Published: 3 December 2020
Last updated: 4 March 2024
THE JEWISH FUTURES PROJECT (JFP) has been following multiple cohorts of Birthright participants, and others who applied to the program but did not go, for over a decade. In the sixth wave of the JFP study, we explore whether Birthright’s long-documented impact on connection to Israel and engagement in Jewish life persists, as participants grow older, and the trip recedes further in their memory.
KEY FINDINGS
Birthright participants are much more likely to have a Jewish spouse or partner compared to similar nonparticipants: 55% versus 39%.
Birthright’s impact on choice of spouse is evident among those with one Jewish parent as well as among those with two Jewish parents.
Birthright’s impact on choice of spouse is concentrated among those who marry for the first time between the ages of 26 and 32.
Birthright’s impact on participants has two pathways. Birthright increases participants’ likelihood of engagement in Jewish life because they are more likely to have a Jewish partner (indirect impact). Birthright also increases Jewish engagement in some areas of Jewish life, regardless of whether that participant had a Jewish partner or not (direct impact).
FULL STORY Birthright Israel's first decade of applicants: a look at the long-term program impact (Brandeis University)
READ MORE
New data suggest Birthright effect on Jewish marriage, connection to Israel lasts up to 2 decades (Forward)
Birthright’s insulting obsession with intermarriage is erasing young Jews (Forward)
JENNIFER THOMPSON: A closer look at the study reveals how deeply the Jewish community remains enthralled to an outmoded view of Jewish engagement that’s based on antiquated and insulting views about intermarriage
Photo: Yaffa Phillips
