David Harris
Why #CincyIsrael is Important
Why do we at the Federation, and all our community organizations through Cincinnati 2020, put Israel at the forefront of our work to nurture, fund, and grow programs that build bridges between Cincinnatians and Israelis?
We work so hard because that bridge-building is vital to our understanding of ourselves as Jews.
That bridge is also vital to our sense of Israel as important to both communities, and so to our future as a Jewish people. We develop a greater insight and understanding of Israel—the people, the country, and how, as American Jews, we play a critical role in her existence. We develop a greater insight and understanding of what Israel is. As Rony Bachar, Netanya chair of Partnership2Gether (P2G) says, “Together, we can make it better.”
While I was born in Cincinnati and have lived most of my life in the US, for a year I lived in Israel. It opened my eyes about Jewish identity, strengthened my understanding of who Israelis are, and gave me lifelong Israeli friends. I learned that being face to face is crucial to building relationships, and so building understanding. Despite our cyber-connected world, we need to be face to face. And that’s what P2G (along with other Israel-facing programs) does so well.
For example, 10 years ago Scott and Patricia Joseph agreed to host one of Cincinnati’s Friends of Israel, or Chaverim m’Israel, for the year, an 18-year-old named Amit Bachar. Both families developed and then kept up a close relationship. Later the Josephs sent their son to Israel and specifically chose a P2G program so that he would be traveling with Israelis. Scott told me, “That added a dimension to that Israel-Poland trip that was just beyond words. To this day our son continues to have friends from that trip.” And now the Josephs have crafted a strong and meaningful bridge indeed, as they host Amit’s younger brother, Ido, as one of our Chaverim beginning this fall. It is the first time a younger sibling has come as chaver to Cincinnati, and the Josephs and the Bachars couldn’t be more pleased.
Another reason we nurture P2G is for the sake of “unity without uniformity.” We know that there is one global Jewish people, yet we also know that we are many unique cultures. Building the bridge between Cincinnati and Israel is about both: embracing a real connection and a real difference, and knowing that both can bring understanding and joy.
For example, a young 20-something professional I know, from Cincinnati, hosted an Israeli, another young 20-something professional. She had thought the only thing they would have in common was their Judaism, and found out, on the contrary, that the only thing they didn’t have in common was their Judaism. And so we learn about each other, we grow to understand each other, and also enrich our own not-simple identities as Jews.
This year the Federation’s allocation process gave $155,381 to Partnership2Gether for 2015. That is 10% of our Israel and Overseas allocation. I hope, as you read this piece and the accompanying one on P2G, that you know that this money—your money if you are a donor—was well spent.
