From Connections Magazine

Creating Partners

An Interview with Ilan Geal-Dor
By Miriam Kaplan

It was really refreshing and enjoyable to interview someone with as much optimism and community spirit as Ilan has. His commitment to the future projects in our neighborhood should be an inspiration to us all. I hope I have captured some of his genuine warmth and enthusiasm and that you will all come away with a desire to get involved in some of these amazing community projects.

Ilan, before we talk about your involvement in Partnership 2000 (P2K), can you tell us a little about yourself?

I have lived in Beit Shemesh for twelve years. I am the manager of the Gesher Center in Yerushalayim and have an MBA from Hebrew University. My wife, Miriam has just finished her doctorate and we have six children. I have always been involved in the local community: I was the head of the Sheinfeld shul and sat on City Council for five years. I also set up an organization called Midreshet Beit Shemesh, which enriches Jewish life in the area.

You work with Partnership 2000. Can you explain what this is?

P2K is a flagship program of the Jewish Agency (JAFI) that was established in 1995 with its partners, the United Jewish Communities (UJC) and Keren Hayesod that in essence created, quite literally, partners between Jewish communities across the world. So just as Jerusalem is "partnered" with New York, Beit Shemesh has close bonds of friendship with Washington, DC and South Africa. It's not just a give and spend program, although donations are over $600,000 a year for Beit Shemesh and the Mateh Yehuda region. Participants in the program are actively involved in all areas, both in Israel and in the participating countries. We meet the actual people who are working with us to everyone's mutual benefit. P2K organizes missions from these two areas to visit us here. They meet the real community and decide with us as partners where the investment will go. They invest in our education and welfare and we are able to reciprocate. It is a program that creates deep bonds within the international Jewish community.

In what capacity do you work with P2K?

P2K is run by a lay leadership. I joined three years ago as a volunteer on the educational committee. I was told by my friend who persuaded me to get involved that there would only be five meetings a year, but after the first five (in the space of three months), I was already hooked and have been involved ever since.

What are the main goals and the subsequent benefits of P2K?

Here are some good examples of how everyone benefits from P2K. Within Beit Shemesh and Mateh Yehudah, P2K supports around 15 projects and initiatives, providing seed money to help good ideas develop into viable realities. Grants of between $10,000-$30,000 are given each year over a period of three years, which create truly wonderful community services. For example, The Benjamin Library, in the Meyerhoff Matnas was funded by P2K.

It also funded an interactive program teaching community activism for young people aged 25-40 to help serve the needs of growing neighborhoods here in Israel, Washington and in South Africa. The year course was taught simultaneously in all three places, culminating in a group seminar in America where everyone shared their visions and dreams. It is very uplifting to see how Jewish people from all over the world can have very similar goals and aspirations for their lives.

One of the more diverse projects we assisted is called The Wine Route. Farmers from the local moshavim received seed money to help them develop their vineyards. South Africans with experience in this area came to Israel to share their knowledge and work with the locals. It has become so successful that 15 vineyards are now exporting wines abroad.

How independent is P2K? Is it just another set of projects controlled by the mayor and city council?

In the beginning, the local chairpeople of P2K were the mayors of Mateh Yehuda and Beit Shemesh, because it was thought they knew the region's needs best. As more initiatives developed, the Jewish Agency moved the authority to committees run by lay people in the area. On every committee is a representative from the iriyah, but they have just one vote like everyone else. What P2K can do is enhance those facilities for which the iriyah simply doesn't have the budget. We all know the budget in Israel is limited and have certain expectations of what the government is supposed to provide. We help fill the gaps and raise the quality of life for many people, especially in the schools. We funded an afternoon program for Ethiopian youth who weren't integrating into schools because of language problems. A three-year interactive program brought the best educators together to share materials and techniques in teaching Zionism and Jewish studies in both countries.

It also provided a cultural awareness project for over 2000 high school students in Beit Shemesh. Working with the teachers in the schools, the students got to see plays and theater productions around the country that would have otherwise been outside the school budget. We arranged for them to meet the actors and in return each class has to produce a community project and volunteer in it. One of the schools "adopted" a local old age home and put on their own show and Purim party for the residents.

So you can see that the whole city benefits by teaching the art of giving to the participants in the program.

How is P2K relevant for us, as Anglos, in Beit Shemesh? Can we get involved?

We can raise the entire quality of life in this neighborhood, which is something that most olim are already interested and involved in. P2K embodies everything that many olim came to find here, as a group of inspired Jewish people work together with no political goals to make dreams happen. We have organized "hometown" tours that take youth and other local residents on a trip through time in the area to learn how Beit Shemesh was in the early days. It gives everyone a real sense of connection with the city and brings a new sense of pride to them when they see how far this little city has come. When one feels pride, then one is more likely to get involved and help the community. It is these types of projects that we are working on all the time. The project is open to everyone, so come and get involved. Missions are coming in all the time and many of them eschew staying in big hotels in Yerushalayim and spend time in Beit Shemesh. We are looking for host families (with older teens) to share their homes with a South African group coming this summer to learn leadership skills. Opening your doors to interesting visitors is something we can all participate in.

It is obvious you get great satisfaction from working with Partnership 2000.

Could you share your favorite experience with us?

I have personally made friends and real "partners" within the broader Jewish community all over the world. We are making a Bar Mitzvah next week and our guest list includes people we have met from Washington, DC through P2K. I see that there is progress in improving our lives, especially when people work together. We have an apartment for visiting missions in Beit Shemesh and it gives me real pride to see it always full as people come to share their vision, time and dreams with us. Whoever wants to be involved can be and there is a real energy and excitement in this knowledge.

The Jewish nation is a fantastic thing. It is deeply rewarding and inspiring to meet Jews from all over the world and realize that we are indeed partners.

Ilan, thank you for your time and for sharing your enthusiasm and vision with us.

If you would like to get involved or find out more about Partnership 2000, please contact Yizhar Hess, JAFI Regional Manager. Its offices are near the entrance to Nocham. Call 9911799 for more details.