A line-up of MetroWest leaders, including current and past presidents, and the mayors of six towns — Gush Etzion, Sha’ar Hanegev, Ofakim, Horfeish, Ra’anana, and Rishon Letzion — at a presentation of plaques commemorating the 30th anniversary of the MetroWest partnership.
Photos by Steve Levy
November 27, 2008
Thirty years ago, then Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin initiated Project Renewal to involve Diaspora communities in building up the poorest neighborhoods in Israeli cities, areas that he called “a thorn in his heart.”
The quality of life in all those neighborhoods has improved significantly — and almost all of those partnerships ended long ago.
But the bond between United Jewish Communities of MetroWest New Jersey and Rishon Letzion’s Neve Eliyahu neighborhood is still going strong.
Last week a Major Gifts Mission from MetroWest joined the Neve Eliyahu community in celebrating the anniversary of that partnership.
The celebration was attended by the mayors and residents of MetroWest’s more recent Israeli partner communities: Ofakim, Merchavim, Ra’anana, Gush Etzion, Sha’ar Hanegev, and Hurfeish.
Marching into Rishon Letzion are, from left, Frances Brody, Mimi Heyman, and Arthur Brody, with Project Otzma participants behind them.
Participants celebrated a host of projects initiated as a result of the partnership between Israel’s fourth-largest city and the NJ community. These included improvements to housing in Neve Eliyahu, new parks, the Neve Eliyahu community center, programs for a wide variety of disadvantaged populations, and an array of “absorption” and religious pluralism projects for immigrants from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union.
The mission coincided with the General Assembly, the national United Jewish Communities’ annual convention for Jewish federation leaders, held in Jerusalem.
Former UJC MetroWest president Ken Heyman of Short Hills, who chaired the Neve Eliyahu celebration along with his wife, Mimi, said that when Project Renewal began, its participants could not have known how successful it would be or how long it would last.
Heyman said he was proud that the cooperative venture had lasted a full generation, noting that his father was among the original donors whose names adorn Neve Eliyahu’s community center.
“I think what made the partnership strong was that everyone realized it was about a living bridge between the two communities,” Heyman said. “Its survival was based on the relationship that developed and sustained the partnership through its ups and downs.”
At the dedication of the Betty and Sheldon Feinberg Family Development Center are, from left, outgoing
Rishon Letzion Mayor Meir Nitzan, Gary Aidekman, and Betty Feinberg.
Lois Lautenberg, who donated the neighborhood’s central park with her then husband, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), remembered how neighborhood leaders visited MetroWest to learn how Jewish community centers work and then adapted the model for their own.
Lautenberg, who cochaired the Major Gifts Mission, said the partnership became a model for others across Israel.
“The residents of Neve Eliyahu are an extended family,” Lautenberg said. “We gave them the tools to work with. Through their hard work, they helped themselves and made their community a success.”
Adele Lebersfeld of Livingston, who with her husband Herman were Lautenberg’s mission cochairs, estimated that she had already been to Neve Eliyahu 30 times, even though it is far from being a tourist destination.
“The story of Neve Eliyahu is like a fairy tale,” Lebersfeld said. “We watched the neighborhood improve from the slum that it was. At first, people were frightened to come here, but every time we came, it got better. It was terrible but now it is beautiful. It’s changed from stigma to status.”
The celebration was marked with a festive event hosted by two young Neve Eliyahu residents. Local dance troupes and bands performed and MetroWest paid tribute to outgoing Rishon Letzion Mayor Meir Nitzan, who fostered the partnership in his 25 years in city hall. He was given a menora, which he promptly donated to the city.
Max Kleinman, UJC MetroWest’s executive vice president, noted the groundbreaking programs that had come out of the partnership, including the Operation Atzmaut program to help Ethiopian immigrant families move toward self-sufficiency and integration into Israeli society. The program has been transplanted to 14 other communities.
Kleinman thanked Nitzan for insisting on matching philanthropic dollars for Atzmaut and many other initiatives and said he was looking forward to working with the new mayor, Dov Tzur. Tzur, who beat Nitzan in an upset election victory on Nov. 11, also thanked him and promised to maintain the relationship. Nitzan wished his successor well.
Nitzan said he was certain the Rishon-MetroWest relationship will continue, “because it doesn’t depend on one man but on the young citizens of Rishon who were affected by the spirit of not only generosity but love that we get from the MetroWest community,” he said.
“When you have love in your heart, you can communicate even if you don’t speak the same language, because love is the language of relationships.”
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