Irit Ahdout says that her home in Tiberias is lively with the political and social discussions of friends and family, including her husband and four children. And that’s just the way she likes it; it reflects something that’s very important to her — making connections.
“I don’t see borders; I see community. It doesn’t matter where you are,” she said during a three-day visit here last week.
“We are one community,” she said, referring to Jews here and in Israel. “[We are] connected by the ancient chain of being Jewish and I feel I have the responsibility to continue this chain,” said Ahdout, who works in sales and marketing.
Ahdout and Ruti Shitrit, also from Tiberias, came to Milwaukee last week on their first trip to the United States as representatives of Partnership 2000’s Regional Leadership group in the Sovev Kinneret region, Milwaukee’s partner region in the area surrounding the Sea of Galilee.
While here, they met with local leaders and community members at synagogues, day schools, the Milwaukee Jewish Federation and other Jewish organizations and agencies. They also attended the community women’s seder.
The purpose of their visit was to get to know the community before traveling with a federation delegation of 13 young leaders to Washington, D.C., for the United Jewish Communities’s Washington 14 Young Leadership Conference. Some 30 Israelis participated in the conference in the context of P2K.
The idea of their participation, beyond forming connections and learning, is to bring their knowledge back to their regions.
Ahdout and Shitrit will bring their new understanding of the American Jewish community back to their Sovev Kinneret leadership group. The four-month-old group has 22 members (“with probably 44 opinions,” Ahdout joked), all of whom are volunteers. They were selected after undergoing personal interviews.
What makes the group remarkable, Shitrit and Ahdout agreed, is its devotion to “doing something.” The group’s aim is not only to develop P2K programs but also to develop leaders from within the group. (For example a previous member from a similar group in a different region was elected mayor.)
The group, the second in the almost eight-year-history of our relationship with the region, also serves to bring together people from the three disparate municipalities (Tiberias, Lower Galilee and Jordan Valley) that make up the region.
But, Shitrit said, “The most important thing we’re doing in our [bi-weekly] meetings is to find a project that we’re going to carry out.”
Possible projects are in the areas of the environment, employment, education and tourism — “all the issues that concern Tiberias and the Sovev Kinneret region,” added Ahdout.
“We are united by our desire to do things,” added Shitrit.
“Their visit is an opportunity for us to initiate our own Israel-focused young leadership activities,” said Roslyn Roucher, Milwaukee P2K director and cluster coordinator.
“It’s also the people-to-people connection. When you have something that you share with someone, you have something that will help you build a relationship. And that’s what makes you care about wanting to continue that relationship. The bottom line is getting to know people,” she said.
“For [Ahdout and Shitrit] the value is obvious. They don’t know anything about the American Jewish community and this helps them. They see a different kind of organization and they also learn how devoted American Jews are to Israel.”
Ahdout said that the visit was empowering. “People here are very emotionally attached to Israel … and that gives us power to deal with our problems.”
“I feel secure and good here,” she added, “and I want you to feel the same there…. Our hearts are open and our houses are open.”
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