EDUCATORS GATHER IN CHICAGO FOR BIRTHRIGHT

Fellows will lead trips during the Summer 2025 travel season, coinciding with Birthright Israel’s 25th anniversary, celebrating its impact on over 900,000 Jewish young adults whose lives have been transformed by its programs.

Jewish leaders and educators from the United States, Canada, and Israel recently gathered in the suburbs of Chicago amid a new landscape for Israel education and travel. Birthright Israel Fellows, a program offered by Birthright Israel and run in partnership with The iCenter, equips experienced and soon-to-be-first-time madrichim (overseas trip staff) and Israeli tour educators with the tools to help young Jewish adults traveling on Birthright Israel programs to develop deep and meaningful connections with their personal Jewish identity and the land and people of Israel.

“This cohort is especially important as our trip staff are navigating a post-Oct. 7 world,” said Gia Arnstein, VP Education at Birthright Israel. “They need the knowledge, the confidence, and the skills to connect with young people of different backgrounds and perspectives—and to help them build a meaningful and personal connection with Israel.”

Among the 82 participants in Cohort 13, a majority are Birthright Israel Classic 10-Day, Birthright Israel Onward, and/or Birthright Israel Volunteer alumni, which includes a good percentage of Jewish professionals who work at local campus Hillels and Chabads, federations, and synagogues across the United States and Canada. The conference explored topics like relationship building, conscious listening, ritualizing time and space, the spirit of Birthright Israel, exploring Zionism(s) then and now, and highlighted Birthright Israel’s new “greening” and sustainability goals as well as its volunteering efforts which are helping to rebuild the communities of Israel impacted by the events of Oct. 7 and the subsequent wars.

“I’m excited to help young Jewish adults experience Israel in a way that inspires them, deepens their connection to Israel and the Jewish people, and even in ways that challenges them,” said Sami Herbert, IACT Coordinator, Rutgers Hillel. “My cohort understands the opportunity and responsibility that we have been given. And now we feel empowered to encounter our trip participants with a greater sense of intentionality and purpose.”

Birthright Israel Fellows commit to staffing at least three Birthright Israel trips over the three years following the training program, with the first trips taking place within the immediate 12 months after the training seminar. The program is part of a larger framework of madrichim training programs that Taglit Birthright Israel models across the globe. Similar programs occur with local partners in Russia, Ukraine, Germany, France, Argentina, and Brazil. To ensure that all models of training are similar, Birthright Israel has adopted a “shared language” and core set of principles that is to be introduced and understood by all staff and educators.

In 2024, Birthright Israel brought nearly 20,000 participants to Israel through its various programs and is expecting to bring 30,000 people in 2025 from around the world.