Highest number of British Jewish teens go on tour since 2013
More than 1,200 16-year-olds from 10 different youth movements travel across Israel with the help of 71 madrichim
The summer of 2019 is set to see the highest number of teenage Jewish participants on Israel Tour since 2013, representing an increase of ten percent on last year.
A total of 1,209 British Jewish 16 year olds from 10 different youth movements and organisations will have taken the UJIA-supported tours by the time term starts, said Israel Tour organisers, who have filled 29 tour buses with the help of 71 of madrichim (tour leaders).
JoJo Moss, who led an Israel Tour for Noam, the Zionist youth movement of Masorti Judaism, said it was “one of the greatest hadracha (leadership) experiences…”
“It was an absolute privilege to be part of.”
Participants get to see the different sides of Israel, from the Old City of Jerusalem and the cosmopolitan rush of Tel Aviv, to the desert of the Negev in the south and the lush beauty of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) in the north.
Debra Green, head of UJIA Israel experience, said the tour “allows young people the space to forge a personal connection to Israel in a way that is meaningful and relevant to them”.
Israel Tour is offered through various Jewish youth groups in the UK including Bnei Akiva, BBYO, Ezra, FZY, Habonim Dror, JLGB, Klal Chazon, LJY-Netzer, Noam and RSY-Netzer.
Around half of all British Jewish sixteen year olds took part in a UJIA-supported Israel Tour this summer.
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