Summer birthright trip has Oregon slots

By JEWISH REVIEW

article created on: 2009-01-15T00:00:00

Hot on the heels of the successful Oregon birthright trip to Israel in December, Portland Jewish Events and the Jewish Student Union are organizing a free summer trip for those 18-26 who never have been on a peer trip to Israel.

The Oregon/SW Washington Taglit-birthright Israel trip is for those who live in Oregon or Southwest Washington or who have roots here.

The local organizers have secured 20 spaces on a bus with one local staff person. The other half of the bus will be people from another city group, or a mix from around the United States.

“Personally, I think we’re lucky to be able to bring a Portland-based group all together again and I’m happy to be building onto the work that Ben Eder, the Spivaks and I did with the group that was taken in December  ’08,” said PJE founder Jodi Berris, who will staff the summer trip. “I’ve been told birthright trip numbers for the summer have been cut.”

Registration opens Feb. 19; or on Feb. 17 for those who have applied before.

This trip will be through Israel Free Spirit, the same organizer as the December trip.

When registering, applicants who want to go with this group of 20 need to register for the “Israel Free Spirit” trip, said Berris. The easiest way to do so is to register from the israelfreespirit.com page and that will direct you down the proper channels.

The Oregon trip is scheduled tentatively for June. As with the group that went in December, there will be pre-trip kickoff activities and post-trip get togethers/reunions.

Berris suggests that those interested in the trip let her know before Feb. 19. She will be keeping a local interest list. For more information, contact Berris at jodiberris@aol.com or 248-760-0743 or Ben Eder at eder.ben@gmail.com or 503-505-1796.

Also, to get on Israel Free Spirit’s early update list (to receive registration tips and info about upcoming trip dates), visit www.israelfreespirit.com.