Many college students would agree that a trip across the world to explore their own identities while sharing an invaluable experience with their peers is a priceless opportunity. Every year thousands of students do make this trip to discover a rich history they perhaps never knew existed'for free.
This spring an estimated 8,000 youth from across the world will take an all-expense-paid trip to Israel for 10 days on a program called Birthright Israel.
There are only three requirements to attend: The student is between the ages of 18 and 26, is Jewish and has never gone on a peer-group trip to Israel. In its three years of existence, 28,000 have taken the trip'a $210 million partnership between the Israeli government, United Jewish Communities and their local federations and prominent philanthropists.
Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Rabbi Michael Malchior is the chairman of the Birthright Israel steering committee and was one of the key players in the program's creation and development.
\I'm not just the chairman of Birthright, but Birthright is my passion,"" he said.
Malchior described the trip as an opportunity to reconnect with one's Jewish identity, while at the same time participating in an educational and social visit to Israel. He considers this trip to be one of the biggest Jewish success stories in the last few years.
According to Malchior, Birthright's ""tornado of success,"" as he calls it, stems in part from what students who have been on the trip are telling their peers about the experience.
Susie Sheldon, a UW-Madison senior who attended the trip in January of 2001, now works at Hillel, 611 Langdon St., as an intern where she recruits students and prepares them for Birthright.
""It was 10 days of incredibly intense learning and it was packed with everything you could have imagined,"" she said.
Within the 10 days of the trip, the Birthright Israel participants do everything from spending a Shabbat'or Friday night'in Jerusalem and attending panels on such issues as the Arab-Israeli conflict, to leisurely riding camels through the Negev desert.
Sheldon said she is still friends with many of the other Madison participants on her trip. She also said that while perhaps it was not a life-changing experience, it had a profound effect on her identity.
""When I came back, I didn't feel like I had changed as a person. I felt like I had made a connection,"" she said.
It is this kind of connection that Malchior said he hopes participants will take back to their respective homes when they return.
""We hope when they go back that they will not be isolated from the Jewish world,"" he said. ""They will have become Jews, they will have become connected with the state of Israel, they will have a better understanding what that means.""
Malchior said Birthright not only leaves an impact on the trip participants, but affects Israelis, especially the teenagers who interact with the students and attend programs with them.
""Getting to know each other has created a new reality for those of us here in Israel,"" he said, ""So, it's really a joint program in many ways which is bringing us together in one community.""
But things have changed over the last several months for the trip, in light of the escalating violence due to heightened tensions in the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Birthright trip addresses the issues in a variety of magnitudes.
Logistically, Malchior said it is important for the government of Israel to maximize the security of the Birthright participants, by checking all bus routes and banning certain tourist sites that may now be a threat.
""While we hope very much that they will see nothing of the violence because that is what we are responsible for and maximizing their safety, they will of course learn while they're here what people think in this country of this conflict and how we can put the conflict behind us and move forward,"" Malchior said.
UW-Madison law student Marty Maddin, who went on the trip this past winter, said even though some of his friends were worried about the safety of travelling to Israel, he knew it was one of the last chances he had to take the free trip.
""No matter what they cut out it's a really amazing time to go to Israel and really experience on some level what's going on there,"" he said.
Jamie Berman, assistant director for UW-Madison's Hillel, has addressed concerns from both students and parents who are nervous about the trip.
""We had a lot of people pull out,"" she said, referring to the trip this past December. ""About 50 percent of the applicants withdrew by the deadline.""
Berman said, however, that the number of attendees does not bother her, because people have until they are 26 to apply.
""The numbers were smaller but we still took 1,200 18 to 26 year-olds to Israel,"" she said. ""That was tremendous.""
While the impact that the trip had on each of these students was unique, Malchior said there is one thing he hopes all experience.
""We will also be very pleased if they decide that this visit is meaningful for their relationship with their Judaism however it expresses itself,"" he said.
Maddin said the trip was an amazing experience, but that he would like to return to Israel in the future.
""It was such a teaser,"" he said. ""I couldn't even show someone Madison ... in 10 days, let alone a country that's the epicenter of three major religions of the world.""
Birthright Israel has recently started accepting applications for its upcoming spring trip.
""We're going to be very aggressive in going to campuses and meeting with potential participants and encouraging them to come,"" said Birthright Israel spokesperson Joe Wagner.
Malchior said attendance registration for the trip is already high.
""It's giving us a lot of optimism for the tourism and it's a big encouragement for the people here,"" he said.
To learn more about Birthright Israel, visit .
