actually free.<\/p>\n

The nonprofit Birthright Israel Foundation seeks to raise funds to send every eligible Jewish young adult, ages 18 to 26, on Birthright Israel. The goal? \u201cSecuring the Jewish future for our children and grandchildren.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since 2004, the foundation has helped raise funds to send more than 900,000 Jewish young adults on this 10-day trip. Participants travel across Israel, visiting sites including Jerusalem, the Negev Desert and Tel Aviv.<\/p>\n

Today, Birthright Israel is the world\u2019s largest educational tourism organization, according to the website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>President and CEO Elias Saratovsky. (Courtesy of Birthright Israel Foundation)<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing that replaces a personal connection and a personal relationship,\u201d said Elias Saratovsky, the foundation\u2019s president and CEO. \u201cWhen you go to Israel and you spend time there, and you have a really immersive experience that\u2019s grounded in education with your peers, you have an opportunity to really explore and ask questions and make your own opinions and not rely on what you read or what you see on social media, I think you become really inspired.\u201d<\/p>\n

Birthright Israel covers participants\u2019 flights, accommodations, activities, transportation, tours and two meals per day. Participants experience the Western Wall, the Dead Sea, Masada, Jaffa, the Old City shuk, Israeli nightlife and Yad Vashem \u2013 The World Holocaust Remembrance Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that Jewish history can be very cruel, and we\u2019ve had 100 generations of Jews that came before us that never had the opportunity of going to Israel \u2014 they can only dream of having gone to Israel,\u201d Saratovsky said. \u201cBirthright has given 950,000 Jews the opportunity to claim their Jewish identity in a positive way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Data show that Jewish young adults who have gone on Birthright form a \u201cmuch stronger\u201d Jewish identity and connection to Israel and fellow Jews.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey come back, they lead on their campus[es] and in their communities, and they go on to build strong Jewish families,\u201d Saratovsky said.<\/p>\n

A staggering 93% of participants surveyed indicated that they\u2019re more likely to feel \u201cvery connected to Israel\u201d than nonparticipants. More than eight in 10 alumni respondents said they are raising their kids Jewish.<\/p>\n

Some participants return from Birthright inspired by not just Israel, but Israelis they meet during the trip, Saratovsky said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the important elements of every single Birthright trip is that it also includes Israeli participants,\u201d he added. \u201cThey\u2019re equal participants. It\u2019s something that Birthright started 25 years ago, and now it\u2019s a standard practice on every Birthright trip.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Taglit Birthright Israel participants pause for a group picture after hiking Masada. (Courtesy of Birthright Israel Foundation)<\/p>\n

Other organizations have since adapted this model too. \u201cWe want people not only to fall in love with Israel, but to fall in love with Israelis and know Israelis,\u201d Saratovsky said. \u201cThat really, at the start of the process, was why Birthright was founded: so Diaspora Jews can get to know Israeli Jews.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israelis are ranked the eighth happiest country in the world, according to the United Nations-sponsored World Happiness Report.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s a sense of resiliency that Israelis have,\u201d Saratovsky said. \u201cWhen young [Jewish] Americans go to Israel, it\u2019s really inspiring to them, and they come back more connected, ready to lead and ready to share this experience with their friends. And then, it has a ripple effect on their families, on their communities, and ultimately on the families that they build that are often more connected to Israel and more connected to Jewish life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Birthright trips are not only considered life-changing for the Diaspora Jewish participants, but also Israeli Jews.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s appreciation that you have Diaspora Jews coming to Israel to see it for themselves, but it\u2019s also a sense of real brotherhood that we\u2019re all in this together,\u201d Saratovsky said. \u201cThe Israelis are also strengthened by the sense of peoplehood \u2014 that the Jewish people are one people, regardless [of] whether we live in Israel, the United States, England, South America, we\u2019re in this together.\u201d<\/p>\n

He described Birthright Israel as \u201cthe most significant project in ensuring that Diaspora Jews and Israeli Jews get to know one another.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saratovsky himself has been on a Birthright Israel trip \u2014 the first one ever \u2014 as a college sophomore in 1999.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a very exciting moment for a number of reasons,\u201d Saratovsky recalled. \u201cFirst of all, it was my first trip to Israel. Second of all, it was also the very first Birthright trip, so there was definitely a sense of history and a sense of excitement because we were doing something for the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that 5,000 participants went on a Birthright Israel trip in those first few weeks of December 1999. \u201cI think we all understood that this was something really big,\u201d Saratovsky said. \u201cI don\u2019t think any of us really understood how big it would actually become over the next 25 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with his peers, Saratovsky traveled the country and spent time with Israeli locals.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was definitely a different moment in history than we\u2019re living through right now \u2014 it was a very hopeful time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The highlight of his trip was all 5,000 Birthright participants gathering for a \u201cmega-event\u201d in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just felt a wave of responsibility where I realized that this gift that I was given came with a great sense of obligation as well,\u201d Saratovsky said. \u201cI felt a sense of positivity, but also a great sense of responsibility to give back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before the trip, Saratovsky, a Brooklyn native, described himself as \u201clargely disconnected\u201d from the Jewish community: \u201cI knew very little about Israel and did not have a strong Jewish identity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Birthright changed that for him. \u201cI fell in love with Israel and I developed a much stronger sense of connection to the Jewish homeland, to my fellow Jewish people, to Israelis, and I wanted to help write the next chapter of Jewish history,\u201d Saratovsky said.<\/p>\n

