By Dr. Judith Antonelli

Dear friends and partners,

The Jewish year is coming to an end.  An end and a new beginning are usually a time of reflection on what was, as well as dreams and plans for what will be. 

In the past year our good friend Rob Adler stepped down from his position as SNEC president, and introduced his successor – Ronda Parish – during a warm and enjoyable visit in Afula/Gilboa.  A while later we all "met" again, virtually this time, on our joint steering committee videoconference  - technology in the service of our living bridge…

In the course of this year several members of our steering committee left, and we engaged in recruiting new members and thinking of new ideas to enhance our living bridge.  Since most of the Partnership programs are of a social action nature, we decided to hold our local steering committee meetings at the different venues that our partnership supports.  The first, very moving visit was at the Children's Village in Afula Illit, a place with which some of you are already familiar.  We visited a family unit where we saw your dollars at work – observing a social activity for the "family" and heard about other activities which were made possible by the support of our Partnership. We met warm, loving and dedicated people, and a director devoted to the improvement of the village.

On a different occasion the steering committee visited Beit Singer in Kfar Yehezkel, where we will be supporting animal-assisted therapy in the coming year.  This is a different model of caring for the children- not family units but children's "houses", with warm and giving staff that do their utmost to provide the children with warmth, love and an education so that they go out to the world equipped with skills and strength that their biological parents could not provide. The small zoo is used for emotional therapy sessions, and Ariel, whom you saw on the videoconference, is one of the therapists. 

Both places – Children's Village and Beit Singer – use pre-army teens who volunteer there as their Year of Service before joining the IDF. 

I chose to tell you these two heartwarming stories as we enter the new year, which I hope will bring all of us joy, happiness and many good things. 

Shana Tova – a good year of health, happiness and love to you and yours.

Much love,

Dr. Judith Antonelli
Chair –Partnership 2000 Afula-Gilboa