FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jeffrey Cohan

412-965-9210

Jewish Veg Announces First-Ever Vegan Birthright Israel Trip

NEW YORK (January 11, 2017) -- The national nonprofit organization Jewish Veg announced today that it is organizing the first-ever vegan Birthright trip, in conjunction with Mayanot Israel.

“This is an historic step in the evolution of the Birthright program,” Jewish Veg Executive Director Jeffrey Cohan said. “We’re excited about showcasing the exciting growth of the Vegan Movement in Israel and about providing Birthright Israel trips that will interest the increasing number of young adults who care about animals, our planet and their health.”

Mayanot Israel, one of Birthright Israel’s longest-standing tour organizers, also expressed excitement about this new trip offering.

“Although we’ve had all types of trips over the years, this one promises to be unique in many ways” said Levi Margolin, Director of Marketing at Mayanot. “It’s not just the itinerary, it’s also the new level of diversity this brings to the Mayanot family.”

The vegan trip – which will include meetings with vegan leaders in Israel, visits to farms and meals at vegan restaurants – will run from Aug. 13-23, 2017. Also included will be many of the traditional Birthright Israel: Mayanot activities, such as climbing Masada and spending Shabbat at the Western Wall.

Ten of the 40 slots on the trip will be reserved for young-adult Israelis who are vegan, adding to the experience for the American participants.

Through its partnership with Mayanot, Jewish Veg submitted a proposal for vegan Birthright trips to Birthright Israel, which approved the concept late last year.

Mayanot and Jewish Veg will be jointly designing the itinerary and educational program for the trip and Jewish Veg will be providing some of the staff.

“We anticipate that this trip will fill-up quickly. And if we’re right, we fully expect that we’ll be organizing many other vegan Birthright trips in the years to come,” Cohan said.

Jewish Veg is an organization whose mission is to encourage and help Jews to transition toward plant-based diets, in accordance with the highest ideals of Judaism.

Anyone seeking more information about this summer’s trip should contact Naomi Davis of the Jewish Veg staff at ndavis@JewishVeg.org