By Beth Salamon, board chair of the Jewish Federation of Louisville and the Trager Family JCC; and Sara Klein Wagner, President & CEO of the Federation and the Trager Family JCC
Earlier this month, we had the privilege and the responsibility of traveling to Israel on two deeply meaningful missions. As leaders of the Jewish Federation of Louisville, we felt compelled to be present during a time when presence truly matters and accomplishes what words cannot. What began as two separate programs, a Partnership2Gether (P2G) journey to the Western Galilee and an experience with the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) became a single, powerful reminder of why showing up, listening, and being in relationship are among the most important commitments we can make to the people of Israel and to each other. When we originally signed up for this trip, we did not know there would be a ceasefire underway. Friends back home asked if we were still going. The answer was yes. We felt it was important to go now more than ever.
Our first week was spent with the P2G Global Network in our partnership region of the Western Galilee. P2G is built on simple but profound principles: connection, shared identity, and mutual responsibility among Jewish communities in the United States, Israel and around the world. These relationships are personal. They are built through visits, shared projects, and the trust that grows when we truly know one another’s stories.
For our group of six from Louisville, including three participants who had never before been to Israel, this trip felt like a natural continuation of the bonds strengthened this past summer when we welcomed tour P2G community to Louisville for the Council of Communities. Additionally, we had the joy of reuniting with Eden and Kyla, our ShinShinim, who spent the year with us. We got to see Eden’s high school, meet her family, and have a lovely day with Kyla in Tel Aviv.
Being in Israel during a ceasefire held its own kind of weight. There was relief, but also uncertainty. People exhaled, but only partially, and we heard time and again that they were hopeful for the future. We also learned, much like the United States, about the great divisions and polarization within Israeli society and about how many Israelis are dissatisfied with their current government. Our partnership region feels particularly forgotten by their government, especially given the great needs in the region. The Western Galilee was on the frontlines of the war with Lebanon, and many communities and villages had to be evacuated during the conflict. They are slowly starting to return and are certain they will be able to rebuild.
Amidst it all, what mattered most was being physically present, hugging the people we had hosted months earlier, hearing their updates firsthand, and witnessing what daily life looks and feels like right now. There is a difference between reading the news and visiting a Bedouin village, a Druze community and a Kibbutz in person. There is a difference between hearing statistics and walking through a community that has been volunteering day and night, supporting displaced families, soldiers, and each other. Our P2G partners did not simply tell us about resilience; they demonstrated it to us in every corner of the Western Galilee.
We heard from our Israeli friends how meaningful it was that the partnership showed up for one another in good times and in hard ones. In one particular story, a soldier told us that he learned about the partnership while serving in the war and how it sustained him to know that he had brothers and sisters across the ocean.
No trip to Israel would be complete without fabulous meals. We were told that Israelis show their love with food and we definitely felt the love by the insane amount of delicious food we were served. One of the most memorable evenings of the trip was our home hospitality meals from chef Uri, who cooked for our Louisville community in March, and from Toni, who is an educator who worked with our twinning programs. At Toni’s we were joined by a Druze doctor who serves as the deputy director of the Western Galilee medical center. They all shared their day-to-day trauma over the past two years. We will also never forget the passion expressed by a group of 18-year-old lone soldiers from the States and Canada who are preparing to join the IDF and made the decision to make Aliyah during the war because they believe in the Jewish people and Israel.
The second week of our trip, with the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), brought a different but equally powerful experience. As a member and board member of NCJW, we had the opportunity to meet incredibly courageous Jewish and Palestinian leaders and to bear witness to the impact of October 7th by visiting the NOVA music festival site and Kibbutz K’Far Aza. We visited Hostage Square where the posters of the hostages still remain, and where every week since the war began a vigil is held until the remains of every last hostage are returned home. We also heard from women leading trauma-response initiatives, legal advocates leading the way for gender equality in Israel, and grassroots organizers of women-led non-profits who are participating in NCJW’s Connecting for Impact (CFI) initiative.
What we now know is a simple truth: In times of crisis, women are often the ones who hold communities together, rebuild, and lead.
