Could you introduce yourselves? 

Yael: I’m the Community Shlicha from Israel. I’ve been in Baltimore since August—almost six months now. I came to Partners just to get to know the community better and feel part of it. It was actually the first program I attended as a participant. I fell in love with it immediately and told Janna, my colleague at The Associated, ‘You must tell me every time there is Partners Baltimore because I want take part.’ 

Leora: I grew up in Baltimore and I love the community. It’s a very close community. Everyone gets along, and everyone’s really proud to be part of Baltimore. I’d actually been waiting to come to Partners for a long time, but I was too young. As soon as I was able to, I came and really loved it. I loved seeing everybody and learning with Yael. 

What do you remember most about your first meeting? 

Yael: First of all, Linda A. Hurwitz gave me a buildup about Leora. She asked who my partner was that day, and when I said Leora, she told me, ‘She’s the most incredible and smart young adult, and you will enjoy meeting her.’ What I felt most was that even though we come from very different backgrounds, we both share a deep connection to Israel. I grew up there, but Leora did a gap year in Israel last year and has family members over there. She has the same emotions about Israel as I have as an Israeli. That was the first thing that made me feel the connection. 

Leora: I thought it was so cool that Yael gave up living in Israel to come here and spread awareness about Israel. We really connected over that. But I also remember thinking we had such a good time learning together. We talked, and when we spoke, we were on the same level even though we came from different backgrounds and communities. It was just so nice. 

How would you describe the guided conversation format of Partners to someone who’s never experienced it? 

Yael: For me, learning in chavruta (the traditional Jewish method of paired text study) is something I did before, so the concept of having a text and guiding questions wasn’t unfamiliar. But it was just a great platform to deepen the conversation between us and get to know each other better through the text and the questions. 

Leora: It’s structured very well. It’s learning and then at the end there are reflections and questions to make you think about what you spoke about. It’s deep, so it gives you a lot of food for thought. 

Were there any particular topics or discussions that really stayed with you? 

Leora: Yeah, I remember the first time Yael showed me her bracelet. I always think about it—”eifo she’ani tov li,” which means “whenever I am, I’m good.” Sometimes you’ll be in traffic or whatever and it’s annoying that you’re stuck there, but wherever you are, it’s good for you. I always think about that. 

Yael: It’s a bracelet I got from a friend who lost her son in the war. The bracelets were made in his memory, and “eifo she’ani tov li” is something he used to say. It has that sentence and the shape of the map of Israel. We talked about it and I remember Leora sharing her experiences from being in Israel and what it meant for her. 

Was there anything that surprised you about each other? 

Yael: Just cool to know more about a way of living I wasn’t familiar with. Like the fact that Leora is a basketball coach is so cool to me. It showed me that even if there are different lifestyles or education backgrounds, eventually people are the same. 

Leora: Culture-wise, because Yael is from Israel, it’s always cool to hear about her army service and her kibbutz. I love when she talks about it. 

How has your relationship changed since the first meeting? 

Yael: We became friends. 

Leora: Yes. 

Yael: We text now, and Leora came once to drink coffee with me at The Associated, which was very fun. We want to do it again. It was especially fun because before me, Dora Berg was Leora’s partner. Dora was in the office that day too, so we called Dora to come hang with us. It’s a friendship that was created over Partners that continues. 

Leora: Yeah. And Yael also plays basketball, which was very cool to find out. We definitely bonded over that. I hope she comes to practice. 

Yael: We scheduled that I’m coming to a basketball practice, and I’m very excited. I haven’t played for a long time, but I still remember. 

What has this experience taught you about connecting across different Jewish backgrounds? 

Leora: Probably that it’s important to connect. I really enjoy it and learn a lot, but it’s also nice to learn about different cultures and different ways of life and not just be narrow-minded about how you live. I really enjoy Partners and recommend it. 

Has participating in Partners influenced how you see the Baltimore Jewish community? 

Yael: Partners is a great platform that shows the diversity of the Baltimore Jewish community. You can see all kinds of people coming—young adults and older people, Orthodox and Modern Orthodox and secular. All populations of Jewish Baltimore are represented. 

Leora: It really shows what’s unique about Baltimore—how everybody in the community, no matter how different, just gets together. It’s really nice to see. 

Why do you think relationships like this matter right now? 

Yael: From my Israeli perspective, in Israel right now there’s a lot of separation between populations. When you’re Jewish in Israel, you’re either religious or secular. There’s not much in between, and people don’t get many chances to speak and meet people they didn’t grow up with. Here, Partners is a platform to meet people from different backgrounds and get to know them, and then you see, oh, they’re maybe from a different background but not so different from me. We can bond over deep things connected to our identity. 

Leora: At the end of the day, everybody has the same values and the same morals. You get to see that we’re not so different and you can have a good time together. 

If you had to describe the experience of Partners Baltimore in one word or short phrase, what would it be? 

Yael: A spiritual experience. 

Leora: Spiritual. It’s also fun. I’d also say a little bit chill because there’s no teacher standing there saying you have to learn. It’s like, here’s a booklet and take what you want with it. 

What would you tell somebody who’s unsure about signing up for Partners? 

Yael: Just come and see. In Hebrew there’s a phrase, “zar lo yavin,” meaning “a stranger won’t understand.” I feel like you can’t describe to someone completely outside what you experience in Partners—the feeling of this special evening. You need to come to understand. 

If someone was nervous, I’d say people who come are very open and nice. Everybody is there with an open heart to meet new people and have meaningful conversations. It’s not scary. It’s just nice people coming together. And of course, the sushi helps. 

To learn more about Partners Baltimore, click here or email Janna Hindman at jhindman@associated.org.