Reflections by Larry Fine

The Rochester – Modi’in Partnership is now in it’s seventh year; the joint steering committee has just completed its annual meeting in Modi’in. Partnership 2000, a project of the Jewish Agency for Israel, has been active since 1994.

The Rochester – Modi’in Partnership chose to focus on peoplehood, by asking the question “What does it mean to be a Jew in the 21st century”. Answering that question has allowed us to explore, together, the rich diversity of Jewish tradition and culture. Best of all, these explorations have been as peers, learning from and about one another, creating a new kind of relationship between Israeli Jews and those in a medium size city in the U.S.

During the recent meetings, we reviewed what we’ve learned. Primarily, we have seen how little we actually “saw” one another before. Through our projects we have made the invisible, visible:

Our recent “Photoburst” online photo sharing project (www.photoburstpartners.org) literally lets us see brilliant images of life in each community.

The participants in the Friends Across the Sea program in all of the 5th grade classes in Modi’in see a diverse world that most never knew existed.

Teens from Rochester and Modi’in together visit the U.S., then Poland, then Israel, in our Journey for Identity. They never see the world, or each other, the same way again.

The connections made between teachers, teens, musicians, chefs, artists, students and the steering committee members themselves have been powerful and transformational.

Our answer to the question “What does it mean to be a Jew in the 21st century ?" We don’t know …yet … but we do know we're building it together.

Mayor Haim Bibas

Presentation of children's books to Modi'in library

Farewell to ex-chairs Hila and Beth

Baby Ya'ir (Steinberg) got to meet lotsa new friends!!