{"id":35083,"date":"2014-02-26T18:08:58","date_gmt":"2014-02-26T18:08:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=35083"},"modified":"2014-02-27T21:31:20","modified_gmt":"2014-02-27T21:31:20","slug":"congress-super-bowl-israel-free-spirit-launches-three-new-trips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/congress-super-bowl-israel-free-spirit-launches-three-new-trips\/","title":{"rendered":"From Congress to the Super Bowl: Israel Free Spirit Birthright Launches Three New Trips"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Israel<\/a>
Israel Free Spirit, the Orthodox Union’s Birthright Division, will be running three special niche trips to Israel this year.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What do a Super Bowl-winning athlete, a theater actress, and a former six-term Congressman have in common?<\/p>\n

All three will be leading Birthright trips this summer run exclusively by Israel Free Spirit, the Birthright trip provider of the Orthodox Union.<\/p>\n

Former Dallas Cowboy Allan Veingrad, part of the 1992 team that won the Super Bowl, will lead a sports-oriented trip while Peter Deutsch, a six-term congressman and the founder of the first Hebrew language charter school in America, will be directing a trip for those interested in the political side of Israel. Casey Turner, a Broadway actress who most recently starred in the national touring production of Rock of Ages<\/i>, will be running a trip for artists.<\/p>\n

Israel Free Spirit is part of the Orthodox Union\u2019s Next Gen Division, led by Rabbi Dave Felsenthal. Israel Free Spirit has taken more than 10,000 individuals to Israel for the first time. This year Israel Free Spirit was awarded one of Birthrights coveted certificates of excellence.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Israel Free Spirit, we\u2019re always looking for innovative programs to direct more people to experience Israel for the first time,\u201d Rabbi Felsenthal explained.<\/p>\n

Veingrad became Torah-observant after retiring from the NFL and now goes by his Hebrew name Shlomo. He learnt about Israel Free Spirit through a neighbor who had gone on the program.<\/p>\n

\"Shlomo<\/a>
Shlomo Veingrad<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cMy neighbor\u2019s experience was an endorsement,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen I reached out to Israel Free spirit about a sport-themed trip<\/a> and how I could use my sports background and my passion for Judaism they were enthusiastic about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Veingrad said his goal was to use his experiences as a jumping-off point for the trip.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hoping to develop relationship with young adults and share my experiences with them as it relates to my life\u2019s journey,\u201d he said. \u201cThe younger world looks at celebrities and athletes and artists and sees the failure in many of their personal lives. My own personal experience have become so meaningful and enriched by incorporating Judaism into my life and having myself on a growth plan in your learning and continuing to see the beauty of Judaism has to offer I think that the message will come across loudly because of my own experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peter Deutsche decided to lead a trip after realizing there was a lack of political trips in the Birthright organization<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Peter<\/a>
Peter Deutsch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI think there is a lot of potential Birthright participants who have an interest in politics,\u201d he said. \u201cThis could be a unique trip for those types of students.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOn all Birthright trips the goal is for people to connect with who they are through a visit to Israel,\u201d Deutsch said. \u201cWe\u2019ll meet with a number of Knesset members from a broad range from the right to the left, including Arab party members in the Knesset, to get an overview understanding of the political situation in Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Casey<\/a>
Casey Tuma<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is the second trip<\/a> led by Casey Turner who also starred in the Broadway production of Annie.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone on the trip had some artistic background,\u201d she said about the trip she led last year. \u201dWhen you get a bunch of artists together you never know what you\u2019re going to create.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last trip the itinerary included meeting fellow artists in Israel; visiting the Ramon school of drama and attending productions in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.<\/p>\n

All three trip leaders have high expectations for their trips.<\/p>\n

\u201cBirthright has a proven track record of changing people\u2019s lives,\u201d Deutsche said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Click the following links for further information on the Sports<\/a>, Politics<\/a> and Arts & Entertainmen<\/a>t Trips. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What do a Super Bowl-winning athlete, a theater actress, and a former six-term Congressman have in common? All three will be leading Birthright trips this summer run exclusively by Israel Free Spirit, the Birthright trip provider of the Orthodox Union. Former Dallas Cowboy Allan Veingrad, part of the 1992 team that won the Super Bowl,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":730,"featured_media":35099,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[96],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nFrom Congress to the Super Bowl: Israel Free Spirit Birthright Launches Three New Trips - OU Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/congress-super-bowl-israel-free-spirit-launches-three-new-trips\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From Congress to the Super Bowl: Israel Free Spirit Birthright Launches Three New Trips - OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What do a Super Bowl-winning athlete, a theater actress, and a former six-term Congressman have in common? 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