Birthright Israel offers unique trip

Jewish students who have never been to Israel on an organized trip can receive an all-expenses-paid 10-day tour. \nBut what's the catch? \nThere isn't one as long as they are between the ages of 18 to 26. \nBirthright Israel is a program that covers round-trip airfare, lodging, meals and transportation for a 10-day trip to Israel. \nBirthright Israel is a unique partnership between the people of Israel through their government, local Jewish communities and federations and leading Jewish philanthropists, according to its Web site.\n"The point of it is for 18- to 26-year-olds to visit where they came from," trip alumnus and junior Adam Cohen said. \nThursday, students promoting Birthright Israel along with the Helene G. Simon Hillel Center organized a falafel dinner to educate potential travelers. \nHaving traveled to Israel last summer, sophomore Dani Zuber provided interested students with information.\n"You get to spend a shabbat in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem," Zuber said. "You also have a two-day Mifgash (an exchange with Israeli soldiers.)"\nCohen said he was deeply impressed by his experience in Israel.\n"The sentence I said the most through the trip: 'It was the coolest thing ever,'" Cohen said. "I can't pinpoint what the best experience was, but we did celebrate New Year's Eve in a Bedouin encampment in the Negev desert. You can't beat it."\nApplying for the program is simple and fast. A student can apply online at the national Hillel Web site, www.hillel.org, and fill out a questionnaire. Because the the trip has no academic affiliation, no GPA or transcript details are needed. \n"I filled it out a few days after applications opened online," Cohen said. "I answered a few questions, and there are no essays. The only qualifications needed are that you are a Jewish person 18 to 26 years of age, and have never been on an organized trip to Israel."\nCohen said the trip does not give much free time to explore Israel on your own, but there are blocks of time that are unprogrammed so that travelers may make arrangements with friends and family in Israel. \nFreshman Natalie Borg wants to participate in this year's trip to see where her family came from.\n"I think it will be a newfound experience, I think it will make me closer to my heritage," Borg said. "It will be a new way to explore who I am."\n-- Contact staff writer Cecelia Wolford at cwolford@indiana.edu.