Israel Birthright Trip?

Question

I wasnt really sure which organizer to sign up with, so i decided to go with Mayanot since they offer a trip for 22-26 yr olds....and ill be 24 by the time i go this summer. I was just wondering if anyone who has been on birthright knows how relgious the people that go on Mayanot are (b/c it says Orthadox affiliation on their site) since i am not too religious (never had a bar-mitzva).

I want to go to learn about the Israeli culture and my roots, but im a little worried that i wont know as much as the other people. And ive heard some stories about people questioning you when you arrive there to prove that you are jewish.

Thanks

TJ, the reason is because of the way i was raised. My dad practiced another religion and my mom wasnt too religious either. I recently have become interested in my roots and im trying to do my own research and teach myself. I really want to go to Israel after doing my own research and want to take advantage of birthright before i turn 26.

Answer 1

My younger aunt came on Birthright when she was 20-something. It was very religious; she had to wear a dress and saw only religious people. heheh When she came to visit me, and came to my office in Tel Aviv, she asked me in a whisper "Is everyone here Jewish?" because we were all secular. So you'll go to Safat and spend religious weekends with host families who will be kind enough to tell you not to touch the lights after Shabat starts. Don't worry about it! It'll be an experience! The very best thing to do is to make plans/find friends with secular people to spend some time with before you go back home. A trip to Israel without a night out in Tel Aviv would be a sorry thing! :-P Check out www.eganu.com to find hook-ups with friends/potential friends.
And hamudi (there's some Hebrew for you), don't worry...nobody tests you in the airport to see if you know enough to enter. :-) What they might ask is if you were born in Israel, or if either of your parents have citizenship, because you'd be the age for the draft and they have to help returning citizens get into the system right off the bat.

Answer 2

By the looks of their site (http://israelexpress.org/) it doesn't look very orthodox. There are all sorts of trips that Birthright provides and each time is different for each group. This one seems okay but you may want to get in touch with somebody there:
Tel:1-888-MAYANOT (1-888-629-2668)
Tel: [phone]
[e-mail]
As for security questions, they're just standard. When you come on birthright, they may ask you some very basic questions, nothing to worry about.

Good Luck!!!

Answer 3

i'm a birthright alum. The holiday will substitute your existence in lots of strategies and positioned across you back to Israel persistently as long as your adventure i sturdy. Why replaced into your cousin denied. many times listed here are som advice i'm imparting you with some advice that I choose i might of be attentive to and it would of prevented me from getting unwell on birthright - comprehend you will a rustic that has protection subjects so be waiting to verify alot of military there - be phsyically extra healthful and healthful the warmth there is warm and that they require you to do many exterior journeys - carry drugs in case you do not basically like the nutrition. people get unwell alot whilst they return and forth long distance. carry meds to your abdomen,asprin and that might actually assist you flow to the showering room. - carry hand cleansing soap/purchase hand sanitizer -do not occasion or drink too lots -stay hydrated in any respect time -be smart the place you flow in case you have any loose time. dont communicate with wierd or unusual people -do not appear like a vacationer once you flow there. they choose to objective vacationer for money and different issues. i admire Israel and desire to return quickly

Answer 4

An honest answer from one who had been caught up in Middle Eastern affairs for 6 years from the Egyptian side and shorter trips into Israel and the Occupied Territories.
Follow your gut and take a more secular tour. You will feel more comfortable, have the opportunity to Liston and consider a wider range of views that would otherwise happen, and still be free to consider the message from those purposed hosts.
Make the most of your trip by exposing yourself to the broadest number of views
You will find men of peace from both sides.

Answer 5

There are many different tours Birthright Israel has to offer. Please do your research. Pick the tour that is right for you. I would not recommend Israel Experience . They were unorganized and did not have much to offer. Choose wisely.

Answer 6

dont worry about it, youll learn a lot, tour the country, maybe have to sit through some jewish classes- but i doubt that- and meet lots of nice jews like yourself!!

Answer 7

Have you considered why you are so estranged from your people?

Why not become a bit more familiar with Judaism before you go to Israel?

