120 Russian speakers from around the world arrived in Israel this week to attend the Taglit Birthright-Israel tour educator seminar.

The one week training seminar is a joint initiative of the Birthright Israel Foundation and Genesis Fund. The Russian speaking seminar was created to give Taglit-Birthright Israel alumni the necessary tools to guide groups arriving to Israel during the summer season and accompaniment upon return to their Jewish communities abroad.

This is the 7th Russian speaking training seminar held in cooperation with the Genesis Fund. “The idea of the seminar was born out of the belief the guide is not only responsible for the administrative part of the trip, rather, that they can and should fulfill a leadership role and lead the group during the tour in Israel,” said Sana Britavsky, the Executive Director of the Genesis Philanthropy Group Israel.

Approximately 36,000 Russian speaking young adults have come to Israel through Taglit-Birthright Israel over the past 14 year. 2500 FSU participants are expected to arrive for their experiential and educational 10-day tour this upcoming summer season.