Taglit-Birthright has informed Shomer Shabbos participants of their most recent trip now stranded in Israel that they will not necessarily be offered assistance unless they agree to evacuate on Shabbos. The message came to light through a desperate plea from a young woman currently in Israel on a Birthright program. After she and several friends extended their trip and found themselves stuck following widespread flight cancellations, they reached out to Birthright for help getting home. Birthright’s answer? Get on the evacuation boat leaving on Shabbos—or figure it out yourselves. “We are trying to get back home and when reaching out to Birthright, they put us on an evacuation boat that will be over Shabbat,” the woman told YWN. “We asked our rabbis and they said we are not allowed to break Shabbat for this, and we really do not want to be traveling on Shabbat, even to go back to America.” But when the group asked for an alternative that would not require them to violate halacha, Birthright refused. “The Birthright reps who have organized this boat have made it clear that the boat is not for shomer Shabbos individuals,” she said. “If you don’t go on the boat, Birthright is not guaranteeing to ensure that people who are on their current Taglit will be helped by them to be evacuated from Israel.” In other words: Either violate Shabbos, or you’re on your own. The implications are staggering. Birthright, whose stated mission is “to ensure a vibrant future of the Jewish people by strengthening Jewish identity,” is offering aid only on condition that participants abandon the very mitzvos that define their Jewish identity. It’s a cruel irony. The same program that organizes visits to the Kosel and touts its role in connecting young Jews to their heritage is now punishing those who take that heritage seriously. These are not simply tourists on vacation. These are young men and women who traveled to Israel to volunteer, to serve, and to connect more deeply with their Jewish roots. Now, in their moment of need, they are being told that their halachic observance disqualifies them from assistance. No alternate arrangements. No effort to respect religious observance. Just a blunt ultimatum: travel on Shabbos, or be left behind. At a time when global Jewry is calling for unity, when Jewish identity is under siege around the world, Birthright is drawing a line in the sand—not between Jew and non-Jew, but between religious and non-religious Jews. And the message is clear: if you won’t be mechalel Shabbos, you don’t matter. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)