Building Birthright Alumni Networks

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Morlie Levin: New Birthright NEXT new CEO sees alumni group reaching “critical mass.”

Morlie Levin, formerly the national executive director of Hadassah, is slated next month to take on the new post of CEO at Birthright Israel NEXT. She is expected to lead a nationwide expansion of the Birthright alumni organization, currently in seven cities, so that it has a presence in 10-15 cities. Prior to her position at Hadassah, Levin was the vice president of strategic planning at the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, where she sought new ways to engage young donors.

Q: What are your thoughts as you join the Birthright Israel NEXT team?

A:I’m thrilled and humbled to have this opportunity. You may know about the NEXT Shabbat activities — NEXT is on track to host its 100,000th Shabbat meal. We’re getting to the point, what Malcolm Gladwell refers to as “the tipping point,” where you begin to get enough of a critical mass so you really can build communities of people with an interest in learning more, with an interest in practicing more, with an interest in looking at the world through a Jewish lens, with an interest in taking an active, informed stance vis-à-vis the State of Israel and Jewish people worldwide. Many people are worried about the Jewish future — yes, there’s a lot to worry about, but there’s a lot to be pleased and excited about.

Though you first visited Israel in 1991, when your children were already grown, how did your trip compare to the Birthright experience?

Although I don’t fit the demographic profile, I’m a classic Birthrighter: my Jewish identity and connection was dramatically enhanced by an adult trip to the land, and interaction with the people of Israel. So I viscerally understand this really from my own experience how profound the Birthright experience is in many cases and the kind of effect it can have.

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