Cathy’s Whim Cathy’s Whim

Episode 12: The End! (or is it?!) I have been back in Dayton for a few days now and I have had some time to reflect and savor my first trip to Israel.  I can tell you it was nothing that I expected and everything exceeded my expectations.  The people of Israel were so warm and welcoming and I was struck by the unrelenting gratitude of all of the people who benefit from the support of Partnership2Gether. I also got to meet some incredibly dedicated professionals and volunteers from our partnership central area consortium and I look forward to our...

Episode 11: The Raid on Entebbe – A First Hand Account Our last morning together, everyone broke out into smaller groups based on size and geographical location to work more on the Partnership Strategic Planning.  After our final exercise together was done, we gave our attention to the keynote speaker, Lt. Shlomi Reisman (ret.), one of the soldiers involved in the commando operation that culminated in the release of 106 hostages from an airport terminal in Uganda at the Raid of Entebbe. Lt. Resiman’s first-hand account of the events leading up to the day was riveting – everyone was enthralled...

Episode 10:  “Look Deep Into Nature and Then You Will Understand Everything Better” The last night with our Partnership Group was a memorable one.  We were taken on a torch lit tour of the Grottos of Rosh Hanikra located on the Lebanon Border.  What an absolutely stunning sight! We took a cable car ride down the side of the boulder to get to the grottos.  It was an unseasonably cold night and our guides had warm apple cider waiting for us while we viewed a short movie about the Grottos.  The opening scene of the film was a quote from...

Episode 9:  Dayton: First in Flight and first to support the Partnership Center for Connections and Communities. I want to take a moment to gush a bit and tell everyone about my fantastic Partnership2Gether volunteers Irvin Moscowitz and Dave London.  These two have been tireless and stalwart supporters of Partnership2Gether for a very long time and I now have the pleasure of working with them on this important initiative that they are clearly passionate about – it’s been very exciting and inspirational to be around these two, soaking up their knowledge and hearing all their great ideas to bring more...

Episode 8:  Art is an effort to create, beside the real world, a more humane world. – Andre Mouris, Author On Wednesday, we began our day touring the arts and community tracks of the north district of Ga’Aton, Regba and Kfar Rosh Hanikra, starting off at the location of a familiar face to the Dayton community: Yochanan Kishon, an Israeli photography teacher, artist and curator with over 30 years of experience. Yochcanon visited Dayton in 2014 as part of the successful series of photography programs through our JCC.  Cathy and I were browsing through a book of photos when lo...

Episode 7:  PartnershipGether Steering Committee Meetings – Getting Down to Business! Overall, the Partnership2Gether experience was so immersive; it deserves its own space apart from the sights and sounds of Israel! Below is part 1 of 2 detailing the fantastic program we support in the Western Galilee. Today (Tuesday) we got down to business with the start of the P2G Steering Committee Meeting.  We began with an ice breaker activity led by Nate Shapiro, director of development from the Jewish Federation of Omaha – we all gathered in a circle and tried a listening activity that was a hoot.  It...

Episode 6: Touring the Western Galilee After leaving Yad Vashem, Cathy and I made our way north to Nahariya, the final leg of our journey.  In Nahariya, we met up with 40 other professionals and volunteers to kick off the Partnership2Gether Steering Committee meeting with a fabulous family-style meal at Rothschield. It is really difficult to describe the amount of delicious food there was—platter after platter of salads (3 kinds), sesame noodles, cheeses, potato dishes and even pizza made the rounds at the table. The food is so amazing and fresh and one can’t help but try every dish—and go...

Episode 5: A Humbling Day After leaving David Moss, Cathy and I made our way to the Western Wall.  I have been looking forward to this stop on our trip—the Wall symbolizes so much to so many people and I was humbled to be in such a hallowed place. I was struck by the wide-ranging emotions of the women around me—some of the women were crying as they prayed, while others were almost joyful. In my bag I carried the written prayers of family and friends and I carefully placed each to them in a large crevice then let my...

Episode Four: David Moss-Illuminator, Animator and Transformer of Jewish Texts, Objects, Spaces and Souls We woke this morning to an extraordinary crisp, blue-sky day and I was thankful for the turn in the weather as Cathy and I had an exciting visit planned for the morning. So, what do two gals from Dayton do in Jerusalem on a gorgeous day? Why they walk to the artist’s colony near the old city to meet up with Dayton’s own David Moss. I have never met David in person (he and his wife have lived in Israel for the past 32 years), but...

Episode Three: From Israel, With Love Cathy and I arrived in Tel Aviv late Friday afternoon. After securing our rental car and with the help of Google Maps, we made our way to Jerusalem in a wind and rain storm. (Picture: it’s dark, it’s raining, it’s windy and Cathy is at the wheel. ) We arrived at the hotel travel weary, but in one piece. We were welcomed by the staff at the lovely YMCA Jerusalem with a glass of refreshing cherry juice, awed by the exquisite décor of the hotel. Dinner was mouth-watering as we dined on roasted eggplant,...