Traveling to Israel at this moment was not easy, but it was deeply important. We returned with full hearts, humbled by what we witnessed and heard, and grounded in a clearer sense of purpose.
We came home reminded that the Louisville Jewish community is connected to a larger Jewish story. And we returned with profound gratitude: for our P2G partners who welcomed us like family, for our ShinShinim who continue to inspire us, and for the extraordinary women of NCJW’s CFI whose leadership is shaping the future of Israeli society.
We are proud of the Jewish Community of Louisville for investing in these connections, for supporting our ShinShinim, and for understanding that our community is strengthened when we engage deeply with our partners in the Western Galilee and with organizations like NCJW. We are grateful to have represented Louisville in Israel during this critical time, and we return committed to strengthening these bonds in the months and years ahead.
Partnership2Gether: Reconnecting, Reflecting, and Renewing Hope
By Amy Fouts
Partnership2Gether Coordinator
When I first started working for Jewish Louisville, I learned about Partnership2Gether (P2G) and its person-to-person connections with Israelis from Matte Asher and Akko in the Western Galilee. At the time, it felt abstract — words on a website, not very tangible.
My perception changed in 2017 while on a Federation-sponsored trip to Israel. Our delegation spent our first night having dinner with Jewish, Muslim, Druze, and Christian women from the Western Galilee. It was then that I met Sarit and her sister Sivan, and the “connection” part of P2G felt truly real.
Since then, with additional delegations visiting Louisville and greater participation in P2G programs, I have experienced meaningful one-on-one encounters with more Israelis and deepened my understanding of P2G: defined by real friendships built over shared experiences. What once felt like website language has become a central part of my life and community.
Fast forward to the P2G Hatikvah (Hope) Summit in Israel this past October. As soon as I booked my ticket, I messaged my friends, including Sivan: “I’m coming!” The replies were immediate. “The red carpet is ready,” one wrote. When I asked what I could bring from America, the simple response was, “Just hugs.”
My trip included three components: 1) the pre-Summit for first-timers, where Louisville had three new P2G community members in attendance; 2) the Hatikvah Summit itself; and 3) the Young Adult Seminar. The overarching theme throughout was Hope and Resilience, with an added focus on leadership for the Young Adult Seminar. During our time, we spoke with students, Nova survivors, bereaved families, families who were evacuated for 18 months, businesses owners, Druze community members, Arab Muslims, lone soldiers preparing to make Aliyah. We also saw the impact of the Louisville community’s generous support at a newly built school for the Galilee Medical Center’s pediatric department and a bomb shelter for students at Gan Toot, a Hebrew-Arab bilingual preschool.
First-time P2G participant Irene Sulyevich from Louisville shared, “We are amazed by the openness and warmth of Israelis, dancing with young soldiers or completing the drawing assignments under the close supervision of an 8-year-old. Everything here is saying, ‘Breathe, relax, and live in the moment.’”
Julia Wall, visiting Israel for the first time, echoed these sentiments: “The most impactful part of the experience was the people. Engaging with so many different Israelis from across the Galilee, we talked and laughed, cried and were present. Being in their homes and experiencing a slice of their lives really gave me a sense of what it means to build bridges between Israel and diaspora Jews.”
Besides reconnecting with old friends, I made new ones like Sivan’s mother, who I’m now having weekly calls with so she can practice her English. And Michal, who joined P2G as a volunteer just a few months ago, reflected: “After such a difficult time for us as a country and as a people — wherever we are — the Young Adult Summit was emotional and inspiring. It made me reflect on what more I can do for other communities, and how strong we truly are when we stand together.”
This trip reminded me of the enduring power of human connection. Across cultures, faiths, and challenging times, standing together—listening, learning, and sharing—is how hope and resilience are nurtured. P2G isn’t just for me; seeing the experiences of Julia, Irene and her husband Pavel, Beth, Sara and so many others showed that it’s a network of friendships and support open to everyone, growing stronger with each connection.
Amy Fouts coordinates Partnership2Gether initiatives at the Jewish Federation of Louisville