By Gilad Golani, P2K Shaliach in Washington

Partnership 2000 Beit Shemesh - Mateh Yehuda - Washington - South Africa of the Jewish Agency once again sent a successful delegation of 6 amazing women from our region to Greater  Washington - our Partnership city. The program touched hundreds of people in the community, enabling them to "taste" Israel. It provided a fun platform to talk about the more serious aspects of the Federation's relationship with our P2K region. During their stay they met more then 600 of people and magnetized everyone with their personalities and brought Israel to the community.

On the Thursday of their arrival, they ran a "Spice" workshop for 100 members of the Magen David Sephardic synagogue. This was amazing event where we all listened to Tova Simon (Machseya) and Z'via Lankry (Beit Shemesh) tell their personal stories.  Batsheva Gabbai (Gefen) shared with us her special spice mixture.

The Friday night was packed with more than 200 people families the festive dinner. The connection between the women and the synagogue was immediate and it felt like one big mishpacha . People stayed long after dinner and sang Shabbat Zmirot  together. It was nice to see how the women communicated with the people in Magen David ,in Hebrew, Arabic, French and some English Sammy Yamar- former synagogue president said to me: "This was the most special Erev Shabbat I ever  had in the synagogue!!"

On the Sunday night we arrived at the Northern Virginia JCC and held an event for 80 participants. The food was great the cooking workshops went very well and everyone asked for more and more recipe books.

On the Monday a reception was held for Partnership 2000 leadership and volunteers in the Beth El Congregation thanking the past chairs and volunteers for their active involvement in Partnership 2000 activities.

Thursday saw the women headed to DCJCC to an event of young professionals that were so exited to learn how to cook Kubeh, Sphinje, Mufleta, Couscous and Yamenite Lachuch. It was wonderful to see the cooks interacting so nicely with the packed room of young professionals. It was truly one of those great events that not only did everyone leave after having a good time, but everyone left with a deeper connection to Israel and the Jewish people.

The last event took place in Shaarei Torah and Chevrat Shalom congregation on Friday night for 200 people:

Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal commented: " The cooks were true Shlichot in every way.  They were beautiful people who cooked wonderful food, And the food!  Wow.  Everyone here is still talking about it  .. This event clearly captured the imagination of our congregations, and I think it left a lasting positive and meaningful impression on our entire community".

During the week the women toured sites in Washington DC just before the historic inauguration. After one of the tours they were greeted by Senator Joseph Lieberman and his daughter who recently returned from volunteering in Ramat Beit Shemesh for 6 weeks. The opportunity to meet a US Senator who is a strong supporter of Israel was very exciting!

On Shabbat the women were invited to Shabbat lunch and Melave Malka in the hosts homes. They also were treated  to a concert of the Baltimore orchestra and any spare moment they went shopping…

P2K would like to thank the amazing cooks: Zohara, Margalit, Zviya,Tova, Batsheva and Lilly, with special thanks to Smadar Kaplinsky, the event producer.

Thank you also to Naveh, Mickey, Ina, Carol, Rinat, Shani, Yossi, Maya and all the other that were involved in making this happen.