Hand in Hand with the Homeland

From two decades of partnership with the Yoav region to touring and connecting throughout the state, the Valley community maintains strong ties with Israel.

Mission Possible
So, you want to visit Israel. Where do you even start? Isn’t everything in the ancient cradle of the Jewish people worth visiting? How do you trim a list of worthy sites down to the must-sees to include on your itinerary? The task can be intimidating.

The Jewish Federation can help. Joining one of its missions simplifies your preparation process. And it helps ensure that you don’t inadvertently leave out something essential and that your experience will be top-notch.

Federation missions also offer an opportunity to bond with Israelis and to see some of the good work happening in Israel. You’ll get to know members of the Lehigh Valley’s Partnership2Gether community of Yoav, building relationships that will last a lifetime and doing your part to strengthen the long-standing bond between the two communities. 

To learn more, visit jewishlehigvalley.org/missions

Partnership2Gether: Family Bonding with Yoav

By Connor Hayes 

The past few years have been rocky for the world, let alone the Jewish world. We are lucky that in such times we have two communities we can rely on: that of the Jewish Lehigh Valley and that of our “other family” of Yoav, Israel.

For over 20 years, the Lehigh Valley has been working together with the numerous communities and kibbutzim of Yoav. Ours is not a unique program; there are many Partnership2Gether programs connecting communities like Philadelphia to Netivot, Greater New Jersey to Rishon LeZion, and Chicago to Kiryat Gat. Yet while the P2G program is replicated elsewhere, the unique experiences it has brought and continues to bring to our community are very much our own. The families of Yoav have become an extension of our own; their joys, we revel in, and in their sorrow, we hold them. 

In addition to the emotional and familial connections, the key ingredients that make the partnership thrive are committing to programs that make the most impact and being unafraid to innovate. Yoav has a proud kibbutznik heritage of finding adaptive solutions to all kinds of challenges, so their innovation comes as no surprise, and we in the Valley mirror this through fully supporting their ideas and initiatives. Among these is one of the longest-running aspects of the partnership: the tradition of Yoav sending its youth here in the summer to serve as counselors for Camp JCC. In addition, to connect an even younger generation, we run a collaborative pen pal program called Under the Same Moon, whereby an elementary school student in one community pairs with an elementary school student in the other and they exchange letters over time. For adults, there have been opportunities to travel to Yoav and stay with host families that become like our own, building bonds and memories that last long after the eventual departure from Ben-Gurion International Airport. 

The hard work put into these programs and initiatives helps shape the character of both communities, as we grow closer by the year, and makes living in both the Lehigh Valley and Yoav immeasurably rewarding experiences. We continue to prosper through this partnership driven by communication, innovation, and dedication.

Connor Hayes is director of community programming for the Jewish Federation.

Little Feet, Giant Steps
Do you dream of sending your child on a trip to Israel but aren’t sure how to make it happen? The Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley’s Visit Israel Savings Partnership can help.

A trip to Israel is not only a fun and exciting experience for your child, but also a unique way to get them connected to their Jewish heritage. Young people who have participated in an Israel experience regard their time in the country as one of the most positive Jewish moments of their lives.

The Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley’s Visit program is a saving partnership that helps diffuse the costs of your child’s trip. Enrolled children may receive grants of up to $1,600 each toward an approved four-week or longer peer trip to Israel. If you donate to the Jewish Federation’s Annual Campaign for Jewish Needs, your child is already eligible.  

Once you enroll your child, you deposit $300 a year in their account (the money deposited is not a donation—it’s your money in a savings account). Children may travel using their Visit grant after completing ninth grade and before age 26.

For an approved trip, the Federation will grant you $200 for each year you have deposited $300 in the account, up to $1,600 of grant money that you can add to what you saved. If your child is for some reason unable to make a trip, your savings will be returned.

Go to jewishlehighvalley.org/visit for more information or contact Abby Trachtman, project coordinator, at abbyt@jflv.org