P2G Director Shlichim Mom Retires

P2G DIRECTOR AND SHLICHIM HOST MOM RETIRES

By Savannah Feustel, Jewish Federation & Foundation of Northeast Florida

To say Jill Abel has devoted her focus to Northeast Florida’s Jewish community is an understatement. With her cheery disposition and drive for connection, Jill has dedicated her personal and professional life to the local and global Jewish community. Sadly, she’ll be retiring from her dual positions as Partnership2Gether (P2G) Director and its Domestic Consortium Coordinator at the end of the month.

Originally from Richmond, Virginia, Jill has lived in Jacksonville with her family for the past 26 years. When she fi rst moved to the area, Jill taught junior kindergarten at the Jewish Community Alliance’s Gan Yeladim Preschool. She found her true calling in 2012 when she dedicated her career to Partnership2Gether.

P2G is an opportunity for members of the Northeast Florida Jewish community to make people-to-people connections with Israelis living in our partnership city of Hadera-Eiron, Israel. Through her position at P2G, Jill has been able to work with teenagers and young adults within both communities.

Jill says, “Witnessing the

connections form between the American and Israeli teens was really special. I loved watching as they learned more about each other and grew from being groups of Americans and Israelis into just one large group of young Jewish people.”

In addition to making connections within both areas, she has been a “host mom'' to our Israeli shlichim (emissaries). As a mother of “two twenty-somethings,” Jill enjoys welcoming and mentoring them throughout their stay. “I don’t even consider it work at all.”

When asked about her involvement with the Jewish community outside of work, Jill spoke about how interconnected she and her entire family is with Israel. “We became connected to Israel and to the Israel Partnership because, well before I took this job, we traveled on a Federation Family Mission and then hosted Israeli teens in the summers. Both of my children were impacted by these experiences and grew to understand and love Israel in a very special way.”

Married to her husband Mike of 30 years, their daughter Hannah is a speech pathologist in Northern Virginia and their son Aaron is an offi cer in the K'shrei Chutz Unit of the Israel Defense Forces after making Aliyah.

Jewish Federation & Foundation of Northeast Florida Executive Director Alan Margolies expressed his thanks, “Both for Jacksonville’s Jewish community and for the other nine communities that make up our Southeast consortium, Jill has enhanced the connections and the relationships that we share with the people who live in Hadera-Eiron. Our partnership is all about a living bridge refl ecting these friendships and that’s what Jill is all about.”

We are so thankful for the dedication and hard work Jill has given to our Northeast Florida Jewish community and our sister community of HaderaEiron. We wish her well as she continues her journey!

P2G ONE2ONE ENGLISH PROGRAM COMPLETES THIRD COHORT

By Jill Abel, Jewish Federation & Foundation of Northeast Florida

The Partnership2Gether One2One English Program completed its third cohort of lessons in early August. Eleven educators from our Partnership's Southeast Consortium joined together to create lessons and opportunities for 21 Israeli middle and high school students to develop their skills in English conversation and vocabulary development. Northeast Florida educators, Rona Siegel and Rachel Sandler were a part of this incredible cohort of enthusiastic and passionate educators who shared their love of learning and their gifts for teaching with their students.

Rona Siegel has been one of our One2One English educators since the program began last summer. Rona brings such passion to her lessons each week. One of Rona's students wrote about her, "My name is Itamar and I am a seventh grade student in Israel. This is the second year I am studying with a teacher from the United States through the HaderaEiron Partnership to improve my spoken English. This year as last year I got to study with Rona. Rona always comes to the lesson with a smile and a lot of desire to help me progress.

Last year I had a hard time speaking because my English was really bad but this year, I have already improved and managed to have a real

conversation with Rona. In each lesson we talked about a diff erent topic that I or Rona chose and we met twice a week for a month. Rona brought worksheets, games and lots of fun for learning. I thank her and the Partnership for a fun project that promoted me in English."

Rachel has just completed her second cohort and we are thrilled to have her. She engages her students beautifully and connects with them in such a meaningful way. She even introduced her students to her family this summer. Aviv, one of Rachel's students wrote, "As a student I really enjoyed meeting Rachel. She taught me a lot of English words and helped me practice my English. Rachel and I actually connected and only spoke English, and when I did not understand something she explained to me in words I understood so we could continue the conversation. I chose to take Rachel on a tour of my house, and she took me on a tour of her house, introduced me to her family members, and I even Zoomed in with her on a vacation from the Golan Heights and showed her the view! I am looking forward to continuing with the project and meeting Rachel again in the next course!

If you are an educator and would like to participate in a program to help young Israeli students develop their English skills, please contact me at jilla@jewishjacksonville.org. We are seeking educators who love children and want to make meaningful connections while helping these young people develop confi dence in their English-speaking skills.

WELCOME RABBI CLAUDIO KOGAN

By Jacqueline Witte, Temple Bet Yam

Temple Bet Yam is thrilled to welcome Rabbi Claudio Kogan to our Temple family. Rabbi Kogan, a native of Argentina, has a unique background. His experience is in both medicine and education. Not only is he a Doctor of Medicine, but he has an MS in Bioethics, is a Master of Hebrew Letters from Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio, and is a Master of Education in Jewish education. He was ordained as a rabbi from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and served as a rabbi in Connecticut and in Texas. Rabbi Kogan was a chaplain at Doctor’s Hospital at Renaissance and at the Hidalgo Police Department, both in south Texas. Performing weddings, acting as a mohel, and giving invocations at the US House of Representatives and the Texas Senate and House of Representatives are representative of his involvement with the religious and secular communities.

Rabbi Kogan’s work with interfaith groups, community outreach activities, and Temple involvement refl ects the Temple Bet Yet philosophy where all people, regardless of their religion or expressions of faith, ethnicity, or identity are welcome. In his work with the temples where he offi ciated, he has created educational, music and art, and Hebrew learning programs for both adults and children. His strong support for youth is evidenced by his work on the board of a youth camp and his all-around support of the importance of the Jewish camp experience. He has worked with B’nei Mitzvah students, and implemented participation programs within the Temples and with the local communities where he has served.

Rabbi Kogan will be leading Temple Bet Yam’s services both in person and virtually. He, his wife, Anna, and his two children, will be living in South Florida, where he will be Director of Medical Ethics for the Baptist Hospital organization.