Community House

The Partnership 2000 Volunteer Forum initiated the setting up of a Community House Forum, working towards the establishment and strengthening of community houses engaged in Jewish culture and identity, and providing a response for residents of Central Galilee (Nazareth Illit, Jezreel Valley, and Migdal HaEmek).

The community house serves as a meeting place, an experience and a study setting for a diverse community—as residents communally celebrate Shabbat, holidays, and life ceremonies while upholding a Jewish secular lifestyle and a commitment to Jewish culture and social justice.

The community house is a home for Israelis of secular and traditional backgrounds interested in fashioning for themselves a community lifestyle with linkage to Jewish culture.

A cultural, social, and ideological platform drawing its content from ancient Jewish cultural treasures combined with contemporary Jewish culture: Bible, Midrash, Talmud, Hebrew literature & poetry, and Jewish philosophy.

A setting that enables celebrating and experiencing Jewish tradition via multi-generational social gatherings and creative activities.
Activity centering on the Hebrew calendar and circles of individual and community life.

An environment for gatherings of joint learning, Kabbalat Shabbat, marking holidays and festivals, life ceremonies, and studying texts from the Jewish bookshelf.

Goals

Establishing a multi-generational and active Jewish secular community.
Strengthening the connection with Central Galilee Partnership 2000 and generating cooperation and gatherings among existing communities in the Central Galilee Partnership 2000 region.

Forging program content and combining ancient and new texts in accord with the secular lives of participants.

Enabling experiences connected with Jewish culture, heritage, and tradition.

Strengthening connections with US Jewry via a relationship with a community in the Partnership region.

Serving as a center for Jewish culture and Jewish identity by engaging in Jewish study and experience.
Celebrating and conducting holiday events and life ceremonies including: Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh, Jewish holidays, bar mitzvahs, weddings, and more.

Forum Vision

To establish community houses in Central Galilee as centers engaged in Jewish identity and Jewish culture, conducting Kabbalot Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh events, holidays & festivals, life ceremonies and more—in a pluralistic spirit for our times.
 
This out of our desire to uphold a Jewish, secular lifestyle in a cultural, social, and ideological framework that draws its content from Jewish cultural treasures—combining new and old texts and founded on the participation of Partnership 2000 volunteers.

Forum Goals

Strengthening Jewish identity by running community houses as centers for sustaining Jewish heritage and culture.

Linking between community houses in the Central Galilee Partnership 2000 region and strengthening connections between them.

Establishing, supporting, and accompanying new communities.

Cooperation between community houses; producing regional events.

Linking between community houses in Israel and Jewish community centers overseas; strengthening our relationship with the Michigan community.

Locating community leadership at community houses in Israel and Jewish community centers in Michigan; strengthening connections between them.

Expanding the circle of participants at community houses; strengthening the connection between area residents and Partnership 2000 and the subject of Jewish identity—by conducting Shabbat, holiday, and life ceremonies.

Of Special Importance

Throughout its years of activity, the Partnership has budgeted diverse activities focused on Jewish identity (in millions of dollars) and has declared Jewish identity as an overriding goal to be placed on the agenda of the joint Steering Committee.

All of the energies invested in the past were in projects whose budgeting had terminated, which were not self-sufficient, and which were run by external parties dependent on budgets.

Community houses are an opportunity to put all of our investment in Jewish identity under one roof.  Community houses can contain and embrace our many years of investing in Jewish identity.

This is a unique project that is a Jewish cultural need; it supplies a Jewish cultural response that is multidisciplinary and multi-generational (Kabbalat Shabbat, bar mitzvah, holidays, life ceremonies, Beit Midrash, study groups, etc.)

This is a multi-generation, multiyear life project—run by volunteers from the community.  It requires initial support for two consecutive years.  Later, the community can take upon itself the continued running of community houses.