Oct 7, 2013

The Miami-Yerucham Partnership Celebrates Seven-Year Milestone and Paves Way for Future

In 2007, a partnership was established between the Greater Miami Jewish Federation and the town of Yerucham, Israel. Fast forward nearly seven years later, and this partnership has continued to successfully build meaningful relationships that strengthen both Yerucham and Miami’s Jewish community. Before Rosh Hashanah, the Miami-Yerucham Steering Committee held a mifgash (encounter); a three day peer-to-peer meeting among committee members from both communities.

"The Miami-Yerucham Partnership is energized and excited to take the partnership to the next level. We were happy to host our counterparts from Yerucham for a few days of intense work, deciding the future direction of this important collaboration,” Lisa Kudish Rosenburg, Chair of the Miami-Yerucham Partnership Committee, said.

Located in the Negev Desert, Yerucham is a 13-square-mile city founded in 1951 as a transit camp for new immigrants. Today, it is home to a diverse population of approximately 9,500 residents, representing a microcosm of Israel’s many cultural and ethnic communities. The partnership encourages people-to-people relationships between residents of Miami and Yerucham.

During the recent mifgash, the committee discussed what they believe are the core values of the partnership moving forward: building educational opportunities, creating connections, developing future generations and forming a united community. They agreed that increasing the number of educational programs highlighting the partnership and fostering the development of young adults is important to sustaining a meaningful relationship and advancing the core values. Both the Diller Teen Fellows program and the ShinShin (young emissary) programs offer young adults in both communities the opportunity to interact with each other and create tighter bonds.

For the first time this year, the Miami-Yerucham Partnership is proud to be partnering with the Center for the Advancement of Jewish Education (CAJE) in funding the Diller Teen Fellows program, an elite, action-oriented, teen-led leadership program with an international scope. Limited to only 40 young adults from Miami and Yerucham, the year-long commitment includes skill-building, social justice activities and a joint project in both Miami and Yerucham. The program develops future generations of leaders who will be dedicated to the Jewish people, Israel and community service. Diller Teens showcase a commitment to repairing the world and a sense of belonging and responsibility to their communities, Israel and the Jewish people.

“What better way to foster ties between emerging leaders than having them share experiences together,” said Rosenburg. “The Diller Teen Fellows program will help bring the Miami-Yerucham Partnership, and a deep love for Israel, into the hearts and homes of so many in Miami’s Jewish community.”

Now in its fourth year, the flagship ShinShin program brings two teens from the Negev region to spend 10 months in Miami visiting Jewish day schools, synagogue religious schools, youth groups, JCCs, senior living facilities and other community organizations. The participants are recent high school graduates who have deferred their service for a year of volunteer service. While in Miami, they provide a variety of Israeli programming for the purpose of bringing our Miami and Yerucham communities closer together. They also report back to their local newspaper with written accounts of their experiences in Miami and learn what it means to be a Jew outside of Israel. The 2013-2014 ShinShinim are Merchi Zafrani and Lotem Hacmon, who will also have the opportunity to work with the Diller Teen Fellows and develop relationships with the participants – among their many other activities.

Through programs like these, the Miami-Yerucham Partnership can continue strengthening both communities, while building deeper relationships between the people of Miami and Yerucham for years to come.

A wonderful opportunity to host our dynamic ShinShinim during their stay in Miami is available to families in North Miami/Aventura. If you would like to take advantage of this opportunity and have a meaningful experience, please contact Federation’s Israel and Overseas department at [email protected] or 786.866.8495.