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But the joy and education one might gain from a birthright trip to Israel might also be worth the risk - just like skiing, scuba diving, flying to a vacation destination, etc.</p>
<p>And using Starbright’s statistics, the odds aren’t high that something would happen. If one is careful in where they go in Israel and stay away from the areas the majority of rockets are landing, the odds that something would happen would be reduced considerably.</p>
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<p>Yes. I’d think that for any parent sending their kid to Israel, or for any student going there, it’s because it’s more than just a trip to an exotic location.</p>
<p>Again, this is not a Birthright trip. She would be starting out on Birthright and then spending a month or so studying in a women’s yeshiva (or whatever they call women’s school) somewhere else. She would not be looked after or protected as in Birthright. I would assume that it’s not in Gaza or West Bank, but I think Israel is headed for rougher times unless sanity prevails. Not to get into a heated debate- but they are not free and clear of oppression and stupidity either.</p>
<p>Dufay – Not up for political debate either, but it seems to me that the current effort the Israelis are making is aimed at stopping the constant shelling (not to mention the tunneling to allow Hamas soldiers/terrorists into Southern Israel) from Hamas in the unoccupied and politically autonomous Gaza Strip, and that if the IDF is successful, Israel will be safer (at least from that particular threat) come summer because the shelling of civilian targets and incursions from the south will stop. </p>
<p>With respect to yeshiva study following Brithright, my impression is that the young women studying in those programs are pretty serious about what they’re doing and are not off engaging in wild and crazy or clearly dangerous pursuits. I’m assuming that the likeliest scenario is that she’d be studying in Jerusalem, a city very sensitive on issues of security.</p>
<p>This discussion can continue ad infinitum but, ultimately, you will do what you consider to be appropriate. Just to echo an earlier comment, I spent my junior year of college in Israel a couple of decades ago and my parents felt the very same trepidation then. It literally goes with the territory.</p>
<p>I have wanted to go to Israel for decades. It seems like there is never a “right” time. And just when there is a “right” time, something happens. If this discussion had started a month ago, before the current problems, then our responses might be different. The situation always seems to change suddenly.</p>
<p>My daughter wants to do Birthright a year from now, next December/January, and my husband and I would like to meet her in Israel and do some sightseeing both with her and just the two of us. My intention is to plan this trip as if it is the “right” time, buy travel insurance and keep my fingers crossed that everything works out. If I keep waiting for the right time, I’d probably wait for another four decades. And then I’d be too old to travel.</p>
<p>As a psychologist specializing in the treatment of anxiety disorders, one of the phrases I often teach clients is “Wait to worry.” Anxiety involves fear of the unknown, and thus is best remediated by the reduction in uncertainty that naturally occurs as actual facts and information become available. Worry can’t always be avoided, but it usually can be postponed. In this case, anxiety can probably be shrunk (not elimininated, by any means!) by a healthy dose of deliberate procrastination for about a couple of months.</p>
<p>My S, too, is hoping to go on a Birthright trip this summer. My understanding is that sign-up for summer trips does not begin until mid-February, and we have agreed that there is little sense devoting a lot of mental energy to finalizing decisions about summer travel plans until such time as a commitment is required. While the situation in Israel may still be unresolved in February, it is likely to be different than it is today; it most certainly will be different during the summer. It is impossible to accurately predict events in the Middle East at just about any time, but at least the illusion of knowledge on which to base forecasting will come into clearer focus as more events unfold.</p>
<p>Our family went through a similar situation when my D was in high school. Intifada activity was particularly disturbing at the point in the winter at which she needed to put down a deposit for a 6 week summer program. We decided to proceed because (a) we felt our D’s passion for the program was so great as to justify the risk and (b) we trusted the people running the program either to proceed with caution if the situation was unstable but safe <em>enough</em> to go or to cancel the trip if, G-d forbid, things looked so bad when the time came to leave. As it turned out, the timing of the trip couldn’t have been better; the period in which she was in Israel turned out to be one of the most peaceful blocks of time there in many years.</p>
<p>With regard to the non-Birthright portion of your D’s plans, I think the considerations that apply if she is planning to study at a yeshiva-like institution are only slightly different than those that apply otherwise. Based on past experience with family members and current experience with a close family friend at different schools in Jerusalem, I think all institutions hosting foreign students issue advisories about safety issues on an ongoing basis. The difference is that these recommendations are not subject to the same level of enforcement as pertains to supervised trips, and thus your comfort with your D’s personal judgment is that much more relevant.</p>
<p>I would move ahead on plans if it were me. I would just cancel if the country was in the middle of a signficant conflict as it is at the present time. While nothing is risk free when going to Israel, I would avoid being there during a conflict like this one as things could escalate. </p>
<p>My niece is there right now and I believe her parents convinced her to leave and she will be leaving this week and extending her trip to London. She has already completed the Birthright part of the trip as well as ten days on her own but had planned to stay until the end of this month originally.</p>
<p>map- I love the “Wait to worry!” My husband and daughter are huge worriers and I am going to pass along your logic. It makes perfect sense to me; I just hope it does to them.</p>
<p>Birthright’s finances have also shrunk- I don’t think they know yet how this will affect their program. I wonder if various philanthropists had Madoff investments in addition to the general economic slowdown?
D will also apply to local college language program (in which she can do 1 year and get credit) as back up. I am willing to finance that, but not non-credit trip.</p>
<p>I can understand your concerns. I have been to Israel several times over the last 13+ years, and a couple of times, there were issues that were a concern. Mostly this was in 1998, when the US had hit Iraq, and then Iraq was bombing Israel. My D was pretty young then, but we managed to stay out of trouble. On another trip, I think it was 2004, there were also some difficulties. We drove in a taxi that took a wrong turn and were on the road to Bethlehem. The only non Palestinian license plate was an Israeli military vehicle, who directed us back to Jerusalem. Then we were supposed to go during the summer of 2006, but there were some bombs, and the hotel in the north that we were going to go to was damaged, so we cancelled. We rebooked in 2007, and that time there were no troubles, and all was much secured due to the security wall and other improvements. </p>
<p>If she goes, and she can go without your permission, I would encourage the following ideas. Staying in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv is generally the most secure (although neighborhoods do differ in safety.) I personally would not take buses, although Israelis take them all the time. (I don’t like the NYC bus either. I never encourage anyone to ride on the NYC subway if they are from out of town. But the news coverage of the bus bombings has affected me too much.) I also never rent a car in Israel (as well as all other foreign countries that I travel to.) Do not travel alone.</p>