Giles Howe has a story to tell about two Jewish homelands.
The first is Israel, which he first encountered, like many Millennial Jews, on a Taglit Birthright trip. On his return realizing he “knew very little about a lot” he decided to explore his heritage to find where he belonged. He soon discovered that Israel was not the only Jewish Promised Land of the last century.
“I was reading an article and I saw a footnote that mentioned Birobidzhan,” Howe, a 36-year-old musical theater writer from Hampshire, England, now living in Daytona, Florida, said on a Zoom call. “I was fascinated that this place existed and there was an entirely parallel national narrative.”