The results of the first ever long-term study of the effects of the Taglit-Birthright Israel program, which sends young Jewish adults on free 10-day trips to Israel, conducted by Prof. Leonard Saxe (Heller), were released last Monday. The study, conducted under the Maurice and Marilyn Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies, examined the effects the program has on attitudes regarding connections to Israel and decisions pertaining to intermarriage and raising children in the Jewish faith.

"In general, it wasn't surprising to see that the program had long-lasting impacts on people. ... The degree in which people made important life choices, particularly about marriage and family based on their Jewish identity, that was surprising," Saxe said.

In its nearly 10 years of existence, Birthright has sent nearly 225,000 young Jewish adults from more than 50 countries to Israel.

Data was collected by surveying a sample of U.S.-based Jewish young adults who applied to go on Birthright between 2001 and 2004 through telephone and the Web.

The study included applicants who went on the trip as well as those who did not go.

Saxe said that along with his fellow collaborators, he had been gathering the data for his study over the past nine months.

Saxe collaborated on the study with his fellow members at the Center: Benjamin Phillips, Theodore Sasson, Shahar Hecht, Michelle Shain, Graham Wright and Charles Kadushin.

"Now that the program is about to be 10 years old, we wanted to go back and look at what happened to people who went on the trip ... and how their lives have been affected," said Saxe.

Saxe said, "We are interested in how being part of an ethnic, religious pilgrimage affects how people view themselves."

He added, "While not definitive, the results of this study may indicate a substantially higher rate of conversion to Judaism among spouses of participants."

Page 27 of the report states, "Among non-Orthodox Taglit applicants, who were married at the time of the survey, participants were 57 percent more likely than nonparticipants to be married to a Jew."

"Younger unmarried Taglit participants are 46 percent more likely to view marrying a Jew as 'very important.' Participants were, however, not significantly more likely to date Jews," according to the report.

The study also found that intermarried participants of the program are most likely to consider it important to raise their children as Jews compared to intermarried nonparticipants.

Brandeis Coordinator for Israel Engangement Dan Levine said, "There are students for whom the trip is purely just fun, and that's great. Then there are people who have some sort of awakening on the trip, and that's great [too]."

Levine said, "I have worked with students who have become incredibly involved. They come back and now are going to Hillel or having regular Shabbat dinner on Friday nights with their friends."

Nicole Litvak '12, who will be going on Birthright in January, said, "People who [choose to] go on Birthright may already be more connected to Judaism than people who don't go."

Litvak said that participants may already be planning on marrying within their religion and raising their kids in the Jewish faith.