After a year away, Birthright returns to Israel at a critical time

(JNS) - They're baaaaack!

If you're in Israel this month, you can't miss the clusters of them downing falafel on Jerusalem's Ben-Yehuda Street, cooling off in the Dead Sea, climbing Masada at sunrise or slipping prayers between the stones of the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

After more than a year of pandemic silence, the Birthrighters have returned with all the gusto of young adults who'd waited out the year of coronavirus restrictions with visions of Israel dancing in their heads.

Take Conor Mullaney, who applied for a Birthright Israel trip months ago with little hope of going then.

"I'd been...