Answer 8

*** What Did You Know About Israel?

1. Did you know that non-Jewish Israelis cannot buy or lease land in Israel? A Jew from any country in the world is guaranteed citizenship in Israel, while the Palestinians who have been there for centuries are oppressed and persecuted.

2. Did you know that instead of sewing an insignia on clothing to distinguish race (like the Germans did to the Jews before WW2), Palestinian license plates in Israel are color coded to distinguish Jews from non-Jews?

3. Did you know that East Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza, and the Golan Heights are all considered by the entire world community, including the United States and the United Nations, to be occupied territory and NOT part of the State of Israel?

4. Did you know that Israel allots 85% of the water resources for Jews, and the remaining 15% is divided among all Palestinians in the territories? For example in Hebron, 85% of the water is set aside for about 400 Jewish settlers, while the remaining 15% is distributed among Hebron's 120, 000 Palestinians?

5. Did you know that the United States awards Israel $5 billion in aid each year from American tax dollars?

6. Did you know that US aid to Israel ($3.0 billion annually) exceeds the aid the US grants to the entire African continent? This aid is used both to buy American weaponry and to buy arms made in Israel.

7. Did you know that Israel is awaiting an additional $4 billion worth of American military hardware, including new F-16s and Apache and Blackhawk helicopters. As Israel's main ally and supporter internationally, the United States is committed to maintaining the Jewish state's "qualitative edge" in weapons over its neighbors.

8. Did you know that the U.S. administration has notified Congress on numerous occasions that Israel has violated the rules on how US-supplied weapons are used? (In 1978, 1979 and 1982 during fighting in Lebanon, and once after Israel's bombing of an Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981.)

9. Did you know that Israel is the only country in the Middle East that refuses to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and bars international inspections from its sites?

10. Did you know that high-ranking military officers in the Israeli Defense Forces have admitted publicly that unarmed prisoners of war have been summarily executed by the Israeli forces?

11. Did you know that Israel blew up an American diplomatic facility in Egypt and attacked a US warship in international waters (the USS Liberty), killing 33 and wounding 177 American sailors and the US did nothing about it?

12. Did you know that Israel stands in defiance of 69 United Nations Security Council Resolutions?

13. Did you know that Israel is explicitly dedicated to the policy of maintaining a distinct Jewish character?

14. Did you know that Israel's current Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, was found by an Israeli court to be "personally and directly responsible" for the Sabra and Shatilla massacre in Lebanon where more than a thousand innocent Palestinian men, women, and children were axed to death or lined up and shot in cold blood?

15. Did you know that on May 20, 1990, a group of unarmed Palestinian laborers were lined up and murdered by an Israeli solider as they sat waiting for transportation back to Gaza? The terrified laborers who gathered in an area of southern Israel known as Rishon Lezion (known to Palestinians by its Arabic name Oyon Qara) handed their ID cards to the Israeli soldier. The soldiers ordered the distressed laborers to kneel down and face the ground and unexpectedly showered them with a barrage of bullets, killing seven and wounding many others. Needless to say, the soldier was not charged with any crime.

16. Did you know that until as recently as 1988, Israelis were permitted to run "Jews Only" job ads?

17. Did you know that the Israeli Foreign Ministry pays six US public relations firms to promote a "positive image" of Israel to the American public?

18. Did you know that Sharon's coalition government includes a party--Molodet--which advocates ethnic cleansing by openly calling for the forced expulsion of all Palestinians from the occupied territories?

19. Did you know that recently-declassified documents indicate that David Ben-Gurion approved of the forced expulsion of Arabs from all Palestininan territory in 1948?

20. Did you know that the former chief rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Ovadia Yossef, who is also a founder and spiritual leader of the religious Shas party (Israel's third largest political party) openly advocates a 'Final Solution' to annihilate the Palestinians? Speaking at the widely broadcast sermon marking the last Passover, he declared of the Palestinians: "The Lord shall return their deeds on their own heads, waste their seed and exterminate them, devastate them and vanish them from this world. It is forbidden to be merciful to them. You must send missiles to them and annihilate them. They are evil and damnable."

