Israel Encounter – A Trip to Israel for Interfaith Couples
By Mitch Cohen, MA and Steve Chervin, Ed.D
If Birthright Israel is so successful at strengthening the Jewish identity of young Jews, can a similar experience do the same for interfaith couples, motivating them to more actively raise their children Jewishly? Would a financial subsidy provide a critical incentive for interfaith couples’ participation in an Israel experience?
As we stood at the El Al gate at Newark Airport, we knew that this group and this trip was something special. However, never in our wildest dreams did we think that lives would become so interconnected and so impacted in just 10 short days. This group was “Israel Encounter 2008”, a non-profit organization directed by Steve Chervin and Mitch Cohen. Thanks to a generous grant from The Marcus Foundation, participating couples received a 50% subsidy toward the cost of the trip. For virtually all of the couples, this subsidy was an essential factor in their ability to participate. The trip itself was a 10-day, action-packed guided tour of Israel from the south shore of the Dead Sea and nearby Masada, through Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Tiberias, Tzefat, and the Golan Heights to the Lebanese and Syrian borders.
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The fourteen couples qualifying for the trip either have children under 10 years of age or are planning to have children. Most had only met a few months before the trip, and -- along with three trip leaders (Mitch Cohen of Israel Encounter, Suzette Cohen of Pathways: Interfaith Family Network of Greater Atlanta and Rabbi Albert Slomovitz) -- embarked on a spiritual, cultural and historical journey of a lifetime. Oranim Educational Initiatives, Ltd was the tour company who did an outstanding job in making the trip fun, meaningful and educational. In order to honor the heritage of the non-Jewish partners on the trip, the itinerary included visits to Christian sites at Capernaum and the Christian Quarter of the Old City in Jerusalem, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
The trip was preceded by three educational orientation sessions, which allowed participants to begin to get to know each other , to learn about Israel, and to learn about programs available to interfaith families in Atlanta. Besides the immediate impact of the trip on the participants, long-term goals of the trip include: an increase in the participants’ commitment to raising their children Jewishly, an increase in their connections / commitment to Israel, an increase in Jewish organizational affiliation, and the development of the participants into an interfaith learning and support group with an emphasis on Jewish family activities. Israel Encounter staff will provide ongoing support to the couples and their families in helping them to achieve these objectives. Follow-up sessions, based on the participants needs, will focus on Jewish parenting skills, and the dynamics of interfaith families. With the help of Linda Bloomberg, PhD, an expert in adult education and evaluation and an action observer on the trip, we will be evaluating participants’ progress toward the program’s goals over a 2 year period.
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The impact of the trip was dramatic and, based on initial feedback, an overwhelming success in terms of helping the participants to appreciate the value and importance of Israel as a Jewish state and to assess their Jewish identity as a family. A Jewish mother married to a Catholic man expressed, “as the Jewish parent who was not brought up in a religious home, but with Jewish cultural identity, this trip reinforced the need to raise my kids with a strong Jewish foundation. I am anxious to learn more [about Judaism] and perhaps share a b’nai mitzvah with one of my kids.”
One non-Jewish participant noted that he developed a deep sense of history and an appreciation for the accomplishments Israelis have made in just 60 years. He declared that as a result of the trip, he “felt a personal connection to Israel and understood the Jewish people’s need to have their own state.” Other non-Jewish participants began the trip feeling like tourists and a bit like outsiders; however, by the end of the trip, they also felt a “connection to the land and a better appreciation of the foundations of Christianity in Judaism.”
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Spending Shabbat in Jerusalem and attending services at Kol HaNeshama and Hebrew Union College was called a “defining experience” by one participant, and “a time to stop and take stock, something we may do at home as well” by another. One participant, in the process of becoming a Jew-by-choice, noted, “I honestly feel being in Israel on this particular interfaith focus was one of the most important things I have ever done. I am so much more connected to the history, politics, and religious aspects of Israel and its people than I ever expected.”
Both Jewish and non-Jewish participants shared that being in Israel allowed them to appreciate that Jewish identity is more than simply being religious – it involves community, culture and peoplehood, which as one non-Jewish participant observed, “can only be appreciated as a result of a trip to Israel”. The program does not aim at converting the non-Jewish spouse. Rather, it maintains respect for the non-Jewish spouses’ religious heritage, while emphasizing and supporting the creation of a Jewish home in which to raise Jewish children.
Some trip participants who were most ambivalent toward Israel or toward religion itself appeared to be the most impacted by the trip. During a visit to Capernaum, the group said the Shema, Mi Shebeirach and the Shehecheyanu prayers in the ruins of a 2000-year old synagogue. The group then walked over to the nearby church over the ruins of St. Peter’s house, where Rabbi Slomovitz invited a nun to bless the group. One non-Jewish participant, an atheist, shared that he was “moved to tears” by the congruence of both religions in one place, with only an emphasis on what bonded both – connecting to a common spiritually.
Another non-Jewish participant was not only ambivalent toward religion, but also had deep reservations about Israeli politics and concerns about the separation barrier. Upon arrival at Ben Gurion Airport and being greeted with a “welcome home!” by Amnon Weigler, Vice President of Oranim Educational Initiatives, Ltd. – she declared that Israel was NOT her home. However, after talking with Israelis who also disagreed with Israeli politics and who also had a desire for peace with the Palestinians, she began to take a fresh look at Israel. She returned home realizing that solutions were not as simple as she had thought. She now has a strong desire for her future children to be connected through the Hebrew language to Judaism and to Israel. Upon returning to Atlanta, she and her Jewish husband purchased a Siddur with transliteration so that she can participate in services, something they had not done in a long time.
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Lastly, Masada was truly a highlight of the trip. One participant, who was raised as a secular Jew, had not been given a Hebrew name at his brit milah (circumcision ceremony). On top of Masada, Rabbi Slomovitz led a naming ceremony for him, giving him a Hebrew name which honored the memory of both his Jewish grandparents. All the trip participants witnessed this moving moment. His wife, who is now seriously considering conversion and who climbed up the snake trail with her husband shared, “while climbing Masada, I found myself in a meditative state which truly inspired me as I reached an emotional, spiritual and physical peak at the top". It just doesn’t get much better than that.