Having worked at San Francisco Hillel for nine years now, I feel passionately that the future of the Jewish community will reflect the educational opportunities we invest in our students, and that Birthright is a transformational vehicle to achieve this aim.
I grew up in England, where the small Jewish community was tight-knit and where almost everyone was a synagogue member (you had to join to be buried in a Jewish cemetery). I also lived for two decades in Israel, where even the sabra who eats a bacon sandwich on the Tel Aviv beach on Yom Kippur is making an informed, if unwise, decision. S/he has a religious grandparent, joins the family for festivals, learns Torah in school and experiences the Jewish holidays throughout the year.
But I was truly stunned when I discovered how even our little Hillel house, located near the San Francisco State University campus, is seen as intimidating to some students who have either no Jewish identity, or just enough to make them feel guilty and unworthy.
Some students come to Hillel at their parents’ behest, and others come to taste something they never experienced at home. A Jewish campus experience is just one of many choices on a vibrant campus such as SFSU, and in an exciting city like San Francisco. Our students study hard, many holding down two or three jobs, and yet they choose to carve out time for a Jewish component of their lives.
I have heard about or seen articles that characterize the millennials as lazy or narcissistic. From my experience at San Francisco Hillel, I strongly disagree with those views. They are thoughtful and they rally to fight social injustices. They can be judgmental about older generations — about our values, failures, in-fighting, etc. — and they are selective. They will attend or participate only if they see a value in it. If you want them to join your synagogue, you need to offer something that is relevant. There is nothing wrong with that; it is no different from how we were when we were 18 to 30.
Except for one difference: The Internet is a tool that offers them far more choices and possibilities than we ever had. The millennials are comfortable moving among different social identities and, with more options available, will carefully evaluate how they apportion their time.
Birthright was born out of a need to provide a generation of American Jews with a collective Jewish memory. We sought something on a large scale, something unique. The vision that motivated the philanthropists and educators who founded Birthright was one of creating a common experience that would turn the tide of growing assimilation. They chose to focus on students. Why? Because 94 percent of Jews continue on to higher education, there is no better time to engage with them as Jews. It may well be our last chance.
Many millennials are driven to seek a defining experience. Standing before the Kotel is one such moment — whether standing there alone, surrounded by friends, or in the presence of thousands of years of collective Jewish memory.
Birthright is not just about Israel, but about inviting young adults to take their place within Jewish Peoplehood. I feel honored, as a Hillel educator, to be entrusted by the Jewish community with such an awesome challenge and responsibility at this pivotal time in our history.
Forty young millennials from our Hillel just had a life-changing trip with well-trained educators from S.F. Hillel. They have organized into committees, applied for internships and are highly motivated to begin their own Jewish journey, something they never really contemplated prior to this experience.
Our Birthright participants were interviewed and carefully selected, attended orientations, fully participated while on the trip and will receive group and personal follow-through.
When agencies can offer the before and after, Birthright trips become meaningful. I see firsthand the transformational changes that students went through because I am still in touch with some of them eight years later.
I wish to thank those who conceived Birthright and those who fund it and make it possible. The entire Jewish people are in your debt.
Alon Shalev is the executive director of the San Francisco Hillel Jewish Student Center.