Spotlight

Tightening The P2K Bond

Michigan and Central Galilee regions grapple with same challenges.

Discussing common challenges: Israeli Hannah Freedman, Federation's Amy Neistein

Nine of the 14 Israelis in the Partnership 2000 delegation that traveled to Michigan

and Steering Committee co-chairs Jeff Schlussel and Michael Horowitz

in early June.

Harry Kirsbaum

Special to the Jewish News

I

t has been 15 years since the relation-
ship began, but now the Partnership
2000 (P2K) program between the
Michigan Jewish communities of Detroit,
Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids and the
Central Galilee region in Israel has
become much more of a partnership. They
share the same challenges.
Both regions grapple with providing
basic needs for a struggling community,
halting the flight of young adults leaving
the region for a bigger city and greater
opportunity, and identifying Jewishly.
For only the third time in 15 years,
the bi-annual meeting of the P2K Joint
Steering Committee was held in Michigan
June 7-12.
The 14 representatives included busi-
ness leaders, attorneys, social service
agency heads and mayors and staff of
Nazareth Illit, Migdal HaEmek and the
Jezreel Valley. The visit addressed the cur-
rent needs of each partner, focusing on

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June 25 . 2009

Michigan's economy and its impact on
the local Jewish community as well as an
exploration of Jewish identity.
During the week, the delegation toured
Detroit and met with Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit leadership and agen-
cy representatives to better understand
the challenges at hand and the community
response.
Jewish identity sessions included dia-
logue with American Israel Public Affairs
Committee leadership, synagogue and
day school visits, a panel discussion with
local rabbis representing three streams of
Judaism, the Yeshiva Beth Yehudah's Jean
and Theodore Weiss Partners in Torah
program and a Camp Tamarack tour. The
delegation also traveled to Ann Arbor and
to Oakland University to meet with P2K
volunteers and program partners.
In the course of 15 years, P2K has suc-
cessfully linked Michigan and the Central
Galilee through people to people exchang-
es, business partnerships, social service
programming and also made it possible
for more than 1,000 Israeli campers to

spend the summer at Camp Tamarack.
"P2K has been successful for 15 years:'
said Jeff Schlussel, Steering Committee
co-chair with Michael Horowitz. "But what
does Michigan want from it now, and
where is the program going?
"What the Israelis have seen this week
is that we work all the time to remind
people that they are Jewish, and to become
part of the community," Horowitz said.
"We want to provide Mich
iganders with the opportunity to have
unique experiences in our region in
Israel, not just get on a bus to Tel Aviv. The
Central Galilee should be our home in
Israel, and it should be the focus when we
visit Israel!"
The people-to-people connection
between P2K residents is the most impor-
tant factor in ensuring future success, he
said.
Estie Bar-Sadeh, Central Galilee Steering
Committee co-chair withYossi Ackerman,
agreed. "A common issue for P2K part-
ners is need for a sense of belonging and
spirituality as a whole," said Bar-Sadeh.

"We need to build a sense of belonging, of
connectedness, just like Michigan does!"
P2K programming is currently focused
in four primary areas: Jewish identity, edu-
cation initiatives, volunteer engagement
and leadership development. In Israel, a
scholarship program was developed to
retain a greater number of students in the
region after completing their studies.
Another people-to-people opportu-
nity is an emerging "Community House"
movement intended to bring together Jews
from Michigan and the Central Galilee
to enhance Jewish identity and explore
spirituality.
"For far too long, Israeli society as a
whole has ignored our collective Jewish
memory," Bar-Sadeh said. "We also want to
educate people about their Judaism, their
history and their heritage. The more they
know about who they are, the stronger
they'll feel about their Jewish identity and
future'

Harry Kirsbaum is a writer for the Jewish

Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.