LISTEN: Why ‘Birthright for Moms’ founder is so moved to light torch for Israel

This week on The Times of Israel Podcast, we speak with Lori Palatnik, the founding director of Momentum, aka “Birthright for Moms.”

It’s Yom Haatzma’ut here in Israel, our Independence Day, and for the past several years, Culture Minister Miri Regev has chosen a representative of the Diaspora to light one of the 12 torches at the official Independence Day ceremony at Mount Herzl. This year, Regev chose Palatnik, who splits her time between Jerusalem and Washington, DC.

Among Regev’s reasons, she said in her announcement, “Lori is an outstanding educator, a Zionist at heart and the founding director of Momentum – who works tirelessly to strengthen both Jewish identity and the close connection to the State of Israel through her work with young mothers at their communities.”

The basic idea behind Momentum is to connect parents with children aged 18 and younger to Israel and the Jewish people, so that — in a trickle-down way — they may influence their households. In the past 12 years, over 20,000 mothers from the Diaspora have taken part, and for five-plus years, 2,000 fathers, too.

The program welcomes Jews from all walks of life and religious observance — or none. When asked, Palatnik confirmed that LGBTQ couples are welcome, but on separate trips since a central tenet of the eight-day experience is being without your significant other.

When Palatnik’s group was founded in 2008, it was originally called the Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project. Recently, upon bolstering its men’s program, the organization changed its name to Momentum. In the podcast conversation, she was laughingly asked by host Amanda Borschel-Dan if the new name is a kind of “Dad joke.” In a way it actually is: She replied that the word is a combination of “mom” and “men ” — and is pronounceable in most languages since Momentum is active in 30 countries.

A few days after the taping of her torch-lighting, The Times of Israel spoke with Palatnik, who is also a frequent Times of Israel blogger. Due to the coronavirus crisis, the central Independence Day ceremony was recorded piecemeal and will only be broadcast in its entirety on Tuesday night.

Palatnik, speaking from her Jerusalem home, cites some pretty impressive stats relating to the trips’ ripple effects on intermarriage and Jewish education. Have a listen to find out more.

Also this week from Times of Israel podcasts:

This week on The Times of Israel/TLV1 coproduction WhyWhyWhy! we hear from Bill Slott, tour guide, kibbutznik and Times of Israel blogger. He tells a story about adapting the ultimate collective experience — kibbutz life, Jewish worship and the need to recite the Kaddish mourner’s prayer — to the corona-rules of social distancing.

The Times of Israel podcasts are available for download on iTunes, Soundcloud, TuneIn, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, PlayerFM or wherever you get your podcasts.