Hillel JUC students return from Birthright Israel emboldened and connected

University of Pittsburgh student Owen Bauer intended to go to Israel two years ago. But when Hillel JUC’s Birthright Israel trip was canceled due to the Israel-Hamas war, Bauer, 21, had to wait.

Since then, that sense of wanting to “meet new people, learn about the culture, the history and ultimately feel a lot more connected to my Jewish heritage,” remained, he said.

Weeks ago, along with other Hillel JUC students, Bauer finally got the chance to go. Joining Bauer was Hannah Jarvis, 21, who said she also previously planned to travel with Birthright, but the trip was canceled because of the war.

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Jarvis, unlike Bauer, had been to Israel before — first on an eighth grade trip with her Philadelphia Jewish day school and later with her parents, she said. Returning as a college senior provided a different perspective.

“I wanted to see Israel through more of a grown-up person’s eyes,” she said. Returning was also an “opportunity to reconnect with my Judaism.”

An eclectic itinerary — including insights into history, exposure to hiking areas, an ability to volunteer and lots of eating — delighted participants, but Jarvis said she particularly enjoyed dancing in the streets of Tel Aviv. “It was probably the highlight of my trip.”

Dancing runs in Jarvis’ family, “especially Israeli dancing,” she said. “My mom introduced it to me when I was young. My aunt and I like to do it as well.”

Moving through Tel Aviv’s open air gave Jarvis a feeling of “family connection that this is something that is true to my Jewish identity, and is a true connection between me and my Judaism, me and my family, and me and Israel,” she said. “It was a very special experience.”

For Bauer, time in the Jewish state offered new insight.

“You truly can’t fully understand a place, an event, a chain of events, unless you’re actually there in the moment, talking to people and connecting with people,” he said. “For me, one of the most rewarding parts of the trip was just connecting with Israelis my age.” Hearing their stories and sharing his own created a sense of “common ground.”

Now back from Israel, the college students are eager to share their experiences and takeaways.

Safety concerns precluded an ability to go to Israel two years ago, however, “it’s never too late to do the things that you want to do,” Jarvis said. “There’s always room for building connections to the places that you love and the people that you love.”

Creating engagement is a continual process, Bauer explained.

What happens now, he said, “is just having conversations with friends, with family, with people that care about me and that I care about, to kind of tell them, ‘Hey, I had this amazing experience. I want to tell you about it.’”

Bauer is eager to talk about what he learned, he said, “kind of the good and bad that I drew from it, and just share that with other people. I think that’s kind of the best place to start with these kinds of things.”

“It’s difficult to read news headlines and try to put together everything that’s happening when you’re kind of far removed from it,” he said. “I think being able to go there and see for myself how the war has impacted the country, and also being able to see the country, and a lot of its good qualities, really just stuck with me. I feel like I can take that experience and kind of have a much fuller perspective of what Israel is like, what it’s going through, what the people are like, and have better awareness and perspective.”

Dan Marcus, Hillel JUC’s executive director and CEO, called Birthright “one of the most transformative experiences a Jewish student can participate in.” When students spend time in Israel it “allows them to connect with their heritage, culture and identity in the most experiential way.”

Birthright was founded in 1999 to provide free trips to Israel for young Jewish adults. To date the organization has provided more than 900,000 trips to the Jewish state.

A birthright trip doesn’t only impact a participating student — it impacts the broader community as well, Marcus said. “They come back to campus more enthused, more educated and strengthened in their Jewish identity.” PJC

Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.