In honor of Birthright Israel’s 25th anniversary, we’re proud to spotlight 25 outstanding alumni and share their inspiring stories with you.

I’m 49 years old, and I live in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with my wife, our two kids, and a dog. In my professional life, I’m the CEO of a health company and manage a hospital. I also organize medical conferences in Latin America and the United States. 

But that’s just the surface. There’s another part of my life that’s even more important to me, and that part started 23 years ago with Birthright Israel. 

To understand the impact that trip had on me, I have to go back further. I grew up in a beautiful family, but I didn’t have any real Jewish education or traditions. Of course, my parents were Jewish, but we didn’t have Shabbat dinners. We didn’t go to synagogue except for a wedding or a bar or bat mitzvah. I didn’t know anything about the holidays. I remember friends being excited because they had days off for Jewish holidays, and I was like, “What’s Rosh Hashanah? What’s Yom Kippur?” 

The only true Jewish connection I had was with my grandfather. He escaped the Warsaw Ghetto in Poland with his brother. They went to Russia, were imprisoned there, and eventually made it to Argentina. His whole family was murdered. He was very angry. He used to say, “God doesn’t exist. The Shoah proves it.” But even though he was bitter, I was the only one in the family who really sat and listened to his stories. Every Friday after lunch, I’d go to his house. If I didn’t show up, he’d call and say, “Why didn’t you come? I have a story to tell.” 

He was very tough, but through those stories, even though they were full of pain, I learned something about where I came from. Later, I found out his father was a rabbi. So, from a rabbi to my grandfather, who rejected it all, to my father, who had no interest in Jewish life, and then to me — somehow, there was still a spark that survived. 

Birthright Israel turned that spark into a flame. 

After university, I heard some friends talking about a free trip to Israel. I said, “What’s Birthright Israel?” I didn’t know anything about Jewish programs. I was completely outside the community. But I signed up anyway. I went for the interview with two friends and was admitted. This was in 2003, when the program wasn’t very well known in Argentina. I didn’t know what awaited me. 

The first couple of days felt like a student trip — fun, good food, nice hotels. But then we went to the Kotel, and everything changed. I was with twenty-four other Jewish young adults. I remember seeing the Kotel from a distance and hearing the story about the destruction of the temples. As we got closer, I started feeling something strange. People around me were crying. Suddenly, I was crying, too. 

That’s when I realized — I belong. This is not just a place to visit. I’m part of this. I’m part of something bigger than myself. I felt that I belonged to a community for the first time in my life. 

From then on, everything on the trip felt different. I remember my first real Shabbat dinner. Michael Steinhardt invited us to his place by the Kinneret. I had never lit candles before. I had never been part of a Shabbat ceremony. It was absolutely amazing. I discovered my Judaism there. 

And then there was the Mega Event. Thousands of people from all over the world. Singing, dancing, waving Israeli flags. I didn’t know Hebrew, but in a way, I understood every word. It was about connection, about being one people. That experience stays with me to this day. 

My group became my community. Six of them are still my best friends. Not just “we keep in touch” friends — real, everyday friends. That’s the power of this trip. 

When I got back home, I said, “Okay, now what?” I didn’t have a synagogue or a community. So, I created one. I went back to the Birthright Israel office and asked, “What do we do now?” They didn’t really have anything, so I organized the first Birthright Israel alumni reunion event in Argentina. We recreated the shuk in a hotel. Hundreds of people came. That was the beginning. 

Later, I was honored to receive the Charlie Award by the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, which honors outstanding Birthright Israel alumni from around the world. Lynn Schusterman invited me to Jerusalem. She didn’t know me, but she heard what I was doing. We met and talked like family. She told me she didn’t have a formal Jewish education either. She was as kind to me as if I were her own grandson. 

After that, I got involved with the ROI Community, a network for Jewish changemakers around the world. I volunteered as the Latin American representative. I helped organize events, retreats, and programs in cities all over the world. 

Eventually, I co-founded a nonprofit organization that helps people who didn’t grow up with Jewish education to experience Jewish communal life. And it’s working. Just last weekend, we had a retreat. Some of the participants told me, with amazement, “This was my first Shabbat dinner.” I know exactly how that feels. 

Birthright Israel didn’t just change me. It changed the life of my whole family. My kids are growing up in a Jewish home. They go to Jewish school. They had their bar and bat mitzvahs. They have a community. And that’s because of a trip I almost didn’t take. 

For me, Judaism is not just about synagogue or tradition. It’s about people. It’s about sharing. It’s about being with others who feel what you feel, even if they come from a different country or speak a different language. That’s what I learned in Israel. That’s what I try to bring into everything I do. 

So no, I’m not a rabbi. I’m not an influencer. I’m just a guy who had his life transformed in ten days and who wants other people to feel that, too. 

If I hadn’t gone on Birthright Israel, maybe the Judaism in my family would have ended with me. But I found something in Israel that changed everything. And now, I spend my life sharing it — a truly blessed life. 

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