By Hagit Rosmarin and Gil Bohadana

We left without really knowing where we were going and what to expect.  Gil Bohadana and I, Hagit Rosmarin, two musicians, set out on a trip entitled " Halil BaGalil (Flute in the Galilee)," named after the center for flutes and world music which we opened at Kibbutz Yass'or.  We traveled to give performances in Jewish communities in the central US, which are partnered with the Western Galilee as part of Partnership 2000 - JAFI.  There were 13 concerts in 10 days in 4 different Jewish communities.

America is not new to either Gil or me.  But middle America is a different America.  We encountered small Jewish communities that live within a non-Jewish population, most of whom are religious Christians. And these communities are hanging on to their Judaism by the skin of their teeth.  They insist on surviving and continue to exist despite their environment, although it not convenient or popular to be Jewish there and despite the assimilation among the younger generation.  We met very dear people there, who view this as their mission and the connection with Israel is a central part of their lives as Jews.

American Judaism is divided into different streams: Orthodox, Conservative and Reform.  Our first performance in Louisville, Kentucky, brought together the city's five synagogues under one roof for the first time at a Tu Bishvat event that was organized by the Jewish Federation.  (We were told that this was an extraordinary event and were thanked for this).

Despite the small number of Jews in these communities, there are several converts who have joined the Jewish community.  One of them is Kathy Karr, the wife of Matthew, our hosts in Louisville.  Kathy converted after the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers.  She felt a need to become a member of the community and to have a personal connection.  "I felt that we live in the US alienated from one another," she said.  Today, in addition to her job as head flautist with the Louisville Symphony Orchestra, she serves as the president of her synagogue.

Kathy recently organized workshops and recitals in Mateh Asher and Akko.  She returns to Israel again and again and thinks about making aliya eventually.

The Jewish communities are the reflection of Israel in their city, explains Josh Lader, the Jewish community's public relations director in Dayton Ohio.  Every time people hear about Israel in the news, they ask questions of the Jewish community.  Therefore, it was important to open our performances to the non-Jewish population as well.  We performed in front of a mixed audience and even at a church in Canton, Ohio, where people expressed their admiration for the Jewish people and the State of Israel.  In each community we visited, we were anxiously awaited and were warmly hosted.  We received a lot of praise and love after each performance.

In each community, we formed warm relationships with our hosts from the Jewish Federation and those who invited us into their homes.  The personal encounters and relationships we formed were very moving and we felt that we had expanded our family circle to include those Jews living overseas.

For us as musicians, the pinnacle of the trip was our encounters with the local musicians.  In each of the four communities we visited, we met with musicians and played music together.  In Louisville, Kentucky, we invited Kathy and Matthew karr, flautist and bassoon player with the Symphony Orchestra to join our performance, and they joined us in our Israeli and original music. In Omaha, Nebraska, we went to an Irish pub after our performance, where there was a pair of musicians on stage.  We joined them and played Irish music and even dedicated a song to them….in Yiddish!!

 In Dayton, Ohio, we met Michael Bashow, an artist and musician who builds musical instruments from metal.  There was an immediate connection between us, because Michael is involved in the same fields as we are:  playing the flute, musical experimentation and building instruments from recycled materials.  Together with Michael and his wife Sandy, a singer and guitarist, we spent an evening playing music until the wee hours of the morning.

In Canton, Ohio we completed our tour with a concert in which we hosted Linda Simon.  Linda is a legendary clarinet player who accepted our invitation to meet with the local musicians and even contacted us before we left for the US. 

We plan to continue to play music together with Linda and the other musicians in Israel.  For us this is the essence of true partnership!