About 50 pensioners from the "Leisure World Community" in Greater Washington came to the Beit Shemesh-Yehuda Plains region for a one-day tour. During their visit, they planted trees and even had a small taste of the region's cultural mosaic.

At the Nahshon Winery, the participants heard about the process of winemaking from the house vintner and about the contribution of Partnership 2000 to the development of the sector. The visit to the kibbutz also provided the opportunity for an experience of a different sort - enjoying a meal in the kibbutz dining hall just like real kibbutzniks. At the Mateh Yehuda Day Center for the Elderly, the pensioners from Mateh Yehuda showed them a television program that they had produced with the support of Partnership 2000 as part of the Community Television program.

Members of the delegation at the Partnership 2000 Grove.   
At a moving ceremony marking a decade since the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, the participants planted fruit trees in his memory. This is the first delegation to plant trees in the Partnership 2000 Grove which was inaugurated at a ceremony attended by the members of the Joint Steering Committee. At the ceremony, we had the honor of hosting two representatives of the Washington Federation: Henry Rosenbaum, Chief Development Officer and Beryl Meyer, Director of Missions.

Ms. Meyer originated the idea for the grove, an idea which started as just a dream and became a blossoming reality. The members of the delegation rolled up their sleeves and started digging, planting and watering the fruit trees. They finished with the Prayer for Planters. The participants had another moving experience when they visited one of the moadonits in the older section of the city. At the moadonit, the members of the delegation distributed toys, books, workbooks and other material to the children.

Memberof the delegation takes a handful of soil as a souvenir from the Partnership 2000 Grove.   
At the city's old synagogue, they heard about the early days of Beit Shemesh and viewed a fascinating display of items from the 50's. The display is part of the This is my Home project which is implemented by the Beit Shemesh Midrasha with the support of Partnership 2000.

The visit concluded with a colorful ethnic evening during which the participants were served dishes from the Kurdish kitchen. They even baked some traditional bread themselves. The evening concluded with dancing to the music of an ethnic band that played their own original music. All agreed that the visit to the region had been a huge success.