If there's one thing we in the Cleveland Jewish community know how to do, it's talk to our friends in our sister city of Beit She'an, Israel, via videoconferencing.

A technology once reserved for business meetings is now standard practice for Cleveland children who want to reach out across the miles to Israel.

At The Hebrew Academy of Cleveland, fifth-grade boys were studying Mishna, Tractate Beitza, at the same time that boys in Od Yosef Chai School Tiferes Moshe in Beit She'an were learning the same section. The two groups conducted a joint siyum, concluding celebration, through videoconferencing.

The Cleveland students sang "L'Shana Haba Beyerushalayim" ("Next Year in Jerusalem"), and the Beit She'anis responded in song with "Yerushalayim shel Zahav" ("Jerusalem of Gold"). The HAC boys were thrilled to have the opportunity to speak Hebrew, sing, and celebrate with Talmud scholars their own age in Israel.

Videoconferencing also served as an educational tool for Ruth Fingerhut Tamkin, her Unity Chorus, and the newly formed Unity Strings, a group of student musicians from diverse Jewish backgrounds. Thirty Cleveland musicians, ages 8-14, joined in a "virtual duet" with young musicians from Beit She'an.

The Unity Strings played an arrangement of Israeli folk songs, while the Unity Chorus sang "The Hope" by Rick Recht. The Beit She'anis played pieces ranging from Bach to contemporary Israeli pop. The event culminated with both groups joining in song together.