We wish all of our Onward Israel Cleveland participants a safe, exciting, and meaningful summer, as they immerse themselves in Israeli culture and make Cleveland friendships for a lifetime.

Jewish Clevelander Anna Lowenstein is spending 10 months in Cleveland's sister city of Beit Shean, teaching English to Israeli students through the "Masa Israel Teaching Fellows" program. Read an excerpt from her travel blog below:

Jewish Clevelander Ali Hamilton shows us a full day at a Haifa, Israel public elementary school with footage of teaching, students, and school life. Ali is a Masa Israel Teaching Fellow, spending 10 months volnteering to teach English to Israeli students.

Summer Soirée is just 1 week away! We can’t wait to see everyone on Thursday, June 7 to officially kick off summer in style. If you haven’t clicked that “register” button yet, here’s just a few highlights that’s going to make this year’s party our best yet:

Beit Shean, Israel, Cleveland’s sister city, has a hidden gem – or should we say a hidden vine.

On May 15, the Federation’s Community Relations Committee, in partnership with The Laura & Alvin Siegal Lifelong Learning Program at Case Western Reserve University, Academic Engagement Network, and AJC, hosted a timely and unfiltered panel discussion about "American Jews and Israel: Where is the Relationship Headed?"

A special summer event: the American Premiere of ON THE GRILL, running June 21-July 8,

Each year, 8th graders from Gross Schechter Day School and Mandel Jewish Day School – two of Federation’s beneficiary agencies, travel to Israel to experience in-person everything they’ve learned in the classroom about Israeli culture and history. They also have a chance to spend time with their peers in Beit Shean, Cleveland’s sister city.

We recently concluded our 8-day Israel Arts and Culture Mission with a beautiful dinner at the Israel Museum, where our group got to share a few thoughts about what we experienced as we explored the depth and breadth of visual arts, music, dance, theater, architecture, literature, jewelry and textile design, and of course, the culinary arts! Somehow we managed to fit in all of those things between meals!

Israel is home to many of the best culinary experiences in the world. Community members recently returned from a first-of-its-kind mission that explored our Jewish homeland's innovation and cultural diversity through the lens of food. Read a few of their trip highlights now: