Tours That Bind — A Study of Birthright Israel
New York University Press, 2010
★ Jordan Schnitzer Book Award, Association for Jewish Studies
★ Honorable Mention, Mary Douglas Prize, ASA Culture Section
A new way of thinking about tourism as a way through which people develop understandings of place, society, and self.
Since 1999, hundreds of thousands of young American Jews have visited Israel on an all-expense-paid ten-day pilgrimage-tour known as Birthright Israel. The most elaborate of the state-supported homeland tours cropping up worldwide, the free trip seeks to foster in the American Jewish diaspora a lifelong attachment to the country based on ethnic and political solidarity.
Based on over seven years of firsthand observation in Israel, sociologist Shaul Kelner provides an on-the-ground look at this hotly debated use of tourism to forge transnational ties. We ride the bus, attend speeches with the Prime Minister, hang out in the hotel bar, and get a fresh feel for young American Jewish identity and contemporary Israel.
Reviews
“One of the finest social scientific studies of contemporary Jewish life in a generation.”
— Riv-Ellen Prell, author of Fighting to Become Americans
“The best book to date on diaspora tourism. A major contribution to the literature on tourism and Jewish studies.”
— Edward M. Bruner, author of Culture on Tour
“Masterfully performed… an excellent book… highly recommended.”
— American Journal of Sociology
“The study that scholars of contemporary Judaism and American Jewish life have been waiting for… A tremendous addition to the field.”
— Religion
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