Partnership with Israel
Jewish Community of Louisville
3630 Dutchmans Lane
Louisville, KY 40205
(502) 451-8840

Partnership with Israel (originally Partnership 2000) is a Jewish Agency for Israel program that promotes regional development in Israel by “matching” communities there with those in the Diaspora. The program, which is similar to the popular “Sister Cities” effort, offers many opportunities for people on both sides of the ocean to work together in the fields of medicine, arts, education, twinning, co-existence, leadership development, culture, business development and economics and tourism. Additional opportunities can be developed for you, tailored to your individual interests, talents and skills. There are 45 Partnerships worldwide.

Since the Partnership’s inception in 1994, Louisville has been part of the Midwest Consortium of communities partnered with Israel’s Western Galilee area that includes the city of Akko and the rural communities of the Matte Asher Regional Council along the Mediterranean Sea. Other consortium members include Akron, Canton, Dayton, Toledo and Youngstown, OH; Indianapolis, Northwest Indiana and South Bend, IN; Louisville; Des Moines, IA; Omaha, NE; and Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio and Waco, TX. A steering committee made up of representatives from among the American and Israeli Partners meets twice each year to assess programs and plan future endeavors.

Flutist Kathy Karr chairs the Louisville Partnership and has been to the Western Galilee several times. She has taught master music classes there and performed at various schools in the area. Philip Rosenbloom, M.D., is regional partnership chair for the Emergency Response Group initiative that takes physicians to Israel for instruction on how to handle mass casualty situations. He and several other Louisville doctors have taken the course of study through the Western Galilee Hospital’s ERG program.

Israeli physicians, educators and entertainers of all ages have brought their talents to Louisville, where they have worked with camp groups and performed for members of our community.

Continuing Partnership programs include Kefiada, which brings Israeli teens to Midwest Consortium communities to work as counselors at Jewish Community Center summer camps and brings young Americans to Akko to work in summer camps there. There also is an artist-in-residence program that provides visual artists the opportunity to work in the Western Galilee.

Partnership opportunities can be tailored to your interests and needs. If you would like to learn more about Louisville’s Partnership program, please contact Alan Engel at 451-8840 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Israeli physicians, educators and entertainers of all ages have brought their talents to Louisville where they have worked with camp groups and performed for members of our community.  Learn more by visiting www.westerngalilee.org.il.