The big piece today is a Nation report on Birthright Israel, a comprehensive look at its origins, evolution, and funding. Fascinatingly, the organization commonly thought to be dedicated to encouraging aliyah and indoctrinating diaspora Jews with pro-Israel—even right-wing—sentiments was the brainchild of that old-line Laborite Yossi Beilin; his goal was the much less controversial one of discouraging intermarriage. However, “a new era is dawning for Birthright,” the article argues persuasively. “What began as an identity booster has become an ideology machine, pumping out not only Jewish baby-makers but defenders of Israel. Or that’s the hope.”

(Disclosure: I’ve met the author, Kiera Feldman, and she co-hosts a radio show with former Tablet Magazine staff writer Marissa Brostoff, who is also a friend of mine. Further disclosure: Birthright didn’t give me a spot this summer despite the fact that I’m 26 and therefore should have received one, and yeah, you’re damn right I’m pissed about that.)

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