Six thousand, seven hundred and forty four miles. That’s the distance between Israel and the East Coast of America. Together, the two countries are home to 90% of Jews around the globe. But while in Israel Jewish identity is obvious to almost everyone, in America, things are a bit different. As the years progress, some young Jewish Americans feel more and more detached from their Jewish identity. Some are only half Jewish, or quarter Jewish. Some don’t even know about their Jewish roots. The fear is that within a few generations, not much will be left of the American Jewish non-religious community.
To deal with this possibility, Birthright was established in 1999 to bring young Jews from all around the world to Israel to understand their roots, get to know the country and hopefully, fall in love with it. To date, more than 750,000 people have participated in a Birthright trip. Seventy-five percent of them are American and Canadian.
But now, with the coronavirus, the future of the operation is being put to the test. So what does the future hold for Birthright? And did the project achieve any actual results?
To answer these questions, we have Gidi Mark on the show today. Gidi is the CEO of Taglit-Birthright and has been since 2008. He began his career as a diplomat, and served Israel in many embassies, including Istanbul, Bonn and New York. We’re happy to be joined by Gidi Mark to discuss Birthright, American Jewry and much more.
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Correction: A previous headline incorrectly stated that Gidi Mark brings 50,000 Americans to Israel every year.
