Israeli Group Visits Pittsburgh

Community Center Professionals Share Ideas in Visit

Keeping and growing the living bridge - the people-to-people connection - was at the forefront of the recent visit of Israeli community center professionals to Pittsburgh, hosted by the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh.

Several exciting programs are developing out of this mission, which was a community center professional exchange group visit from Pittsburgh's Sister City and Region of Karmiel and Misgav, Israel.

Directors and staff from both the Karmiel and Misgav community centers, as well as Alex Peled, Deputy Mayor of Karmiel, and Yael Reich, who represents the Jewish Agency for Israel and Partnership 2000, spent a week visiting and touring local sites and Jewish agencies, and meeting civic and Jewish leaders, to gain understanding about the social, economic, civic and political environment that the Pittsburgh JCC functions in.

Throughout the week, the community center professionals partnered and explored program opportunities for each community center, meeting a core value of connecting people for the enrichment of both communities.

"This exchange helps all of us to grow and connect with Israel in a very unique way," said Rachel Marcus, JCC Associate Executive Director, who spearheaded this visit.

Plans developed throughout the week include:

• Developing a website connection between the JCC and the community centers in Karmiel and Misgav that would include news and photo sharing.
• Staff video conferencing every three months to continue to familiarize staff with each other's programs.
• Building teen connections by sending Emma Kaufmann Camp Counselors-in-Training for a week in Karmiel to develop leadership skills with Israeli Peers.
• After a successful visit last winter by basketball team members from Karmiel and Misgav, teens from JCC basketball teams will return the exchange by visiting Karmiel and Misgav this winter.
• Longer-term goals include sending teens and their families to participate in running and cycling races while being housed by Israeli families.
• Staff exchanges--sending small groups of staff from specialized areas to observe and learn from their peers in areas such as marketing, management, fitness, dance, and sports and recreation.

While several of the Israeli visitors previously visited the United States, both Israel community centers' directors welcomed the chance to bring some of their staff members to learn first-hand about the operations of the JCC.

"We can learn a lot of things from what is here," said Schlomi Finkelstein, Director of the Karmiel Community Center, a municipal facility serving 51,000 residents through eight branches. Both the JCC in Pittsburgh and the Israeli community centers serve a broad range of needs and interests from youth sports, dance and programs for individuals with special needs. "We're learning how things here are organized," Finkelstein said. "While the way of thinking here is different, we have a lot to learn from each other."

"It's wonderful to see the staff here and bring my staff to see how things are working here," said Liat Belcher, Director, Misgav Community Center, who directs 240 staff members in programs serving 21,000 residents from the largely rural region. Accompanying her from the Misgav Community Center were Hana Dinman, Volleyball Coordinator; Liora Preis, Director and Dance Instructor, Misgav Dance School; and Omer Naor, Director of Children and Youth Activities. "This helps us to think about something new to do, new programs," Belcher said.

Also visiting were Merav Carmi, Manager, Rabin Community Center, Karmiel; and Yaacov Elkayam, Director of "Top Club" Sports Club, Karmiel Community Center.

The week-long mission was a project of Partnership 2000 Project sponsored by the United Jewish Federation.