For 25 years, Birthright Israel has sent young Jewish adults to Israel to experience the culture and values of the country from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv and places in between. For ten days at no cost, the participants, ages 18-26, tour Israel.

It is 2006 and the six characters in Jonathan Spector’s new show, Birthright, are recent participants in the program. They have bonded and forged deep connections to Israel as well as with one another. In fact, they refer to one another as mishpocha (Yiddish for extended family).

Chaya (Zoe Winters) has invited five of them to her parents’ home in Annandale, Virginia, in part to convince Alona (Molly Ranson) not to make aliyah, not to immigrate to Israel. The first act introduces the group and their relationships. It almost feels like a camp reunion. Izzy (Molly Bernard) Chaya’s childhood friend, wonders if Lev, a free spirit whom no one has heard from (the charismatic Hale Appleman) will show up. He does. Awkward Noah (Eli Gelb) is attracted to Chaya, and Emerson, the struggling musician (Nate Mann) is adrift. They represent a range of Jewish observance and involvement but feel connected to one another. Emerson has little experience with formal religion in contrast to Lev who announces he’s considering becoming a rabbi.

The three hour and twenty minute production moves surprisingly quickly. Each act jumps forward in time and the second act is set in 2016 with a different political environment. No longer is Obama in office but now it’s now Trump’s first term. The group has gathered for Alona’s wedding to an Israeli. They meet at Chaya’s parents' beach house complete with an outside hot tub. Chaya’s father has died and she comes each weekend to be with her mother (the effervescent Liz Larson who has a comic scene in each act).

Chaya and Izzy are at odds about Israel’s policies in Gaza and the Settlements, a foreshadowing of the political divide that will come to a head between American Jews after Oct 7, 2023.

By the final scene set in 2024, the characters have gone through drastic lifestyle changes: divorce, marriage, children, religion. They once again reunite for a dramatic event. The political and philosophical divide between Chaya and Izzy becomes savage as the two argue, and each, in a humorous moment, seeks help from Google.

The cast is fine. Appleman is passionate, Gelb endearing like a lost puppy, and Mann seemingly lost until his character finds his way in a totally unexpected way. Ransom doesn’t have much to do and mostly serves as catalyst, a stand-in for Israel. Winters and Bernard are outstanding, especially in their confrontation with one another. After listening to them, one might have a better understanding of Jews’ mixed feelings about the conflict in Gaza.

Using the comic technique that he explored so effectively in Eureka Day, Spector makes good use of the internet. Emails show the passage of time as the group stays in touch over the years. We see how their lives change by the content as well as their email addresses. Chaya is involved in politics, first for Hilalry and then Obama while Izzy works for JStreet. Noah creates a very successful blog. The emails flashed on the screen move very quickly, sometimes too quickly for the audience to process.

Each set, designed by Scott Pask, is different, although all of them take place in Chaya’s parents’ homes. Key to the second act is the outdoor hot tub, for which we had to lock up our phones. Deftly and sensitively directed by Teddy Bergman, Birthright explores so many issues about religion, attitudes and Israel. Despite conflicting ideas and shifting relationships, the play ends as it began, with mishpocha and the sense of family, no matter what else has happened.

I wondered about the audience this show would attract and assumed that some of the 900,000 participants of Birthright would come to see the show. I attended a weekend matinee, and that audience skewed older. Judging from the reactions to Jewish references, most in the group were Jewish. But you don't have to be Jewish to enjoy the humor and warmth. The reaction to Birthright at the intimate The Robert W. Wilson, MCC Theater Space on W 52 Street has been so overwhelming that the limited run has been sold out and already extended for another month. Don’t let the running time turn you off; it's well worth the visit.