BEIT SHEAN YOUNG LEADER REFLECTS ON TRIP TO CLEVELAND II
by Gedalia Keren

Below, I attempt to describe the background of our trip, our activities during the ten-day visit to the United States and the importance of our visit as part of our year of activities in Partnership 2000.

Partnership 2000 Young Leadership was instituted in our Region over a year ago, following personal screening by the Jewish Agency. Its purpose - to promote social and economic projects for the benefit of Beit Shean and localities in the surrounding Region, in cooperation with representatives of the Cleveland Community, that provides financial support for advancement of proposed projects approved in discussions by our joint committees and their representatives. The Cleveland Zionist Federation is involved in all stages of Partnership 2000 activity concerning Beit Shean and environs, in keeping with one of its key principles: Regional cooperation fostered among a variety of communities to promote common interests and generate development momentum and significant quality of life. Such cooperation is a major focus that program originators in Cleveland want to reinforce and establish as the foundation of activity, as effected through our visit to Cleveland.

This clearly brings us to the question of the connection between life in Beit Shean and the Beit Shean Valley localities and in the northern Ohio city of Cleveland. We ourselves were astounded by the ties formed. Cleveland has undergone a revolution over the past 20 years. Two decades ago, it was just about bankrupt, economically and socially. Residents were leaving, depositors were withdrawing their savings from banks, factories were closing, serious unemployment developed and so on. Today, it has become a focus of success, serving as a model for a world class urban revolution. Three hundred people, including Jewish business persons, would not give up. They brought in worldwide experts in community and business affairs, who inspired residents' belief in their own city and in their ability to get back into the ring and recover. It was this experience that the Federation people who initiated and organized our visit wanted to transmit to us through meetings with those who led the process, along with lectures, diagrams, tours, impressions gained in areas still undergoing development and most of all - common planning for application of the experience and process here in the Beit Shean Valley. Two days of the trip were devoted to this topic, while the remaining time was dedicated to three additional issues:

• Acquaintance with the various types of Judaism in the United States, that most of us knew little about. Our knowledge was gained primarily through the media and news of events rather than community activity. Many of us from traditional or religious backgrounds envied the outreach programs, education and instruction that we encountered in the Conservative community. I left with a feeling and hope that the non-religious children in Israel would receive intensive traditional Jewish education as their peers do in Cleveland. I completed this part of the visit on a Shabbat that was snowy and frozen outside, yet still warmed my heart as each of us was welcomed in the community of choice with unforgettably cordial and open hospitality.
• Meeting with people working with the Federation and other systems that support Partnership 2000 activities. We were involved in the concluding ceremonies of the 1999 fund-raising campaign, at which our activities in Israel were presented, including the delegation's contribution to raising continuing donations for projects in our Region. We were surprised to learn that Cleveland is in second place for contributions to Israel, even though its Jewish Community numbers only 70,000. At this event, we met several major donors who hosted us and were interested in hearing about our Region's needs. Our meetings with Federation activists included a full day of individual sessions with colleagues whose sphere of interest parallels ours in Israel. I was hosted at the Mizrachi School, where the commendable Rabbi Samuel teaches.
• On our second Shabbat, we and Partnership 2000 representatives from other Regions in Israel participated in an extensive Young Leadership conference for Zionist Federations in Western U.S. communities, where we met Partnership 2000 activists from various other Regions, learning about their activities concerning a key issue affecting American Jewry today: Preventing assimilation. It should be recalled that most of these Young Leaders had never had any "experience of belonging" to the Jewish People in their lives. Most have American-born parents particularly connected to Judaism and the Jewish establishment. The Young Leaders do not remember the experiences of the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War that were major factors in fostering a sense of belonging among Jews in their day. Some Young Leaders may not have even been born when they occurred. Their present approach to Judaism and to Jewish activities is the result of grave concern over the assimilation rate, that is above 80% in many places. The Community manifests its belonging to the Jewish People in four ways:
  1. Financial contribution to local projects and to the State of Israel.
  2. Intensifying synagogue activism among a wider variety of Jews.
  3. Setting up new schools to attract children from public school to private Jewish education.
  4. Receptiveness to mixed couples, with the intention of persuading the non-Jewish partner to convert (according to the various streams of Judaism).

At lectures and workshops - and primarily in personal discussions - we formed ties and were impressed by the Community's sincere desire to address the tremendous assimilation problem. We in Israel play a very important role in supporting these groups, giving them someone to rely, points of Jewish reference, etc. In this sphere, the partnership achieves its most important manifestation.

American Jewry is not at all what we once tended to think - a never-ending source of contributions that "ought not interfere in our lives." We have to understand that we are dealing with an entirely different reality. Our Region and country require much support and assistance - besides financial help - that we can obtain from American Jews. Hence it is incumbent on us all to cooperate and to assist our fellow Jews in their significant efforts to cope with the very serious problem of the Jewish People today: The fight for its survival. We hope that our trip will spur and encourage further development of ties between us and the Cleveland Community.

June 1999