Noa Turgeman called it a “reverse mission.” Instead of Bay Area Jews traveling to Israel, this time Israel came to the Bay Area.
Panim el Panim (Hebrew for “Face to Face”) brought 10 Israeli women to the Bay Area, which in turn drew more than 100 women to workshops and talks in several locations and to a retreat on the coast.
The first-time program, which ended Feb. 1, was organized by two divisions of the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation — the Israel Center and Women’s Philanthropy.
Turgeman, the Israel Center’s program director, helped coordinate the six-day event. The Israeli women that participated are all active in different fields of social action — from organizations that focus on Arab-Jewish relations and Ethiopian immigrant rights to environmental justice and the arts.
“There’s something about it that works,” Turgeman said of the meet-ups between the Israeli and American women. “The face to face, the mutual interest in social justice and the work that they do.”
The program took the 10 visitors to different Bay Area locations, where they paired up one-on-one with local leaders, sat on panels and conducted workshops. The program culminated in a weekend retreat in Half Moon Bay.
“This is an amazing opportunity,” said Chen Abrahams, who works for the Gvanim Association, which serves disadvantaged Israelis in the Negev. “We’re a road show going to places in the community, talking mostly to women. When you step into the room already you feel nicer.”
In her meetings with Bay Area women, Abrahams shared her story about living only a few miles from Gaza. She cannot count how many times her kibbutz has been targeted by Hamas rockets.
The bulk of her work with Gvanim consists of helping local residents deal with the stress. “When you live all these years in an extraordinary situation, no area of your life is unaffected,” she said. “In all our programs we address the trauma.”
Noga Brenner Samia was another of the 10 visiting Israeli women. She serves as director of external relations and development at BINA: The Center for Jewish Identity and Hebrew Culture, which engages secular Israelis in exploring Jewish identity through study and acts of social justice.
She talked at Panim el Panim about her goal of creating what she called “modern-day scholars who continue to study and make social action a part of their lives, and take part in Jewish life.”
To do that, she and BINA have challenged the authority Orthodox Judaism has over religious life in Israel. BINA even opened a secular yeshiva, though it has yet to receive the government’s stamp of approval.
“People have been wonderful and welcoming,” Samia said of Panim el Panim. “I had people come up to me and say ‘Thank you for what you’re doing. You maintain the soul of the Jewish state.’ They understand what BINA is doing.”
U.S.-born Dyonna Ginsburg, the executive director of Bema’aglei Tzedek (Circles of Justice), was also part of the program.
She talked about the aims of her organization, a nonprofit that targets selected social ills in Israeli society and fights for remedies. One current battle is trying to improve the lives of custodial crews and security guards (most of whom are low-paid workers with few benefits).
“This was an opportunity to meet people in San Francisco and tell them about our work,” Ginsburg said. “Most of the settings have been in people’s homes, a wonderful thing because that can create a sense of conversation you don’t have in a public place. It’s been typified by a real desire to meet with us, to know, to hear and think about a fresh perspective on Israel.”
One local participant was Ellie Cohen, head of the Point Reyes Bird Observatory. With her environmental leanings, it made sense to team up with Sigal Yaniv Feller, executive director of Israel’s Green Environment Fund.
The two gave a joint presentation Jan. 26 at the Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies, discussing climate change and how to mitigate the worst of it.
“It was very inspirational,” Cohen said. “It was a great honor to be part of it and put it in context of my passion for the environment, Israel and Judaism. It excited [participants] about the possibilities of how we can share what we’re doing.”
Cohen hoped that the Panim el Panim connection will result in more Israeli biologists coming to her field research center to serve as interns, and that some of her own staff biologists likewise will study in Israel.
Since all 10 Israeli visitors strive for a more just and pluralistic society in Israel, they understand the obstacles. Unlike some American Jews, who might overlook the ills of Israeli life, the visitors wanted to expose Israel’s problems to the light of day.
“People of a younger generation didn’t grow up with the illusion that Israel is a perfect society,” Ginsburg said. “I moved to Israel precisely because I knew full well that it wasn’t a society where ultra-Orthodox, kibbutzniks and Arabs are all dancing the hora together. I still believe Israel is young enough that people who are talented go-getters can make a difference.”