Jewish Community of Louisville
3600 Dutchmans Lane
Louisville, KY 40205-3216
(502) 459-0660
swagner@jewishlouisville.org
Partnership 2Gether (formerly Partnership with Israel) is a Jewish Agency for Israel program that promotes regional development in Israel by matching communities there with those in the Diaspora. The program, which is similar to the popular Sister Cities effort, offers many opportunities for people on both sides of the ocean to work together in the fields of medicine, arts, education, twinning, co-existence, leadership development, culture, business development, economics and tourism. Additional opportunities can be developed for you and tailored to your individual interests, talents and skills. There are 45 Partnerships worldwide.
Since the Partnership’s inception in 1997, Louisville has been part of the Midwest Consortium of communities partnered with Israel’s Western Galilee area that includes the city of Akko, the Western Galilee Hospital and the rural communities of the Matte Asher Regional Council along the Mediterranean Sea. Consortium members include Akron, Canton, Dayton, Toledo and Youngstown, OH; Indianapolis, Northwest Indiana and South Bend, IN; Louisville; Des Moines, IA; Omaha, NE; and Austin, Dallas and San Antonio TX. A steering committee made up of representatives from among the American and Israeli Partners meets twice each year to assess programs and plan future endeavors.
Drs. Laura and Jon Klein chair the Louisville Partnership and they have been on two previous Partnership missions. They are committed to building on past success. Philip Rosenbloom, M.D., is regional partnership chair for the Emergency Response Group initiative that trains physicians here and in Israel on how to handle mass casualty situations. He and several other Louisville doctors have taken the course through the Western Galilee Hospital’s ERG program. Kathy Karr leads Louisville’s efforts in the arts. She has done flute concerts in Israel and brought performers here.
Israeli physicians, educators and entertainers of all ages have brought their talents to Louisville, where they have worked with camp groups and performed for members of our community.
Continuing Partnership programs include Kefiada, which brings Israeli teens to Midwest Consortium communities to work as counselors at Jewish Community Center summer camps and brings young Americans to Akko to work in summer camps there. There also is an artist-in-residence program that provides visual artists the opportunity to work in the Western Galilee. A special Partnership Birthright Israel trip guarantees that young adults from Midwest Consortium communities will not be waitlisted for a this popular program, and includes a component in the Western Galilee.
Additional joint programs and exchanges are planned, and Partnership opportunities can be tailored to your interests and needs. If you would like to learn more about Louisville’s Partnership program, please contact Partnership Co-Chairs Jon and Laura Klein or Jewish Community of Louisville Senior Vice President and COO Sara Klein Wagner at 238-2779 or email swagner@jewishlouisville.org.
Jon and Laura Klein, Partnership 2Gether Co-Chairs
Sara Klein Wagner, JCL Senior Vice President and COO
