MERCAZ USA Newsletter — Purim 2000

MERCAZ Undertakes New Israel Travel Initiative

Recently a rabbi in New Jersey posted the following message on "Ravnet", the electronic bulletin board of the Rabbinical Assembly: "A congregant would like to travel to Israel just before Passover. Does anyone have a group leaving about that time with which she might be able to hook up?"

There is no question how important is tourism to Israel, both for the economy of the country as well as for strengthening the Jewish identity of Diaspora Jewry. There is also no question that a majority of American Jews has never been to Israel. How do we encourage more Jews to travel to the Jewish State?

A recent study conducted on "An Assessment of the Jewish American Travel Market" for the Israeli Ministry of Tourism noted that of the 4.5 million American Jews 18 years or older, 75% are used to taking weeklong vacations once every two-to-three years. Additionally, more than 90% of those who take weeklong vacations have been on trips outside the United States during the past three years. This means that there is a potential for Israeli tourism of nearly 3.5 million American Jewish visitors, at one time or another. Yet, of this population, just over 40%, or 1.5 million Jewish adults, have ever been to Israel, with between 120,000-150,000 taveling to Israel yearly. As Evelyn Seelig, MERCAZ President, commented: "As the Israeli sponsored study indicates, while on average, only 44% of "vacationing" Jewish adults have been to Israel, this figure rises to 56% when we look at Conservative Jews. Having said that, the Conservative Movement trails badly behind the 81% of Orthodox Jews who have visited the Jewish State. We have to find a way to encourage more tourism to Israel from among members of our Movement. At the same time, we should encourage more participation in Movement-sponsored trips, since these are the best vehicles for presenting Israel within a Conservative Jewish context."

MERCAZ USA, in fulfillment of its mandate as the Zionist organization of the Conservative Movement, is seeking to address this situation by serving as a clearinghouse for Conservative synagogue trips to Israel. Twice a year, MERCAZ will publish a list of upcoming synagogue trips to the Jewish State, with information about price, itinerary and other special features. Individuals, like the rabbi's congregant described above, who are interested in visiting Israel as part of a group of fellow Conservative Jews, will now be able to find out about synagogue trips going to Israel throughout the year.

See the back page of this newsletter for a list of Spring/Summer 2000 congregational trips. To have your Winter/Spring 2000-2001 trips listed, contact Mercaz USA by the beginning of July.

top of page | Sitemap

MERCAZ USA
820 Second Avenue, New York, New York 10017-4504
tel 212.533.2061 | fax 212.533.2601
info@mercazusa.org | www.mercazusa.org