Digital Library
Jewish Educational Interventions in an Era of Diversity: Birthright Israel’s Impact on Participants from Different Religious and Cultural Backgrounds
Topic:
General/Other, Jewish Diaspora & Interfaith Relations
Principal Investigators:
Graham Wright, Sasha Volodarsky, Shahar Hecht, Leonard Saxe
Study Date:
2025
Source:
Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies, Brandeis University
Key Findings:
The analysis identified five distinct childhood background groups, ranging from “Jewish Immersed” to “Christian Involved and Jewish Family Holidays,” demonstrating that denominational labels alone do not capture the diversity of American Jewish upbringing.
Birthright Israel had a statistically significant impact on connection to Israel and Jewish cultural consumption across all background groups.
The program increased participants’ sense of belonging to the worldwide Jewish community in four of five groups (with limited impact among those already highly immersed, likely due to ceiling effects).
Gains in the importance of being Jewish and connection to Jewish customs were more concentrated among participants from less intensely Jewish backgrounds.
Overall, the largest effects were observed among participants who entered with the fewest prior Jewish experiences, suggesting that peer-based educational travel may have its strongest impact among the less engaged — though diversity within participant cohorts may itself contribute to impact.
Methodology:
The study analyzes survey data from thousands of U.S. applicants to Birthright Israel across multiple cohorts. Researchers first used latent class analysis to create a five-category typology of participants’ religious and cultural childhood experiences (including both Jewish and Christian exposure). They then assessed program impact using a difference-in-differences design that compared pre- and post-trip changes among participants with a comparison group of applicants who did not attend, allowing estimation of short-term causal effects on identity, connection to Israel, communal belonging, and Jewish cultural engagement.