letter from israel

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Letter from JsraelCleveland group builds bridge to Israeli cityBy Christopher Johnston

BElT SHE'AN, ISRAEL - Until a few months ago, Dror Moredechi, a gro-cery store owner outside of Beit She'an, Israel, probably never thought htwould feel closer to people from Cleveland than to some of his own relative;

But that changed after June 19,2003.At about 6 a.m. that day, his father, Avner,

was reading his Torah at the front counter ofthe store, when a 'Palestinian man entered,acting nervously. When he started to exit,Avner confronted him, and the man deto-nated the bomb wired to his body, destroy-ing the store and killing both men. Israelipolice believe he was there to attack theschool bus that passes the store around 6:30every morning, but had arrived too early.

When I met with him last Thursday,Dror proudly showed me his father's Bible,which was the only thing to survive theblast. A bookmark indicates he was readinga passage from Genesis about sacrificialgoats. When Dror asked how to interpretthe passage, his rabbi told him that Avnerhad sacrificed his life so that the schoolchildren could go on with theirs.

Dror remains obvious-ly shaken; as he quietlydiscusses the incidentthrough an interpreterinside the new store, con-struction of which shouldbe completed by the endof the year. Presently, heruns a temporary groceryout of a trailer in theparking lot, and he choseto rebuild because it's theonly way he can supporthis family. Finding themoney to do so, however, would have beennearly .irnpossible without the help of theCleveland House, an economic developmentoffice established in 1995, when the JewishCommunity Federation of Cleveland OCF)decided to make Beit She'an a "Sister City."A significant portion of the 200,000 shekelsthe organization gave Dror for the new storecame from Cleveland, which donates morethan $500,000. annually to this region knownas the "Land of the Palms" because of itsnumerous date-palm trees.

At the time the JCF established the con-nection, Beit She'an was "just a crossroads,"says Alan Gross of the federation, later thatevening at a special reception for a delega-tion from Cleveland at the recently openedGuest House. The luxurious facility is thefirst hotel in the region, although it will pri-marily serve as a youth hostel. WithCleveland's help, the city is trying to bolsterits tourism trade by finding ways to keeppeople in town overnight, not just as a quickstop to see one of the largest archeologicalsites in Israel.

As throughout all of Israel, new construc-tion can be seen just about everywhere inBeit She'an, again thanks primarily to thework of the JCF partnership. The palm-lined Menachem Begin Avenue even featuresa new boutique mall with a kosherMcDonald's. In addition to money, thegroup has been instrumental in the area'sresurgence through making connections.

For starters, the city and regional mayors- Israel's local government structure -

had never met before Robert Goldbenchairman of Ohio Savings, and the mlibehind the program's initiation, told then.they had to work together to strengthen tmregion and better serve its 17,000 residenaOne of the program's goals is to brin!together the diverse interests represented inthe region, connecting people who live onthe kibbutz communities with those in the'city, recent immigrants from Russia or

.Morocco to long-time Israelis, religious withsecular Jews, and so on.

The partnership has also established avariety of exchange programs withCleveland organizations. For example, stu-dents from Cleveland's Agnon and SolomonShechtet schools enjoy relationships withtwo schools in Beit She'an, and childrenfrom Beit She'an annually visit Cleveland in

March, while Clevelandchildren travel 'to Israelin May. The JCF has alsobrought members of theCleveland House staff toNortheast Ohio: Amongthose, Nitzan Aviran,executive director, visit-ed with individuals fromthe Small BusinessAdministration, as wellas Howard Gudell, pres-ident of the Ohio-IsraelChamber of Commerce,

and David Yen, executive director of theWorld Trade Center Cleveland.

"We are open to any kind of economicdevelopment and ways to help entrepre-neurs," Aviran says. "So having access tothose kinds of resources helps us createbusiness in the region." He adds that com-mercial activity has increased 10 percentannually since the partnership was estab-lished. In fact, JCF's presence is so preva-lent that if you speak English in Beit She'an,residents are likely to ask if you are fromCleveland.

More recently, Goldberg brokered rela-tions between Beit She'an and businesses inJordan, which lies directly east across theJordan River. Residents like Miri Davidovinremember having to wear shoes to bed incase they needed to dash to the nearest bombshelter, prior to the 1967 war. Today, admir-ing the city lights twinkling across the valleyon the mountains where Jordan's artilleryonce stood, she hopes the growing econom-ic connections between the two nations willhelp bring peace.

Late Thursday, after presenting the out-going mayor with an attractive gold menorahand stained glass window representing BeitShe'an, Fran Immerman, chair of ]CF'sPeople to People programs and a frequentvisitor to the region, echoes Dror's feelings:"For Israelis to know there are Jews inCleveland who care deeply about them ispretty significant, especially when you feelthe whole world is against you. So we allhave a lot of family here now." •

If you speakEnglish in BeitShe'an, residentsare likely to ask ifyou are fromCleveland.