Jewish Identity strengthened on Birthright

I recently came across an article on http://njjewishnews.com that was about Jewish identity in relation to Birthright. Although the actual article is from February of this year, I recently took a trip to Israel and just wrote my final paper about Zionism. Naturally, I was intrigued to read about the experience with Birthright and the way it affected another young Jewish adult. The author, Jill Garbi retells the story of Austin Dam, 22 who went on Taglit-Birhtiright through the Monmouth County regional trip with 40 other people. He came up with the idea for everyone on the trip to climb Masada one morning before sunrise. They ended up doing this, and all shouted "Ani chai" or "I'm Alive" from the top. She recounts his experience of hearing the words travel through the enormous valley. For him, he describes this as a profound experience saying, "I’ve never felt so connected and so in-the-moment like I did in Israel. I’ve never been in a place where there was that much history that had to do with me and my people."
This connection is exactly what the founders of Birthright were hoping for when investing thousands of dollars into the organization. Helping Israel and physically being there is eye opening for Jews as they understand the history and hardships that their ancestors have experienced.
The article finishes talking more specifically about the actual Monmouth County region and what makes it stand out over other communities that where young Jewish adults are prevalent. Monmouth County applicants were previously waitlisted on other regions' trips until now. The Jewish Federation of Monmouth County funded the regions first trip and those funds were matched by a Taglit-Birthright grant, allowing 20 young adults from Monmouth County to participate in the free trip.
Just last month, Taglit-Birthright received some good news. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel approved $100 million in funding for Taglit-Birthright Israel for the next three years. In doing this, they have expressed the goal of bringing 51,000 young Jewish adults on the 10 day free educational trip by 2013.
Going on Birthright makes young adults realize that Judaism isn't just religion but also a special culture that we need to make last. Registration for this upcoming summer was open again to 20 participants from Monmouth so more and more people are able to share this once in a lifetime experience with Israel and other young Jewish adults.