People-to-People Projects

It is the people, on both sides of the ocean, who make JUF's Partnership Together a true partnership and a dynamic connection.  Here are a few of the people-to-people projects that go on throughout the year and some ways for you to get involved.

In Israel

Each year, JUF sends college graduates from the Chicagoland area to participate in OTZMA.  OTZMA participants spend three months – December, January and February – volunteering in the Partnership Together Region.  They live in JUF’s P2G volunteer house that is available (in coordination with JUF staff) to adult volunteers who work in the region for a minimum of one week.  OTZMA is a service-based leadership development program offering young adults, aged 20-26, the unique opportunity to contribute and to acquire an in-depth understanding of Israel and the Jewish people.

OTZMA participants work and learn in three consecutive and distinct tracks including immigrant absorption, urban renewal, social service work experiences and kibbutz.  Throughout the ten months (September-June) they interact with people of diverse backgrounds throughout the country including three moths in JUF's Partnership Together Region.  The three tracks are woven together by an educational program where participants delve deeply into both the history and contemporary life of Israel and the Jewish people.

Each year, JUF’s Partnership Together sends up to 10 counselors to KEFIADA, our English-speaking summer camp in the Region.  College students, either from Chicago or who study in Chicago, travel to the Region for five weeks to volunteer from late June through early August.  Contact us if you are in college, or know someone who is, and are interested in being a camp counselor. Camp experience is essential but Hebrew is not.

Throughout the year, visitors from Chicago, individuals and families, go to the Region to volunteer.  Volunteers pay their own airfare and other ground expenses, but they live in P2G’s volunteer house at no cost to them.  There are also hosting and volunteer opportunities in Chicago itself for the groups that visit from the Region.  See the diversity of our volunteer options.

Every year, when Shorashim visits in Israel take place (for two weeks in the winter and for a month in the summer), P2G places same-aged teens from the Region on the bus with the Chicagoans.  Together they explore Israel and together they become long-lasting friends.  In addition, when Birthright participants from Chicago go on a Shorashim trip they stop in the Region.  Learn about one such visit here.

In Chicago

Two young people from the P2G Region are selected to participate in the Lewis Summer Internship Program.  They live in Chicago with host families and participate in this comprehensive program where they learn about, and work in, the Jewish community along with 26 other interns from Chicago and two additional interns from Kiev, Ukraine.  Chicago is connected to Kiev through the Kyiv Kehillah program.  Contact us if you are interested in hosting.

A student mifgash (encounter) is planned in February with Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School and an 8th Grade delegation from Kiryat Gat.

If you are not planning a visit to our P2G Region soon but still want to connect, there are other ways available:

• If your Day School or Hebrew School class wants to connect with a classroom in Kiryat Gat, Lachish, Shafir, contact us!
• If you have a Bar/Bat Mitzvah coming up, or another simcha, and you would like to share it with the residents of Kiryat Gat-Lachish-Shafir, contact us!
• If you are planning a visit to Israel and would like to add a volunteering component, contact us!