Q: On August 6, 2025, eJewish Philanthropy reported that “for the organization RootOne, 70% of the teen summer travel participants expected to attend RootOne-affiliated programs are still traveling this summer. Roughly 36% of those participants are attending the “alternative trips” — to Europe or other non-Israel countries — that RootOne added to its offerings for this year only in light of ongoing security concerns.”
While I appreciate the fact that RootOne was flexible and offered alternatives, as a parent of a rising eighth grader at a Jewish Day School, I was horrified that so many trips still took place. My son is 13 and will graduate from the school next year. I sincerely hope there will be peace by the time I have to make a decision about sending him on the trip to Israel. I know I will be under great pressure from him to send him on this trip. It’s a rite of passage at his school. This year all but five of the kids went. I really don’t understand how parents could send a 13-year-old into such an unstable situation. I know they have soldiers protecting them, but things change rapidly in war zones. I really am torn. I don’t want to have my son be an outcast or the only one of his friends who doesn’t get to go on the trip. On the other hand, I think it is really frightening. I know I would never forgive myself if anything happened to him. I feel this tremendous pressure in the Jewish community to support Israel by sending our children to Israel, but there are so many other ways we can support Israel. Why put our kids at risk?
A. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if by the time this article is published the hostages were released and there was peace in the middle east. It seems doubtful that will happen. I suspect you are not the only mother who has struggled with the decision whether or not to send your child to Israel during these 600 days plus of war.
Many camps, youth groups and schools have canceled their trips while many others have proceeded. You raise a very interesting question, though. Is the decision to send a child morally different from going yourself or the decision made by a child of legal age? Until age 18, parents are legally and morally responsible to protect their children. Children are very likely to argue with their parents if their peers and school leaders are encouraging trip participation. This puts those parents who feel they don’t want to put their child in a position of having to cope with the uncertainties of the flare ups of war in a very awkward position. Their job is to protect their child in the best way they see fit but the pressure from the other parents, the other kids and the school can be overwhelming.
Sending a young child is very different from a 25-year-old making the decision to travel to Israel to volunteer by working in the fields and helping cook meals for soldiers. At 25, the young adult is making his or her own informed decision and chooses to take on the associated risks with full, adult understanding of those risks. A 13-year-old is not emotionally or intellectually in a position to make such a decision for himself, so it falls to the parents to make this choice. Similarly, a young adult might still opt to go on a birthright trip knowing that there are risks.
You make a good point when you note that the situation is ever-changing in a war zone. Last May things seemed to be quiet then all of a sudden there was the 11-day war with Iran. This resulted in many siren calls for people to go to the shelters. Things were quiet and then suddenly a bomb dropped. It’s true that one could also get hit crossing the street, but we try to take precautions such as looking both ways and crossing at the crosswalk so your question is what precautions should you take now?
First you will want to assess what the purpose of this trip is and if there are other ways this same purpose can be achieved. If the purpose is to show solidarity to Israel are there fundraising projects, they can do instead? Or are there marches and protests they can attend? When deciding whether to send your child you will want to consider the maturity of the child as well as that of the teachers and chaperones on the trip. It is a tremendous responsibility to put any child in danger.
Many student and adult trips have given the people the option of cancelling while still offering the trip. Others such as the Hartman institute have moved their programs online. As parents we have to consider what would happen if our children were injured. Could we even get to them to provide comfort and support if flights are limited or cancelled? Although we would want to do this for any loved one, with children we have an added responsibility. I can’t tell you what to do, but I do support your concerns.