The Boston-Haifa Connection is comprised of committees that focus on specific areas of the partnership. If you would like to get involved with any of these committees, please contact Ruth Kaplan at 617-457-8551.
 

Jewish Identity and Education

The goal of the projects in this area is to build Jewish Peoplehood, to foster Jewish identity and to build community. The majority of programs overseen by the Boston and Haifa Jewish Identity and Education committees are connections between schools, synagogues, kindergartens and youth exchange programs. Many of the partnerships utilize video conferencing and most projects include a continuum of Jewish experiences integrated into the synagogue, school or JCC curriculum. The breadth of projects has grown over the past few years and many of the current partnerships are focused on deepening the impact of the connection between communities by expanding initiatives to multiple grades, increasing the frequency of exchanges and the duration of the connection for each group.

Social Services

The Social Services Committees work closely with social service agencies in Boston and the Municipal Social Services Department in Haifa to establish and facilitate programs which provide assistance to populations in need. In addition, there are professional and lay exchanges. The Boston partners in this collaboration are Jewish Family & Children’s Service, Jewish Family Service of Metrowest, Jewish Vocational Services and Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Boston.  Youth and the elderly have been the two main areas of focus. The youth programs include after school activities, programs directed at girls from the Former Soviet Union, youth centers with evening hours and programs which coordinate with the youth movements.

Social Justice & Civil Society

The Social Justice & Civil Society Committee works with its counter part committee in Haifa overseeing projects, exchanges and networking opportunities that enable people to address social justice issues of mutual concern while deepening and strengthening their interpersonal connections. Under the theme of Anti-Poverty, the committee works to empower and strengthen the third sector (NGOs) in Haifa. Boston based NGOs, such as Project Hope, One Family Campaign, Bridgestar, Dunk the Vote and Greater Boston Food Bank, with years of experience participate in the networking and exchange. Other Social Justice efforts include Women’s Empowerment and Jewish–Arab co-existence.

Ethiopian Jewry

The Ethiopian Jewry Committee advocates on behalf of Ethiopian Israelis in Haifa and the Falas Mura in Ethiopia (Ethiopians still in Ethiopia who claim Jewish ancestry). The Ethiopian Jewry Committees in Boston and in Haifa oversee the implementation of a citywide integration program called Shiluvim, Integration. Shiluvim was put together by a sub committee of Ethiopians in Haifa and is a holistic approach that addresses needs in the areas of education, health care, employment, leadership development and multicultural sensitivity. A new municipal department in Haifa with the cooperation of Haifan organizations and the Boston Haifa Committee are continuing to monitor and implement the plan. Click here to read more about Shiluvim.

Living Bridges: People-to-People

The projects developed and facilitated by the Living Bridges/People to People committees in Boston and Haifa encompass partnerships between students, youth and congregations whose emphasis is on informal youth education and adult congregational relationships. Opportunities for involvement are wide ranging and include the arts, through the Boston Jewish Film Festival/Haifa International Film Festival collaboration, social justice, through the Teens for Tzedek program, sports, through the Maccabi Games and religion through the Synagogue Council’s Unity Mission. Several of these programs include home hospitality opportunities which foster deeper, more personal understanding between Bostonians and Haifaim.