Ten women from Kiryat Bialik visited South Palm Beach County, their partnered community in the framework of the Jewish Agency and UJC's Partnership 2000. This was the second mifgash (encounter) of the Women to Women program, which began last October when ten women from SPBC came to Israel and KB. Guests and hosts switched places now and the joint American-Israeli group was delighted to come together again.

The partnership between Kiryat Bialik and the Jewish Federation of SPBC was established some 5 years ago and operates various projects in the fields of Jewish education, culture and welfare. The main goal of the current program is to create a Living Bridge between women of both communities and seek together avenues for joint activities in fields of shared interests such as women's wellness, education etc.

The Israeli women spent five days touring Boca Raton and South Florida. The women walked in the Lupus walkathon on the FAU campus, attended Super Sunday, participated in Friday night services at B'nai Torah Congregation and toured the South Palm Beach County Jewish Federation campus; they also visited Miami Jewish Museum and Holocaust Memorial - an experience made even more powerful by the guidance of Dr. Leon Weissberg, director of the Federation's Jewish Education Commission who is a great friend of KB. In a magical evening hosted by Ann Kelman, co-chair of the P2K Steering Committee and one of this program's designers, the women from Kiryat Bialik and Boca Raton had the opportunity to socialize, catch up and share friendships.

In one of the most special events of the visit, the Israeli women spoke to the 7th and 8th grade classes at Donna Klein Jewish Academy. Two of the women are teachers and shared a book that high school students in KB had written about the Second Lebanon War. The women explained that despite the tensions the children of Israel are just like the children in Boca; they play sports, text message, have play station, facebook and do all the same after school activities. The middle school students asked many questions and the women really brought home the message of the universality of children everywhere.

The group explored several options of projects in which to continue their joint activity and chose to focus on a new playground in KB, from which the entire community will benefit. The municipality will maintain and landscape the area and participants are now working hard to raise funds to purchase the playground equipment.