Partnership 2000 of the Jewish Agency organized a moving encounter this week between Grade 8 students from the Branco Weiss School and students in the same age group from North Virginia.
The two communities - Beit Shemesh and Greater Washington - are connected through Partnership 2000.
This is the second year that such a group, consisting of 15 youth, has come to Israel to spend a day in Beit Shemesh and the vicinity.
Prior to the visit, the students got to know one another by email.
On the day itself, the two groups met at the Branco Weiss School for a warm welcoming ceremony and light refreshments.
They heard a bit about the Partnership and hats were distributed to them. From there, they left for a hike to the Luzit caves.
The day of the activity turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year and as a result the caves provided a welcome shelter from the boiling sun.
The groups played a short game in the cave in order to get to know one another and heard how the caves were formed (ancient quarries) and what they were used for (growing pigeons).
Following that, they were welcomed by Gil Karsanti from Be'er Tikvah.
The youth were assigned the task of preparing lunch for themselves in four mixed groups.
Each group prepared a different course and cooked pitas, potatoes and tea on an open fire.
Following the meal, they received squares of wood and together created a mosaic that will be hung at the site. Anyone who visits the site is invited to admire their beautiful handiwork.
During the activity and the meal, the kids got to know each other and held conversations in an interesting mix of English and Hebrew. Popsicles were given out to everyone's delight. The group then broke up into pairs for a family dinner at the homes of the local youth.
The end of the day was quite different from its start. There was no ice left to break.
It was difficult to differentiate between the two groups and the participants exchanged emails and telephone numbers.
Since this was their last day in Israel, we hope they were left with a lingering taste of Beit Shemesh and that we will see them again soon in our Region.