Arad/Tamar
This is the story of our P2G Arad Renewal Process that took the relationship between Greater MetroWest and Arad, Israel, a city located in the Negev, to new heights. Arad is our newest partnership community in Israel with wonderful opportunities to develop living bridge programs that will impact both communities positively.
The New Jersey/Delaware-Arad/Tamar Partnership (P2G)
Arad is located on the border of the Negev and Judean Deserts, near the Dead Sea. The city is home to a diverse population of about 28,000 people that includes Ashkenazim and Sephardim, secular and religious, Russians, Ethiopians, and Bedouins, as well as native-born Israelis. The Tamar region encompasses communal villages, agriculture, factories, tourist sites, and military and civilian installations. The Tamar Council has a permanent population of 2,300.
The New Jersey/Delaware-Arad/Tamar Partnership (P2G) encourages and fosters enduring relationships between and among Jewish communities by funding an array of programs locally and in Israel that all have a “living bridge” component connecting the two.
Areas of funding include the environment and education; economic development and population growth; arts and culture; talented youth; and programs that connect Arad/Tamar and New Jersey/Delaware. Examples include.
Living Bridge Programs
- Gesher, a three-year teen program with five JCCs that links 20 kids from throughout New Jersey and Israel through programming, Facebook, Skype, and visits.
- Eco-Connection, connecting 12 day schools and supplementary schools in New Jersey, Delaware, Arad, and Tamar through the study of the environment within a Jewish context.
- Kefiada, an English-language day camp in Arad where American young adults are counselors.
- Ivriada, where Israeli counselors come to American day camps for the summer.
- Counterpoint, a summer program through Yeshiva University that sends YU students and others from the local community to Arad to work with teens with potential as well as those at risk.
- Volunteer Corp, an opportunity for Americans to live for two-four weeks in Arad and volunteer in schools, absorption centers, senior centers, and other sites.
- Israel Emissary, which brings a young Israeli to the local community for a year.
Education and Community
- Tzameret Shinshinim, bringing pre-army Israeli teens to Arad for a year of service.
- Pediatric Learning Center, which provides early intervention for toddlers and young children with developmental disabilities.
- Arad College for All, a year-round supplemental program for students with potential in grades 2-12.
- Center for Children with Learning Disabilities, for religious and secular children with learning disabilities in Arad.