One year ago this week, 190 of us boarded a chartered El Al flight to Israel, the first direct flight from Columbus to Tel Aviv since 1995. We went because, after October 7, our Israeli brothers and sisters needed to know they were not alone. But I don’t think any of us anticipated just how deeply the experience would affect us.
For me, one of the most meaningful moments was saying Kaddish at the Kotel on the yahrzeit of my grandfather, Troy Feibel. He devoted much of his life to building our Jewish community in Columbus. Standing in Jerusalem, surrounded by members of that same community, I felt an extraordinary connection between the generations who came before us, our community here at home, and the Jewish people in Israel.
But another experience during the trip reminded me that these connections aren’t just something we inherit. They’re something we build. Years ago, our daughter Addy participated in a teen exchange program with Kfar Saba, Columbus’s sister community in Israel. What started as a teenage friendship became a lasting relationship between two families.
What strikes me most was is how something that began as a summer exchange had become part of our family’s life.
When something happens in Israel, we don’t just think about the headlines. We think about the people we’ve come to know and love there. We worry about their safety because they are people we care about.
That is the extraordinary power of our partnership with Kfar Saba. Since 2002, through the Jewish Agency’s Partnership2Gether program, our communities have built relationships that extend far beyond occasional visits. Students and educators learn together through Educational Bridge programs. Teens form lifelong friendships. Remembering2Gether connects us through shared remembrance. Israelis have joined Team Bexley for Pelotonia, and this year, our first Shinshinim (young emissaries from Israel), Amit and Ofri, are bringing Israel into our schools, synagogues, and JCC.
Next week, we have the pleasure of welcoming a delegation of leaders and professionals from Kfar Saba to Columbus. For the first time since COVID, our Joint Steering Committees will meet in person, visit our community institutions, and plan the next chapter of this nearly 25-year partnership. My thanks to Sarah Ferrin and Omer Givati, our Partnership2Gether chairs in Columbus and Kfar Saba, and their committees for their dedication to strengthening these relationships.
During last year’s mission, Rachel Goldberg-Polin described a circle in which everyone depends on the person beside them for support. She reminded us that the support we build in Columbus is felt in Israel. I think about that circle differently now. It includes a grandfather who helped build Jewish life in Columbus, two teenage girls who met through an exchange program and became lifelong friends, and 190 people who traveled across the world because they cared about people they might never otherwise have met.
We’re already beginning to plan our next community mission to Israel, hopefully in fall 2028. I hope you’ll consider joining us. Click here to express your interest. And you don’t need to travel to be part of this remarkable partnership. Visit our Israel & Overseas website or contact our team to learn how you can get involved.
A year ago, we traveled to Israel to tell our fellow Jews, “You are not alone.” But those words mean something different when you’re saying them to someone you know and love. I hope that, through this partnership, more families in Columbus will build relationships just as meaningful. Because Israel should never feel like a place thousands of miles away, filled with people we’ve never met. It should feel like a place where someone we love lives.
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