Youth Kesher (Connection), Chair, Vicki Holthaus, Pittsburgh
The Diller Teen Fellows program: a leadership development program for teens with four guiding principals: Jewish identity, community service, leadership, and Israeli. A cohort of teens from Pittsburgh engages in programming over a 15-month period which includes joint learning and engagement with teen counterparts from Karmiel/Misgav. Learn more here. Diller Teen Fellows is a program of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, Partnership2Gether and the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, with significant support from the program's founders, the Helen Diller Family Foundation. For more information about the Diller Teen Fellows program, contact Chris Herman, The Diller Teen Fellows program director, at the Jewish Community Center at cherman@jccpgh.org or visit: http://jccpgh.org/children-teens-family/teens/diller-teen-fellowship/
The Emma Kaufman Camp Counselor in Training Program: A program of the Emma Kaufman Camp of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, CIT Teens spend one week in Karmiel/Misgav with Israeli teen counterparts as part of a leadership development component of a three week trip to Israel. For more information about Emma Kaufman Camp or the CIT program, contact Sam Bloom at sbloom@jccpgh.org or visit http://jccpgh.org/jcc-camps/emma-kaufmann-camp/
The Waldman International Holocaust Arts and Writing Program: A program of the Holocaust Center of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, this competition is run on a parallel basis in Karmiel/Misgav, with a delegation of first and second place winners from our Partnership region coming to Pittsburgh usually around the time of Yom HaShoa. Learn more here. They meet with students in area schools, both Jewish and non-Jewish, that have participated in the competition locally, learn about life in Pittsburgh, and stay with host families. Classrooms Without Borders also partners with Partnership2Gether and the Holocaust Center on this program. For more information about the Waldman International Holocaust Arts and Writing Program or the Holocaust Center of the Jewish Federation, contact Rachel Herman at rherman@holocaustcenterpgh.org.
Adult Kesher (Connection), Chair, Ronna Harris Askin and Charlene Tissenbaum, Pittsburgh
Volunteer Mission: Adults from Pittsburgh spend one week in Karmiel/Misgav doing volunteer work throughout the region. Learn more here. Volunteers have beautified neighborhoods, painted kindergartens, and worked at the organic garden at Kishorit, a kibbutz that is a home for life to Israelis with special needs, which is supported in part by the Jewish Federation—all while touring the region and getting a taste of life in Karmiel/Misgav through personal connections with host families where the volunteers stay throughout the week. The 4th Annual Volunteer Mission departs March 27, 2016. For more information about the Volunteer Mission, click here or contact Amy Cohen at the Jewish Federation Volunteer Center at acohen@jfedpgh.org. Here, Pittsburgh volunteer Suzy Mazer works with a resident of the Mishol neighborhood to beautify and clean up a neighborhood garden.
Face2Face: A platform created by our Partnership that brings together professional and lay leaders with similar interests and backgrounds to brainstorm new project ideas or plan new projects that have been approved. Face2Face delegations have focused on women's programming, cycling and other areas. Click here for pictures from a recent delegation visit focused on cycling!
Pittsburgh Marathon: In May 2015, ten runners from Karmiel/Misgav ran in the DICK's Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon. The runners stayed with Pittsburgh hosts who were also running in the Marathon. The Mayors of Karmiel and Misgav, Adi Eldar and Ron Shani, also came to Pittsburgh and attended the Marathon's Expo where they met Mayor Bill Peduto.
Pictured from left to right: Immediate past P2G Co-Chair Jan Levinson of Pittsburgh; Sue Linzer, Jewish Federation; Marcie Lang, Jewish Federation; Yossi Morag, Israeli P2G Co-Chair from Misgav; Mayor Bill Peduto; Mayor Ron Shani, Misgav; Mayor Adi Eldar, Karmiel; Lilach Vaxsman Rana, Israeli P2G Co-Chair from Karmiel; Immediate past P2G Co-Chair Cindy Goodman-Leib of Pittsburgh.
In the summer of 2013, the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater had its first international tour in 20 years with its inaugural performance at the Karmiel Dance Festival. For pictures of PBT's performance in Karmiel, see their blog page here.