Hi, my name is Ruthy, and I am from Cleveland, Ohio. After years of Jewish Day School and summers at Camp Yavneh I have grown to have a deep passion for Israel.

CLEVELAND – Established, emerging and amateur photographers are invited to submit photos that capture the people and places of Beit Shean, Cleveland’s sister city in Israel. Winning submissions will be featured in an upcoming exhibit hosted by the Jewish Federation of Cleveland and the Mandel Jewish Community Center. The exhibit, “Hidden Gems” is part of a series of events celebrating the 20th anniversary of Cleveland and Beit Shean’s partnership.

Do you know a Jewish Clevelander, ages 22 to 26, who is ready for a travel experience unlike any other? If so, send them to www.clevelandbirthrightisrael.com to pre-register for the Cleveland Summer 2016 Birthright Israel Trip. Thanks to a partnership of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland, Birthright Israel, and Israel Outdoors, Cleveland residents can embark on a free 10-day trip to Israel from June 20 – June 30, 2016.

CLEVELAND – Applications are now open for Onward Israel, an eight week summer internship program in Tel Aviv for Jewish Cleveland young adults, ages 20-25. The Jewish Federation of Cleveland, in partnership with The Jewish Agency for Israel, are now selecting a small group of college juniors, seniors, and recent college graduates from Cleveland to live and intern in Tel Aviv from June 8 – August 3, 2016.

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.