The Art of Staffing Birthright
— Rachel Kamenir, Excel Class of 2014
An art museum is one of my favorite places in the world. There is so much context behind everything you see, each visitor can see something different based on their perspective, and new details emerge if you come back and revisit. To me, an art museum holds many parallels to staffing a Birthright Israel trip. As a facilitator of a 10-day Jewish journey for nearly 50 peers, a staff member is there to foster a unique and memorable experience in Israel for each participant, and that will look different for each person. Day to day responsibilities include anything from collaborating with Israeli tour guides to leading group activities to providing peer mentorship. Having just returned from staffing my third Shorashim Birthright Israel trip, I’m reflecting on these experiences and painting together themes of wisdom I’ve gained along the way:
Lesson 1: Treat Others with Kindness
Each time I am in Israel, I have experienced Israelis going out of their way to treat others with kindness. On this trip, two acts of kindness stand out, one by someone I knew and one by two strangers. During our free time in Tel Aviv, my co-staff and I visited Birthright’s Innovation Center, which is housed within the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange building. Within minutes of arriving, we ran into Birthright’s COO Nimrod Ran, who I had met through Birthright Excel. He instantly remembered me and graciously gave my co-staff and I a private tour of the Innovation Center. His kindness in taking time out of his busy day to share this experience with us, with absolutely no notice and completely undivided attention, really stood out to me. Another example of Israeli kindness was when a participant and I went up to a juice stand and explained we were looking for something to soothe our sore throats. We were suddenly overwhelmed by the kindness of our newfound “juice doctors” who whipped up a custom fruit/vegetable remedy to target our symptoms, gave us lemons to suck on while we waited, and overall conversed with us as if we were part of their family. Treating others with kindness and respect is something seen all over the world, but at the same time something I tend to be especially reminded of in Israel, and inspired to take back home.
Lesson 2: It’s Complicated — Ask Why
On Birthright trips, many of the topics and questions that arise are inherently complicated and give rise to a diversity of opinions. Whether you are talking about Jewish/personal identity or the history/politics of the Middle East, there is so much depth to the topics at hand that there are bound to be numerous points of view. It is simply not possible to discuss the entirety of these topics in a 10-day trip, or some would even say a lifetime. Instead of looking for a summary-version understanding of an issue, I’ve learned that it is healthy to gain exposure to diverse narratives and multiple perspectives in the process of forming your own views over time. We can all learn from genuinely listening to those who come from a different background, from reading deeper into the news than a tweet, and from respecting that some conversations lead to more questions than answers. Along the way, by embracing complexities and continuously seeking to understand the “why” behind different opinions, we can all form a more open and tolerant understanding of one another’s opinions. The process of finding new puzzle pieces and forming new connections between ideas on Birthright trips resonates with my questioning mindset and is something applicable to many subjects outside of Israel/Judaism as well.
Lesson 3: Expand Your Comfort Zone
Within a Birthright trip, there will be many instances where participants are stepping out of their respective comfort zones (whether that means hiking despite a fear of heights, boarding their first international flight, speaking in front of a large group, or connecting with their faith for the first time). As staff, being a supportive and encouraging influence throughout these experiences can make a lasting impact. When staffing a Birthright trip, it’s also important to get comfortable with improvisation, to laugh off the hiccups, and to not take everything too seriously. It’s inevitable that there will be itinerary changes and issues to solve on the fly. At the end of the day, how you react in those moments will be the stories and memories that last a lifetime. By prioritizing working as a team with your co-staff, building relationships with every participant, and applying wisdom from prior trips, you are doing your part to facilitate a one-of-a-kind and meaningful experience in Israel. Instead of feeling exhausted at the end of a Birthright trip, I am rejuvenated because I feel that I have made a positive difference in the lives of others.
Lesson 4: Resilience is Our Story
Throughout much of Jewish and Israeli history, the story of our people rising up and overcoming adversities emerges again and again. Spanning from our biblical stories of resilience to the more recent rebuilding and founding of a Jewish state, there is a theme of perseverance. The story of being knocked down and standing back up, of overcoming impossible odds, is something that unites us. I have learned that there will always be ups and downs, what my late grandfather referred to as the “vicissitudes of life”. It’s how we respond to them that matters. Connecting to Israel through Birthright is a way of standing on the shoulders of our ancestors and gaining strength through our heritage and identity. No matter what we face in life, we are never alone. On this most recent Birthright trip, I played the song “This is Me” from The Greatest Showman on the bus loudspeakers, an anthem of resilience that has meant a lot to me personally. As the chorus rang out and many of us sang along, “I won’t let them break me down to dust…I know that there’s a place for us…For we are glorious”, I smiled, knowing that this moment would forever be part of my art collection of memories.
About the Author:
Rachel Kamenir is a member of the Birthright Israel Excel Fellowship Class of 2014. During her summer in Israel with Excel, Rachel interned at Ernst and Young in Tel Aviv. Rachel is an active leader in the Excel community and has served as one of the founding members of Excel’s North American Alumni Board. Over the past few years, Rachel has returned to Israel as staff on three Birthright trips with Shorashim. Rachel graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in Accountancy and currently works for PwC in Chicago.
