Tyler Scheff is a Birthright Israel alum from Baltimore, MD, who works in healthcare marketing. He is also a videographer and photographer. His passions include travel and helping people share their stories through visual media. Birthright Israel Foundation is fortunate to Tyler for sharing his gratitude for the trip through the short video below. Tyler is just one example of the 800,000 alum whose lives have been forever changed thanks to your generosity.

Q&A with Tyler Scheff

What inspired you to sign up for a Birthright trip?

Tyler Scheff: “It’s not necessarily what inspired me, but who. My mother has always pushed me since I was of age to go on a Birthright Israel trip, but I always brushed it off because I didn’t think I was Jewish enough. Every year, she would ask me, “did you sign up for Birthright this year?” My brother, his wife, and a lot of my friends have all gone on a Birthright trip and said nothing but amazing things about it, but I wasn’t fully convinced that this was a trip that was for me. After I passed the cutoff age, I thought, oh well, I wasn’t meant to go on the trip anyways, until they raised the age to 32, and I saw that as a sign. Again, my mother told me, “what have you got to lose by going,” and she was right. I had nothing to lose. So I applied and was accepted to participate in the program.”

Did you have any preconceived notions prior to going to Israel?

Tyler Scheff: “I knew very little about Israel in general. I knew about the IDF and having to serve in the military, the Iron Dome, and some of the history of Israel, but I never did too much studying. I’ve never been, so it would be wrong for me to make any sort of assumption or guess. But based on what people told me about Birthright Israel and their experience, it was a place that I had to visit.”

What was your biggest takeaway from the trip?

Tyler Scheff: “I think the biggest takeaway from the trip was how many other people were in the same exact position as me of not feeling Jewish enough and how many lifelong friends I made. I fell out of a lot of Jewish practices as I got older and wasn’t closely connected to a Jewish community back home, but now I know and feel like I have family all over the world. A lot of times, I would joke that I was Jew-ish, but now I tell people and am proud to say that I am Jewish, which is really cool. I feel like I am a part of something important, and I can find peace in that.

What surprised you most about Israel?

Tyler Scheff: “What surprised me most about Israel was how lively and wonderful of a country it was. Everyone there was so nice and welcoming, and I never felt unsafe or unwelcome, no matter where we went. I now have some of my closest friends who live in Israel, and we still talk almost every day seven months later.”

If you could meet the donor who made your trip possible, what would you say to them?

Tyler Scheff: “If I could hug them, I would. I’ve traveled to a lot of countries all over the world, but this trip has really opened up my mind and soul in ways that others haven’t. There’s nothing that I could say or do that would be able to thank them enough for the amazing opportunity that they not only gave me but everyone else I got to be on the experience with. A simple thank you, I feel like, wouldn’t be enough.”

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