Birthright Israel Wants To Make You Haredi

Your free trip to Israel comes with twisted strings you never imagined.

The Heretic weighs in on the Birthright Israel kiruv scandal on Jewcy.com.

Comments

[a reader]

report on yesterday's satmar protests in NYC

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3771924,00.html

[Mr. Apikoros]

This I'd pay big bucks to see: Michael Steinhardt, all 300+ pounds of him, doing a "sweaty line dance" with a bunch of bearded fat guys in frock coats.

[SJ]

Orthodox Jews think that Jewish culture begins and ends with back breaking halacha. They see no need for a secular American Jewish culture, which is a mistake.

[joe]

so whats so bad about American kids getting a free trip to Eretz yisroel and kindly being encouraged to increase there jewish observance
I mean with all of the intermarraige going on I don't think we should be complaining about this

[harold]

Birthright Israel Wants To Make You Haredi

OH MY G-D!

[Snipefu]

Having worked for Mayanot, a Chabad organization (I am not Chabad), that runs birthright Israel tours and having dealt with everyone in the birthright organization up through the ranks, I can tell you from experience that you are way off the mark here Shmarya.

In my experience there is barely a semblance of actual truth in anything you've written. Sorry.

[Mr. Apikoros]

If the Catholic Church showed a commercial decrying the marriage (or relationship) between Maura McNulty and Josh Liebowitz, you'd be hearing howls from the ADL and just about every other Jewish group, comparing it to the Nuremberg Laws. And rightfully so.

Yet MASA (not the MASA which is an overpriced Japanese restaurant) is showing just such a commercial in Israel, comparing intermarried Jews to pictures of "lost" children on milk cartons.

This is about as racist as you can get, although Sophie Portnoy would undoubtedly agree with you.

[Joel]

I dont understand, why is this bad? If you feel that being haredi makes you a backward, animal sacrificing cult stooge, get some funding and start a program to send kids someplace. It doesn't have to be Israel. I fail to see why anyone should care that BRI is getting kids to be orthodox. Even if it is seruptitiosely.

[nobody]

But what of the thousands of kids who went on birthright who experienced no religious component at all? Trips through hillel, other Jewish social groups.... they encourage Jews to marry other jews, that's the extent of "kiruv" there. Some of the college-age or older groups even encourage "hooking up" by Jews on the trip (in hopes that they will become boyfriend/girlfriend or end up marrying a Jew at least).... I met a group who told me they encouraged them to hook up on the trip and eventually 'make Jewish babies.' That's haredi? I think not.

[Mr. Apikoros]

I'm not a big (Michael) Steinhardt fan.

Nonetheless, it's grossly unfair to call Birthright Next a stealth Haredi infiltration organization, similar to Jews For Jesus in its methods. Nor is it a scandal, in any way, shape or form. The money Steinhardt uses to fund JES comes from his pockets, and if he wants to piss it away, like he has with his private zoo (I call it Neverland East), that's up to him. (I've been there on several occasions, and it's impressive, although the only bear in this zoo is Steinhardt himself).

The problems I have with Birthright are threefold:

1. The driving force behind it is to prevent intermarriage. As I see nothing wrong with intermarriage, I have a problem with this. Few Irish Catholics complain when Maura McNulty marries Josh Liebowitz. This is a free country, and Jews are both accepted and welcomed just about everywhere. The "circle the wagons" approach to Judaism is so 1947. Nor is it effective, on that score. It is effective as a means of getting young people, many totally unobservant and only barely aware they're Jewish, to connect with their spiritual homeland, and perhaps to get them to rebut some of their anti-Israel fellow students and professors when they return. Let's leave it at that.

2. Birthright is too much of a propaganda tool, and its participants are treated like American tourists were treated in the former USSR; they get to see what the Israeli government wants them to see. These aren't little children; some are 26 years old, married, holders of advanced degrees, and in some cases, veterans. They don't need to be held by the hand.

3. I personally believe that Steinhardt, who preaches "common Judaism," should be more inclusive in his post-Birthright choices. But that's hardly a scandal, a shonde fur die goyim, or whatever. If there is a scandal here, it would be if the State of Israel is behind JES and its "stealth" indoctrination methods. BTW, Jews for Jesus is pretty much in your face.

[AMYISRAELCHAI]

hahahahhaa this channel is a joke. Israel will continue to thrive and watching you antisemites wriggle is pure vindication. What do fred flinstone and a gaza resident have in common? Both can look out of their windows and see rubble. and both have never showered obviously.

[Chayim]

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