People-to-People Projects

It is the people, on both sides of the ocean, who make Partnership 2000 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 – November, December and January – volunteering in the Partnership 2000 Region.  They live in JUF’s P2K volunteer apartment 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 gain an “insider’s” perspective while working and learning in three consecutive and distinct tracks, including immigrant absorption, areas of urban renewal, social service work experience and kibbutz.  Throughout the ten months (August-June), they move from place to place, interacting with people of diverse backgrounds throughout the country.  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 2000 sends up to 10 counselors to KEFIADA, our English-speaking summer camps 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 P2K’s volunteer apartment 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), P2K 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 Chicago

Two young people from the P2K 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.

During the summer months, Partnership 2000 hosts many teen delegations from the Region.  These groups participate in a variety of summer programs, such as the summer camps of Camp CHI, Camp CHUSY, Camp Moshava and JCC Maccabia.

A student mifgash (encounter) is usually planned in January or February.  In 2007, Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School partnered with an 8th Grade delegation from Kiryat Gat.

This year, JUF’s Partnership 2000 piloted a new project called the Israel-Centered Tenn Giving Circle (P2K Youth), which includes Israeli and Chicago teens.  Both groups learn about philanthropy and grant making; they research community needs and they operate as a real philanthropic foundation (including doing their own fundraising with the JUF/P2K context).  This year the congregation participating from Chicago is the Temple Anshe Sholom in Olympia Fields.  In December, teens from Temple Anshe Sholom traveled to Kiryat Gat, Lachish and Shafir; in April the Israeli teens went to Chicago.  As a group, they determined where to allocate the funds which they have raised.

If you are not planning a visit to our P2K 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!
• JUF sponsors a Chanukah Book Club in the fall which benefits children in our Region
• 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!