An innovative study session held at the Karmiel offices of the Jewish Agency for Israel on October 20th . The session brought together by way of videoconference, social service professionals from the Pittsburgh Jewish Community and the Social Services Departments of the City of Karmiel and the Misgav Regional Council to discuss the issue of "Social Work & Gender". This session was part of an ongoing effort to provide mutual professional enrichment and growth for professionals from the partner communities of the Jewish Agency sponsored Partnership 2000 program.

During a November 2004 visit by a delegation of Pittsburgh social workers, a series of study workshops were held for professionals of the three communities during which it was decided to develop an ongoing forum to promote learning and the exchange of ideas while at the same time enhancing the relationship between the various community professionals of the partner communities. The videoconferences were intended to the promote knowledge and discussion concerning their experiences.
The Meeting on October 20th was the 7th on this serie. A short movie is available on the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH1uQV0OFmg

The session was held in English with simultaneous translation to Hebrew and Arabic, as required. Prior to the session, the participants were requested to read and review an article on the subject of Low-Income Fathers and ‘‘Responsible Fatherhood’’ Programs.
The session took place with half of the participants sitting in Karmiel and the remaining portion in Pittsburgh, all of them able to communicate by way of the videoconferencing network system.  The American staff, led by Erin Barr & Wendy Levine-Shaw (who coordinated the Pittsburgh contingent) moderated the session with the help of Yair Levin, a social worker from the Misgav Regional Council Social Services Department and Rena Malka of the City of Karmiel.
Levin noted that the study session was fascinating, with a high level of interest and active participation on the part of all of the participants. Feedback and conclusions from the participants will be gathered in a joint written document that summarizes the session. An additional study session is planned for the Spring of 2010.