Trip organizer opts out of Birthright, citing ideological constraints

A rift involving the directors of Israel's leading program for Diaspora Jews has caused one of the project's main figures to quit this month. Instead of working with Birthright Israel, travel organizer Shlomo Lifshitz will join Masa.

Lifshitz said he switched from Birthright, which brings young Jews on a first-time, free 10-day visit to the country, to Masa - which supports long-term programs for Diaspora students in Israel, after Birthright forbade him from urging participants to immigrate to Israel and shun intermarriage.

"I was told I could no longer tell participants to make aliyah or marry Jewish partners," said Lifshitz, who until recently was one of Taglit's main trips contractors as founder and president of Oranim Educational Initiatives, a for-profit company established in 1986.

"I'm leaving Taglit with tears in my eyes," says Lifshitz, who throughout the program's nine years of existence says he has welcomed at Ben Gurion airport some 50,000 visitors out of Taglit's total of approximately 220,000. "I am Taglit. Leaving is not my wish, but Taglit has lost its way."

Taglit commented it wishes to "strengthen the participants' Jewish identity and their relationship with their local communities and Israel," but declined to comment on Lifshitz's assertions. A Taglit spokesperson also said Taglit "does not interfere in the decisions made by for-profit businesses."

Lifshitz - known to participants as Momo says Taglit's "over-diplomatic" approach by Taglit's directors prompted them to tell him to stop telling participants to "make Jewish babies and raise them as Jews." A major friction point, according to Lifshitz, was his "honeymoon plan" offering a free nuptial trip to newlyweds who had met on their Oranim Birthright trips. He says he received a written letter from Taglit's Israel office telling him he was required to stop.

This straightforward approach has made Lifshitz a cherished figure in the minds of many Taglit participants, and Oranim a favorite experience. But it also resulted in some complaints by people who had felt offended. "As the daughter of an Israeli father living in the U.S., I didn't like hearing Momo say that people like my dad were no longer Israeli," says one participant who wished to remain unnamed. At the same time, the participant, who immigrated to Israel less than three years ago, says she likes Lifshitz, 53, who told her to seek his help "for anything."

Some complaints are normal after servicing 50,000 people, says Lifshitz, a retired Israeli army officer from Kfar Sava. "We're talking about people, young people, with different sensibilities. Of course there will be complaints," he says. A new immigrant and Taglit graduate said: "For some American, politically-correct people, Lifshitz is a bit of a bull in a china shop."

Lifshitz says most participants do want to hear about aliyah and remaining Jewish. "That's why they're there," he says in reference to the program, which is funded by private donors, the Israeli government and the Jewish Agency. "If all we give them are 10 days of fun on the beach, we would be doing everyone a disservice," he added. "I stood with participants when Ariel Sharon spoke before them and told them flat out: 'Make aliyah!' So why can't I say the same thing now? The Jewish People are assimilating, and pretending otherwise is irresponsible."

As of 2010, Lifshitz will be offering Oranim's services to participants of MASA Israel Journey, a subsidized project which offers young adult non-Israelis a host of Israel programs over a semester or year. "Not only do we not mind Lifshitz's messages, we welcome them," a spokesperson for MASA said. "Taglit is more about 10 days of fun to create a positive Israel experience, while MASA is more a longer program aimed at addressing the problem of assimilation and instilling Jewish values."

Sharon Udasin, a reporter for The Jewish Week who wrote about the rift earlier this month, said Monday she had learned days after publishing her extensive article that she was no longer invited to a Taglit follow-up trip she had planned to attend.

In its reply to a query by Anglo File about this, Taglit said: "There is no connection between the article and the decision whether the reporter will or will not join a Taglit-Birthright Israel group."