JERUSALEM (JTA) — Taglit-Birthright Israel will train Jewish educators from across the United States as Israel trip leaders.
The program will train 200 trip leaders each year through a partnership with the iCenter, a North American organization dedicated to Israel education.
The application deadline for the first cohort of Taglit Fellows is May 15.
The program includes a four-day seminar with Jewish and Israel studies and skill-building workshops, online learning and a networking framework for the trip leaders. Graduates of the program must commit to staffing three Taglit-Birthright Israel trips over the three years following the completion of training.
The Taglit Fellows program is funded by the Maimonides Fund through a $4 million grant over six years.
“This initiative provides us with a terrific opportunity to simultaneously improve the educational quality of the trips as well as dramatically increasing our capacity for effective follow-up,” said Maimonides Fund President Mark Charendoff. “It is strong evidence that Birthright is committed not just to increasing numbers but to constantly rethinking how to best engage the young people who participate on both sides of the ocean.”
The Birthright program takes Jewish 18- to 26-year-olds on free 10-day trips to Israel.
