Sociologist looks at free Israel tours offered to American Jews
6/2/2010
Photo courtesy NYU Press
The thing that makes Israeli officials nervous about the program to keep their country
connected with young American Jews may be the reason it‟s working so well.
Shaul Kelner, assistant professor of sociology and Jewish studies at Vanderbilt, has spent
seven years researching an Israeli program that brings thousands of young Jewish
Americans to the Middle East to cultivate a feeling of attachment to their Jewish heritage.
Israel (along with Jewish communities around the world and some private
philanthropists) has spent more than half a billion dollars on the program that Kelner
examines in his book Tours That Bind: Diaspora, Pilgrimage and Israeli Birthright
Tourism.
“About 250,000 people have taken advantage of the program in the past decade,” Kelner said. “That means that almost
every young American Jew has either been on the program or at least knows someone who has participated.”
Israel is careful to bill the trips as “educational” and not “tourism.” But Kelner, an expert on tourism who has observed
first-hand several of the 10-day pilgrimages, says the trips are really classic tourism – a mix of education and fun.
Rather than concentrate on religious and political connections, the trips tend to connect American Jews to Israeli and
Jewish culture through consumerism, Kelner said. “The tourists spend their time trying to find the right souvenir, snap the
perfect photo and taste the most authentic falafel,” he said.
“This might seem to contradict the stated educational purpose of the tours, but since so much of modern life is about „we
are what we buy,‟ the consumerist approach ends up being an unintended but very effective engagement strategy,” Kelner
said.
Even Israel‟s religious sites are treated as consumer goods. For instance, American Jews who visit synagogues in Israel
don‟t typically pray in them. Instead, they experience the buildings like tourists, focusing on the architecture and history
of the buildings.
“Traditionally, synagogues are places of prayer, study and assembly for Jews,” Kelner said. “Seeing these sacred
buildings from a tourist‟s perspective can change how American Jews view synagogues at home.”
An all-expenses trip for college-age adults also leads to a certain amount of partying, including alcohol consumption and
romantic liaisons, Kelner said. Trip organizers are not necessarily pleased that the tourists are using their time in Israel for
such indulgences.
“Strangely enough, this behavior sometimes gives tour participants a personal connection with Israel that is deeper than
the political and religious ties that are intended,” Kelner said. “We identify forever with places where we‟ve had
formative or ecstatic experiences.”
Israel is not the only country using tourism to connect with its diaspora, Kelner said. Similar homeland tours exist for
Chinese Americans, Irish Americans and other ethnic groups. In recent years, Ghana has tried to use tourism to develop
connections with African Americans. “The Israeli effort is the largest and oldest in the world,” Kelner said. “It is often
seen as a model for how to use tourism to build connections.”
Contact: Jim Patterson, (615) 322-NEWS
jim.patterson@vanderbilt.edu