The Mayanot Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem’s Birthright Israel department is back in business and deep in preparations for an unexpectedly oversized Summer session.
Highlighting the summer trip options are 64 campus-based trips from 34 unique campuses departing from NYC, Los Angeles, Miami and four other hub cities in between!
In addition, Mayanot is offering a Friendship Circle Trip and their first-ever ASL (American Sign Language) Trip for the deaf and hearing-impaired community.
“We are very excited to offer these unique programs and bring the gift of Birthright Israel to people that otherwise may not have had the opportunity,” said Rabbi Kasriel Shemtov, Executive Director of the Mayanot. “It allows us to connect with even more young Jewish people.”
In partnership with Rabbi Yehoshua Soudakoff, the ASL trip bring the Mayanot style to this small community. “We’ve hosted such trips before, and we are excited to embark on this journey with Mayanot for the summer 2022 trip,” Soudakoff wrote in an email. “The results of these trips are indescribable. A truly life changing experience for many.”
While the Friendship Circle trip is already maxed out, the ASL Trip is still accepting applications at https://bit.ly/3Ial8wv for the June 20-July 1 trip, departing from NYC. This trip is custom tailored for ASL signers and will even include ISL interpreters for the deaf Israeli soldiers who will be joining. The interactive and hands-on, Deaf-friendly itinerary, and expert staff, will afford participants a positive and impactful experience.
Jumping back into a full and robust summer season was somewhat unexpected for Birthright Israel and Mayanot. On March 5th, 2020 Birthright announced their first round of canceled trips due to the Covid 19 pandemic. What followed were two years that highlighted the difficulties and challenges the pandemic provided for Israel.
In a timeframe that Mayanot would have potentially hosted nearly 10,000 students on their Birthright Israel program, far less than 1% of that found themselves in the privileged few.
But through resilience and creativity, Mayanot Israel has emerged from the lull in a commanding fashion. With 30 days until the arrival of the first groups of the Summer 2022 session, Mayanot is gearing up for dozens of groups and thousands of participants!
“We did not know what to expect. We set goals for the season. We tweaked those goals multiple times to not set ourselves up for disappointment” said Rabbi Levi Margolin, Director of Mayanot’s Birthright Israel department. “B”H we have thankfully already surpassed the highest goal we set in terms of participants scheduled to join us in May through September, 2022!”
Mayanot’s post Covid re-emergence has been fueled by a network of Chabad Houses on Campus (a partnership recognized by Birthright Israel CEO, Mr. Gidi Mark, during Covid) eager to provide the program to their students after a two year hiatus.
“We are seeing record numbers from several campuses across the country” Rabbi Shlomo Gestetner, Dean of Mayanot said during a recent trip to New York. “During Covid, we focused on cultivating our Chabad on Campus relationships and B”H, we are seeing positive results today.”
Registration for Mayanot’s May-September 2022 trips is open at mayanotisrael.com/register.
