Abstract
Since 2000, nearly one-hundred-and-fifty-thousand young adult Jews have participated in Birthright Israel (Taglit). Birthright Israel is a free ten-day trip to Israel available to any young adult Jew between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six.
It is conceived to curb assimilation by shifting an entire generation of Diaspora Jews from a trajectory of non-involvement with the Jewish community to one of identity and engagement, securing the state of Israel's central place in the Jewish identity of Diaspora communities with the ultimate goal to contribute to increase in immigration numbers to the state of Israel. The trip is sponsored by Jewish philanthropists and the Government of Israel.
The gift of the trip, as well as its obligation, stems from the Law of Return, a right of every Jew to "return" to his/her ancient homeland of Israel granting every Jewish person Israeli citizenship. Drawing on Mauss's theory of gift, I am going to investigate to what extent this informal economy of exchanging the initial material gift of a trip for loyalty to the state works with participants from the Czech Republic and Slovakia who are characterised by very weak, if any Jewish upbringing.
In doing so, I am going to examine the strategies used to create a feeling of obligation, as well as create an experience that "markets" Israel well. Last but not at least, I will outline how the feelings created during this tourist experience are translated into action, in other words "paid back" by young Jewish participants from the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
These actions include engagement in Jewish communities in Diaspora, participation in one-year study programmes at one of the Israeli universities, or ultimately moving to Israel and becoming an Israeli citizen. I will conclude with a closer look at the economic repercussions and motivations of immigrating to Israel for Taglit participants from the Czech Republic and Slovakia.