Birthright Woes

It was only a matter of time: JAFI, the UJC, the Joint, Hadassah. All mega institutions adjusting life in 2008 to the falling value of the dollar against the shekel. Now, both Birthright Israel and Aish chime in.

from the Jerusalem Post:

Weak dollar forces cuts in Taglit-Birthright

Taglit-Birthright Israel is poised to turn away more than 2,000 students this coming winter due to budgetary pressures resulting from the continued plunge in the dollar-shekel exchange rate and a rise in energy and programming prices…

Other programs which send students to Israel have been burned even worse. Aish Jerusalem Fellowships, which provides heavily subsidized, religious-themed trips to Israel, had to cut its program from 3,600 participants last year to around 2,500 this year, said Chanan Kaufman, the organization’s executive director.