Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Taglit-Birthright Israel participants at a recent event in Jerusalem. Tanya Tsikanovsky, director of Jewish Student Life at the University of Hartford is standing, second from left.

JERUSALEM – Tanya Tsikanovsky, director of Jewish Student Life at the University of Hartford, was among 3,000 young Jewish adults from the around the world who gathered together in Israel recently to kick-off the year-long celebration of Taglit-Birthright Israel’s “bar mitzvah” year. Taglit-Birthright Israel sends young Jewish adults on a free 10-day trip to Israel to learn about their heritage. On hand to greet the group:  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “You come from different countries and speak different languages, but you have one thing in common: Israel is your birthright,” Netanyahu told them. “Israel is the place where Jewish history comes alive. … Israel is not merely about the Jewish past, it’s about the Jewish future.”
To find out more about Taglit-Birthright trips visit www.BirthrightIsrael.com.