He immersed himself in pro-Israel activism and spent more than two decades post-graduation working to strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I heard about this opportunity to lead the Birthright Israel Foundation in 2023, I jumped all in,\u201d he said. \u201cI wanted to ensure that another generation of young Jews fell in love with Israel and developed a relationship with the Jewish homeland.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Jewish young adults between ages 18 and 26 have the opportunity to explore Israel on a 10-day trip thanks to Birthright Israel Foundation\u2019s 40,000 donors. (Courtesy of Birthright Israel Foundation)<\/p>\n

But it hasn\u2019t always been smooth sailing for Saratovsky, who assumed his leadership role the year that Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, resulting in a years-long conflict. In February, the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran, igniting an ongoing war in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn important decision that we made following Oct. 7 is that we needed to ensure that our trips continue, and we do it in a very safe way,\u201d Saratovsky said. \u201cSafety and security is our top priority. The moment that we realized that we can bring participants back to Israel, we did so.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since Oct. 7, 2023, Birthright Israel Foundation has sponsored nearly 60,000 Birthright Israel trips.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a moment where most people are not traveling to Israel, it has been a lifeline for the Israeli tourist economy,\u201d Saratovsky said. \u201cIt has also been a lifeline for our participants to go to Israel and to see it for themselves in a moment where there\u2019s so much disinformation [and] misinformation about Israel \u2026 The most important thing we did is we restarted our trips and continued despite the current situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Birthright Israel Foundation has sponsored nearly 60,000 Birthright trips since Oct. 7, 2023. (Courtesy of Birthright Israel Foundation)<\/p>\n

The current day is also not the first time Birthright Israel has taken groups to Israel amid a war \u2014 the past 25 years have encompassed the Second Intifada, the Second Lebanon War and the 2014 Gaza war. \u201cWe have a lot of real-time experience in doing this,\u201d Saratovsky explained.<\/p>\n

Birthright Israel changes the trip\u2019s itineraries if security authorities on the ground feel that a particular location is unsafe. The foundation\u2019s team in Israel is \u201cconstantly\u201d in touch with Israeli security authorities and the IDF\u2019s Home Front Command for safety measures.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe places where our participants are going are safe, and there are a lot of other things that we do to ensure that our participants stay safe,\u201d Saratovsky said.<\/p>\n

Nearly all Birthright participants bear witness to the events of Oct. 7 by visiting the Nova site in southern Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut they also hear stories of resilience, and they hear from survivors and they meet with IDF soldiers, many of whom \u2026 can understand what actually has happened in the last 2 1\/2 years,\u201d Saratovsky said. \u201cAt the same time, the trip continues to be a lot of fun because that\u2019s an important element of this trip as well: we don\u2019t want to make it simply about the wars that have taken place since Oct. 7.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to make sure that people continue to understand the miracle of Israel and how Israel was built over the last 78 years, and at the end of the day, their responsibility is to ensure that we continue to thrive as a Jewish people, both in our homeland in Israel and around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article was sponsored by and produced in partnership with Birthright Israel Foundation<\/a>. Founded in 2004, Birthright Israel Foundation is dedicated to raising funds in the United States to support Birthright Israel, an educational trip that ensures every eligible young Jewish adult around the world, especially the less connected, is given the opportunity to visit Israel. Birthright Israel Foundation aims to fund this educational trip for thousands of young Jewish adults each year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jewish young adults explore the streets of Tel Aviv through the Taglit Birthright Israel Urban Experience. (Courtesy of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":238830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[33],"tags":[61460,66804,9921,66805,37,66806,4498,4499,66807,40751,16004,1520,6393],"class_list":["post-238829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-birthright-israel","tag-birthright-israel-foundation","tag-diaspora-jews","tag-elias-saratovsky","tag-israel","tag-israeli-jews","tag-jewish-community","tag-jewish-identity","tag-jewish-nonprofit","tag-jewish-state","tag-sponsored-content","tag-tourism","tag-zionism"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/117049857402729091","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}