Forty-five visitors from northern New Jersey came to Nahariya as part of J2J activities aimed at acquainting them with the Partnership and hosting them in the homes of local residents.

The guests went from one station to the next, which were operated by young people participating in various Partnership 2000 projects:  Young Leadership, Youth movement project, Acharai and a workshop about Gilad Schalit.

Following the interesting activities the families enjoyed dinner at the homes of Nahariya residents.
In the gathering that followed the guests were welcomed by Ms. Raya Strauss, chairperson of the Nahariya Partnership and national partnership chairperson, Ms. Leslie Billet, chairperson of J2J, and Lee Pearlman of the UJA.  In between the speeches the group was entertained by the Kolot Amal musical troupe in their colorful costumes, who sang a medley of songs in English and Hebrew.

Tehiya Dov, from one of the host families, had this to say:

For me, an Israeli born in Israel, the connection with Jews in the Diaspora is not a given.  Every time I meet Jews who come here to visit I encounter their warmth and love and caring towards Israel and its people, and I become excited once again.  I think their desire to know, and understand and experience this place is wonderful.  And every such encounter helps to reinforce the definition of my Judaism. 

During the previous visit we were privileged to host a mother and daughter who had come to Nahariya through J2J.  The daughter, close to my own daughter in age, went into my daughter's room.  There on her wall, as in every bedroom of any teenage girl, were pictures of rock stars and actors.  The girl stood there with her mouth agape and immediately announced that these were exactly (but exactly!) the stars that she loved.

Naturally the rest of the evening was a success.  And my husband's idea of making pizza for the girls was brilliant.  Pizza is the only food worth anything according to any child, Israeli and American, and probably anywhere else in the world, too.

As I mentioned before, I was born in Israel; my husband was born in Turkey and my daughter comes from Ethiopia.  The subject that we talked about was the girls' bat mitzvah celebrations - my daughter's bat mitzvah will be in a few months, and our guest recently had her celebration.
And here I return to the words with which I started…