By Richard Friedman, Executive Director

ROSH HA'AYIN, ISRAEL -- There's no place like home. Especially when you're in Israel.

Six women from Birmingham and I experienced an Israeli homecoming this past week when we broke away from our national Jewish Federations of North America "Heart to Heart" trip Tuesday night to visit Rosh Ha'ayin, Birmingham's Sister City in Israel. The six were Hilary Gewant, Caren Seligman, Amanda Weil, Brittany Saag, Sally Friedman and Sheryl Kimerling.

Hilary, Caren, Amanda and Brittany had never been to Rosh Ha'ayin, so on the way there Sally and I recounted Birmingham's involvement over the years. The saga began in the late 1970s when Birmingham's Tillie and Max Kimerling, grandparents of Sheryl's husband, Jon, donated funds to build a community center in Rosh Ha'ayin, then a small town made up mostly of families who had come to Israel from Yemen.

The Yemenite families in Rosh Ha'ayin came to Israel shortly after the rebirth of the Jewish state in 1948 on a historic airlift that would be known as Operation Magic Carpet. Upon arriving, they basically languished in one of Israel's "forgotten neighborhoods" until The Birmingham Jewish Federation became involved with Rosh Ha'ayin in the early 1980s through a program called Project Renewal.

Project Renewal involved an unprecedented fundraising commitment for our Federation, consultation between leaders in both communities and people to people programs, including visits to Birmingham from Rosh Ha'ayin's Mandolin Orchestra, which allowed us to get to know each other better.

Many friendships were formed between people in Birmingham and people in Rosh Ha'ayin which continue to this day. Over the years, the Kimerling family has remained a generous benefactor of the community center in Rosh Ha'ayin; the people to people exchanges have continued, and the City of Birmingham itself adopted Rosh Ha'ayin as an official Sister City in 2005.

DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP

Upon arriving in Rosh Ha'ayin we visited a youth education and leadership development center and learned more about Rosh Ha'ayin's efforts to develop leadership for the future. It was nice to see some of their young people begin developing a relationship with our young people as Amanda and Brittany, both 26, sat in a circle dialoguing with some of the older teens.

It was also moving for Caren, here on her first trip to Israel, to reconnect with teens who had come to Birmingham two summers ago as part of a Rosh Ha'ayin entertainment group. Caren was one of the BJF staff members who coordinated their visit. She is pictured here with two of those young people in a photo taken Tuesday night.

Walking into the youth center, I also encountered a hard dose of reality. A Rosh Ha'ayin friend who was waiting for me, who I had not seen since my last visit to Israel three years ago, turned to me, speaking quietly. His wife and two young daughters were next to him. Clearly worried about Iran, he asked me matter of factly, "If there is a war here, can my family and I come stay with you?" (The answer was yes.)

I was thinking about this friend's question as I spoke to the Rosh Ha'ayin teens and adults on behalf of our delegation. I stressed to both the Birmingham group and the Rosh Ha'ayin people that it is crucial that we continue our relationship for the next 30 years and beyond.

These are critical times here in Israel. Israelis are worried about Iran and know that when madmen talk about annihilating Jews and the Jewish state they must be taken seriously. Israel and the US need each other, Jews need each other and Birmingham and Rosh Ha'ayin need each other, I stressed. Through these relationships we inspire and strengthen each other.

MANDOLIN ORCHESTRA

Later in the evening, we found ourselves in the beautiful Kimerling Center, which has been renovated and expanded thanks to continued support from the Kimerling family. At the conclusion of the evening, we enjoyed a short performance by the Mandolin Orchestra. We were told about the continuing growth and success of the orchestra and that it would be visiting Germany to perform.

In again speaking on behalf of our delegation, I had the chance to offer another perspective. I reminded our Birmingham group that we had visited Yad Vashem, Israel's memorial to the Holocaust, when we were in Jerusalem the previous day. And now, just a little more than 24 hours later, we were learning that the Rosh Ha'ayin orchestra would be visiting Germany to perform; a Jewish orchestra from the Jewish state, and a development that would have been unthinkable 70 years ago as the Nazis and their collaborators were murdering 6,000,000 Jews.

The Jewish world is different today because of three things, I said, that we didn't have in the 1930s and early 1940s: A Jewish state that will welcome any Jew at any time, a Jewish army to defend Jews, and the network of Jewish Federations that has evolved since those dark days. It is Jewish Federations that remain the primary catalyst for Jewish community fundraising, advocacy and action.

Had we had these three assets, millions of our brethren would have been saved. Our history sadly reminds us of how important it is that Israel, its military and Jewish Federations continue to remain strong.

Apparently, I touched a chord. Though we needed to hurry to our van as soon as the concert was over, two of the Rosh Ha'ayin adults stopped me to chat. The first told me about a moving visit that the orchestra had made to Poland, once home to more than 3,000,000 Jews, 90 percent of whom died during the Nazi era. The second person, who looked to be in his 40s, told me, "I am glad you talked about the Holocaust. I think about it all the time."

It was a poignant conclusion to a wonderful evening in Rosh Ha'ayin -- one filled with reconnecting and affirmation, and a belief in the bonds that unite us.