P2I1

Cover Story

TWO-WAY BRIDGE from page 33

Gabi Landau, an Israel delegate to the
P2K Steering Committee and managing
director for the Valleys Tourist Board of
the Emek Yizreal (Jezreel Valley)
Regional Council, has no problem with
a Detroit concentration. "I'm not saying
not to do things in Israel," she said.
"I'm saying the focus should be more
on Detroit as part of our strategic plan. I
think it's our job; and we have means
and ways to do it, to share with you
efforts to create such an atmosphere in
Detroit like you experienced at our 10-
year anniversary celebration."
Marta Rosenthal of Franklin has
joined David Techner as Michigan co-
chair to the steering committee. She
supports a strategic vision but warns
against too long of a financial commit-
ment. "If we do a long-term business
plan, we wouldn't know from year to
year what our budget allocation from
Federation would be," she said.
Rosenthal is co-chair of Federation's
Annual Campaign but didn't hesitate to
also be a P2K co-chair. "This is truly a
labor of love," she said.

Leadership Pivotal

Robert Aronson points to the depth of
dedication among steering committee
members from Metro Detroit, Ann
Arbor and Grand Rapids as the founda-
tion for the partnership. He noted how
several members who have rotated off
the committee still cared enough to pay
their way to the Central Galilee for the
10-year anniversary celebration. "We
take for granted that past leadership of

the partnership are still with us, still
committed and still coming back,"
Aronson said.
Nora and Guy Barron of Bloomfield
Hills are good examples. A successful
bridge-building program that encourages
dialogue between Jewish and Arab kids
on neutral turf in the Jezreel Valley was
funded from 2001 to 2002 by the
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit's Nora Lee & Guy Barron
Millennium Fund. Federation's
Partnership 2000 allocation has included
$10,000 for the program each of the
past two years.
Both of Karen Paran's children have
taken part in the equality-building pro-
gram, part of the Museum of
Archaeology at kibbutz Ein Dor in the
Jezreel Valley.
`As a Jewish American living in Israel
for over 20 years," said Karen, a
Philadelphia native, "it is more and
more obvious that we do not live in this
country alone. We have Arab partners
here, for good or for bad. They have
been living here for generations.
"Our future here depends on a peace-
ful coexistence with our neighbors and
also on more integration between the
two peoples," she added. "This is why
the museum program is so important. It
is, first and foremost, a meeting point
between Arabs and Jews."
"We have been most successful with
some of our very small projects like our
bar and bat mitzvah programs of years
past," Nora Barron said. "These have
been things that have really touched
people and have really kept people

Danny Bitan is manager of the Center for Leadership and Excellence in Technology at
ORT Regozin High School in Migdal HaEmek.

2/ 3
2005

34

Maxine Shapiro of Grand Rapids- works with a child at Gila School in Nazareth Mt.

involved. I would hate to see us have
four large programs that seem to be
more of a political thing."
The Barrons continue to be P2K
advocates.
Amid all of P2K's challenges, it's also
getting harder to find steering commit-
tee members with the enthusiasm and
means to serve. It's a major commitment
of time and money for members, who
buy their own plane tickets for twice-
yearly meetings in Israel.
"Without a strong steering commit-
tee," Aronson said, "I don't care how
much money we allocate or what kind
of projects we run. We will not have a
successful partnership."
Sharon Lipton of Waterford just left
the steering committee after three years
of service. "I don't look at it as a sacri-
fice," she said. "It has given me a greater
love for Israel as a whole and especially
for the Central Galilee. The friendships
that I have made and the experiences
that I have enjoyed have enriched my
life, the lives of my family and others
who I have been able to touch."
Hillary Murt, Ann Arbor delegate to
the P2K Steering Committee, has found
it difficult to explain the value of Arm
Arbor's $26,000 annual outlay for the
Jerusalem-based Institute for Jewish
Family Education's northern branch.
"It's just really hard to get your arms
around why Jewish identity is important
in Israel," she said. "I have tried so many
ways to try to translate that program and
make my community understand why it
is critical to fund."
Her conclusion: get more Michigan
Jews on the ground in Israel and, recip-

rocally, have more Israelis visit Michigan.
"I've come to realize that you really need
to have your feet on the ground to
understand what's going on and why,"
Mart said.

What Lies Ahead

Migdal HaEmek Mayor Eytan Broshi
described his P2K blueprint for the next
10 years: Jewish education, "the founda-
tion of everything else"; Jewish identity,
"the common denominator for our exis-
tence"; and kesher lekesher, "the true
human bridge for us all."
Israel derives its strength from both
within and the diaspora — an unbreak-
able covenant that share the belief that
Israel is "the center and foundation of
the Jewish people," Broshi said.
"Together," he said, "we constitute a
unified force, rooted in the past while
promising a better future for our chil-
dren."
Problems and challenges aside, there's
a bright future for Partnership 2000 and
the bond between Michigan Jewry and
the Central Galilee if the steering com-
mittee is successful in recalibrating its
purpose and direction.
P2K is well within the margins of
regenerating itself to follow a new path
that stresses people-to-people and busi-
ness-to-business, and resonates more
among Michigan Jews, giving their fed-
erations a valid reason to continue send-
ing precious Campaign dollars to the
people of Nazareth Illit, Migdal
HaEmek and the Jezreel Valley.
As Danny Bitan put it: "Nothing will
break this partnership." 0