21. Did you know that Palestinian refugees make up the largest portion of the refugee population in the world?

22. Did you know that Palestinian Christians are considered the "living stones" of Christianity because they are the direct descendants of the disciples of Jesus Christ? And the Palestinian Christians stand united with their Muslim brethren in the struggle against the Israeli occupation.

23. Did you know that despite a ban on torture by Israel's High Court of Justice, torture has continued unabated by Shin Bet interrogators on Palestinian prisoners?

24. Did you know that despite every Israeli attempt to disrupt Palestinian education, Palestinians have the highest ratio of PhDs per capita in the world?

25. Did you know that the right of self-determination is guaranteed to every human being under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights [December, 1948], yet Palestinians were/are expected to negotiate for this right under the Oslo Accords?

26. Did you know that despite what is widely perpetuated and written in the history books that the Arabs attacked Israel in the 1967 war, it was Israel who attacked the Arab countries first, capturing Jerusalem and the West Bank, and called the attack a pre-emptive strike?

27. Did you know that, as an occupying power, Israel has a particular responsibility under the Geneva Conventions to protect Palestinian civilians?

28. Did you know that, despite Ariel Sharon's public call for a unilateral ceasefire; Israeli soldiers have not stopped shooting, killing or bulldozing Palestinian homes? The most recent example of this is the murder of three innocent women who were shot by an Israeli tank as they sat in their tent!

29. Did you know that the Zionists have been trying to destroy Masjid al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock for the last 50 years by digging underground tunnels beneath the sites to weaken its foundation causing it to collapse?

30) Did you know that Nelson Mandela called the Israeli government an apartheid regime, just like South Africa used to be?

31) There are 3 UN resolutions that ask for Israel to give the Palestinians back the land.


*** Know More about Israel: (Terrible photos of killed people included)

1- Video show Israeli crimes on Quanah in 1996: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/quana_01_19_03.htm

2- Israeli Crimes: ( Details and Numbers of the Nazi Jews activities)
http://www.deathmasters.com/

3- Jenin Massacres:
http://www.voicesofpalestine.org/massacres/jenin.asp

4- WANTED for conspiracy to commit mass murder, war crimes, genocide and violation of Geneva conventions:
http://www.deathmasters.com/gallery.htm

5- Israeli Attack "Terribly Wrong", US Response: Status Quo, World: Two-State, Peace Plan
by Mike Leon
http://www.counterpunch.org/leon0805.html

6- That is funny photo:
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6886/3476/1600/israeli_war_crimes_qana.0.jpg

7- Who are the real Terrorists? (By: Hal Turner)
http://www.halturnershow.com/IsraeliAtrocities.html


*** Notes:
1- Palestinians have to deal with American-made most modern weapons (apache, M16, all sophisticated missiles, and everything that USA can give). They are the most sophisticated weapons that are ever used against defenseless civilians in history. Israelis kill Palestinian brutally, they buried people ALIVE in the rubble of their homes, or shot them in the head. If you don't believe me, open this link: http://www.halturnershow.com/IsraeliAtrocities.html

2- Israel also bombs Palestinian power plants, making all Palestinians live in darkness. Palestinian government cannot build the new plants, at they have no money because Palestinians taxpayers' money is held by Israel and Israel doesn't want to return it to Palestine. So there will be no electricity in Palestine, at least for next few years.

3- Violent actions by some Muslims are strongly reported all over the world while racist and violent Christians (do not mention Israeli massacres in Palestine and Lebanon) are under reported or at best not linked to the religion of the offender. Why? No one said that Christianity is violent after Abou Gharib prison crimes in Iraq done by the USA solders, no one says that Judaism is violent after (I can not count the number of massacres done by Israelis).

4- If your fatherland is treated that way, would you fight back? Palestinians are trying to fight back with whatever they can, but they are marked terrorist because of that. I wonder why people don't mark Israel as terrorist.

5- Israelis think they are the CHOSEN people by God, but unfortunately they work for Satan. They are the servant of Satan.