In Israel: Beachwood High School 2011 graduate Monica Arkin, 22, is currently living in Jerusalem and participating in Masa Israel's Career Israel program.

CLEVELAND – The Jewish Federation of Cleveland announces a groundbreaking collaboration between its sister city of Beit Shean, Israel and five local Cleveland communities. This cross-cultural exchange will influence how community development corporations (CDCs) measure success through the use of a new tool called the GEAR.

We recently met a young woman named Yafit, an Ethiopian Jew whose family made Aliyah more than 30 years ago. She is just one of nearly 100,000 Ethiopian Jews who completed the journey – an effort that Cleveland’s own Federation President Steve Hoffman helped initiate. Now, Yafit is paying it forward as a Youth Futures Mentor, a Federation-supported program that provides community-based mentoring for youth in Israel. Read Yafit’s inspiring story here:

Though he’s been in Israel for less than a year and is far from his family, Thibault already feels more at home there than he ever did in his native France.

This Thanksgiving, an American tradition made its way to Israel. The Jewish Federation of Cleveland and Masa Israel Journey sent Cleveland young adults a taste of home.

Hedy Milgrom has been with The Cleveland Women’s Orchestra since she moved to Cleveland three and a half decades ago. Her first day at the Great Lakes Arts Alliance, she arrived at work to find a news clipping on her desk about the orchestra. The rest was history.

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Inside a picturesque storefront in Cleveland’s St. Clair neighborhood is the Slovenian Museum and Archives. Small in size, this museum – which is the only one of its kind in the United States – boasts many artifacts from the central European country.

We are proud to be part of our national system, the Jewish Federations of North America, which represents 153 Jewish Federations and 300 independent network communities across North America. At this year’s General Assembly, a premiere leadership experience for engaged Federation volunteers and professionals, Federations from across North America shared their programs and innovations that are making their community stronger.