This summer, for the first time since 2019, Israel Tour is back. After what will be three years, we are finally in a position to take our community’s 16 and 17 year olds on one of the most important, seminal rites of passage for any Jewish teenager. 

Last September, UJIA launched ‘The Journey Home’ campaign. The aim was simple and ambitious. As restrictions on travel loosened and the world opened up once more, we committed to take 10,000 teenagers and young adults on an organised trip to Israel within three years. 

This July and August will see over 1,300 young people take part in Israel Tour. However, as we come out of the pandemic and into a cost-of-living crisis, we are faced with a new challenge. Affordability. To address this we have launched an enhanced UJIA Israel Tour Bursary Fund. It is our aim that no young person should miss the opportunity of Israel Tour due to their family's financial circumstances. We must raise an additional £1m over the next three years and we need £300,000 to cover the requirement for this summer alone. 

UJIA works tirelessly so that all the young people in our community get to Israel - on the Journey Home. We are the people responsible for supporting the youth movements, training the trip’s leaders how to educate about Israel and how to keep our children safe, solving the multitude of logistical problems and responding to any crisis on the ground. 

We know how important an organised trip to Israel is to both the Jewish identity and connection to Israel of young people. We know that without such a trip, the connection weakens and with it, Jewish identity too. In 2019, 68% of participants felt that Israel Tour strengthened their existing connection to Israel, rising to 89% for those who were visiting Israel for the first time. 

These trips make a difference and UJIA is behind that difference. At a time when Jewish students are being challenged regarding Israel and its place in their Jewish identity as never before, the long-term benefits of an organised visit to Israel become even more significant. If we want our young people to have the confidence to be proud of their relationship with Israel we need to make sure they spend meaningful time there. 

The typical grant for Israel Tour is £1,100 and on average we have provided bursaries to 1-in-5 participants over the past 10 years. 

We can’t thank you enough for your support and ensuring our community’s teenagers can go on the Journey Home.