BEIT SHEAN OFFERS SYMPATHY, SUPPORT IN WAKE OF TUESDAY'S TERROR ATTACKS

In an outpouring of international sympathies, the Cleveland Jewish community has received numerous e-mails and calls with declarations of support from its friends in Israel. In the wake of Tuesday's terror attacks on America, many Israelis - specifically those in Cleveland's sister city of Beit She'an - have shown their support from afar.

A recent letter from the people of the Beit She'an region in northern Israel reads: "We are unable to express the shock we feel regarding the catastrophe that has befallen the American people … It is important to us that you know that our hearts are with you, and that we are here for you … We wish you and the entire state of America a year of peace, security, health and prosperity."

For the past several years, the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland has been engaged in many activities with the people of Beit She'an in a program called Partnership 2000. Americans and Israelis have visited each other for cultural and educational exchanges, including eighth-grade and high school trips. Many Beit She'an community leaders have traveled to Cleveland the past two years to meet with Mayor Michael White and other civic leaders in a program similar to Leadership Cleveland.

Since the current violence began in the Middle East, the Cleveland Jewish community has been engaged in a solidarity program to raise awareness about the escalating social and financial impact of coping with ongoing violence.

The leadership and staff of the Jewish Agency for Israel, which oversees the Partnership 2000 program with the Federation, wrote, "The despicable attack on the United States and on the people of America with whom we share the same values and culture, has shocked us … We express deep sorrow on the immense loss of life in this horrible tragedy."

The Beit Midrash Yeshivat Ma'ale Gilboa, a school in the Beit She'an valley, extended its sympathy in an e-mail that read, "The innocent lives of friends and family, of neighbors and colleagues, of acquaintances and soul mates taken from our mists in momentous barbaric acts of terrorism… May we stand together with the rest of people of the world, whose sensibilities were truly offended by these acts, and pray for consolation, strength and peace."

Elul 5761 - September 2001