There’s truly no substitute for spending time in Israel. You discover new food, smells, people, language, and weather. You can be yourself. So many things about Israel are both implicitly and explicitly Jewish, enabling you to find innovative ways of connecting to Judaism and finding a sense of belonging.
You encounter the unique brand of Israeli Jewishness: chutzpah mixed with casual vibes. It’s a lived experience and an immersive environment – an open canvas where Jewish identity and peoplehood come alive in dynamic and unexpected ways.
Educational travel has existed for centuries. When the medieval Jewish traveler Benjamin of Tudela visited Europe, Asia, and Africa in the 12th century, he didn’t go just for fun. He sought to learn about Jewish life in all those places.
That’s exactly what educational travel is – exploration, with a purpose. Then, the unique layer that Israel educational travel adds to that mix is the cultivation of Jewish identity and peoplehood.
According to the Pew Research Center, two-thirds of Jews who have traveled to Israel even once say they feel an emotional attachment. Jews who have traveled to Israel are also 25% more likely than those who haven’t been to Israel to say they have a lot in common with Jews in Israel.
This foundational connection to Israel and the Jewish people is the glue that binds us together in times of crisis and creates the potential for us to co-author a shared Jewish future as we all undertake the hard work of rebuilding.
Travel has been damaged by consecutive crises
YET, FOR THE past five years, Israel travel, and particularly the field of Israel educational travel, has been severely damaged by consecutive seismic crises, starting with the COVID-19 pandemic and extending into the 15-month war between Israel and Hamas.
At present, traveling to Israel is more expensive and logistically complicated than ever, and many would-be visitors are also concerned about safety. There are persistent flight cancellations and a complicated web of insurance needs.
Most concerning is that surging antisemitism and demonization of Israel on a global scale means that many people, particularly younger people, who travel to Israel pay a social price – on social media, and with their friends and colleagues at their schools and workplaces.
At a time when we so desperately need educational travel experiences to bring us together and lay the foundations for the next generations of Jewish leaders, this crucial intervention is moving further and further out of reach.
The benefits of Israel educational travel aren’t limited to those visiting from abroad. Given the sense of isolation that Israelis feel today at a time of war, every group and even every individual who travels to Israel delivers a modicum of hope and solidarity.
It helps Israelis understand that they aren’t alone; that they’re part of a global Jewish community. It fortifies their mental health and builds their resilience.
We are perilously close to watching our most meaningful and powerful tool for connecting Jews across the globe with each other and a sense of Jewish peoplehood slip through our hands.
On top of all the challenges already stated, countless people who’ve dedicated their lives to the field of Israel educational travel in Israel and North America are enduring hardship as they try to ensure the viability of this field.
Whether they are Israeli tour guides, bus drivers, hotel managers, restaurant owners, trip organizers, or those who lead activities like drum circles, a wide array of professionals engage in this work.
In North America, non-profit trip organizers have had to adjust to the inaccessibility of Israel travel by laying off, rehiring, and again laying off staff all while trying to retain confidence from participants and funders alike.
For five years, the field of Israel educational travel professionals have all navigated unprecedented disruption in their careers, in the world around them, and in the viability of this most important intervention.
Hope for Israel educational travel
NOW, THE ceasefire agreement offers not only a glimmer of hope for Israel educational travel, but also a crucial opportunity for Israeli society to invest in restrengthening this field.
That’s precisely why the inaugural Israel Educational Travel Alliance (IETA) Leaders Summit, which took place from January 20-23 in Jerusalem, couldn’t have come at a better moment.
As a consortium of more than 100 non-profit Israel educational travel organizations, programs, and philanthropies, we convened to discuss the future of our field in this post-October 7 climate and to brainstorm solutions to the chronic challenges we’ve experienced since 2020.
This year, we were joined for the first time by the most common for-profit Israel-based partners: tour organizers and educators (guides) with the goal of bridging our unique experiences in North America and Israel and establishing a comprehensive conversation about the future of Israel educational travel.
The alliance began as a grassroots initiative and is currently housed within the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA). The Jewish Agency for Israel was happy to support IETA from its inception, and now to continue to partner in expanding this alliance and its efforts.
The conference made a clear statement: There is a field of Israel educational travel, and as professionals in that field, we have the responsibility to make sure there is access to Israel educational travel that is excellent in design and implementation, affordable, and impactful.
At the summit, the days we spent on the ground in regions across Israel – from North to South to Center – enabled us to engage in high-level conversations on how to tell Israel’s multilayered story today.
Additionally, the encounters between North American and Israeli partners in the industry was particularly important – to be able to walk, sit, talk together, and strategize how to create the best Israel educational travel experiences for all types of groups.
Our message to Israeli society is clear: Work with us to strengthen the field of Israel educational travel.
In the Jewish world, there’s no shortage of people who are eager to visit Israel right now. They need more feasible ways of getting there financially and logistically, and to feel reassured about their safety – all priority issues for the IETA and for Israeli society to enable a return to travel at scale.
As Israel educational travel in all its forms represents a crucial vehicle for connecting the Jewish people, the Jewish Agency is proud to support this field.
We don’t yet possess all the answers and solutions, but we’re making notable progress. Let’s work together to help Jews around the world return to Israel as a canvas for Jewish identity and peoplehood that brings us closer and inspires us into this next chapter.
Shelley Kedar is director of the Connecting the Jewish People Unit at the Jewish Agency for Israel. Anna Langer is the vice president for North American Israel strategy and acting executive director of the Israel Educational Travel Alliance (IETA) at the Jewish Federations of North America.