Bethel Finance: Men return from Israel mission with new perspective on Israel, Jewish community

Bethel Finance news:
One way to describe the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City’s Shorashim I mission to Israel last October is by what it was not.

It was not like any mission previously sponsored by the Jewish Federation. It did not include couples or families. Its brief, seven-day itinerary was not pre-determined before participants got involved. It did not rely on standard modes of transportation. And, while history and religion were ever present in the background of the group’s activities, they were not the primary focus.

The focus instead was to provide a group of 15 men — mostly successful 40- to-60 year old business professionals with varying degrees of connection to the Jewish community, some of whom had never been to Israel — a quick immersion into the Jewish state with the ultimate goal to motivate increased engagement in the Jewish community.

A measure of magic

The idea for a men’s mission was originally proposed in 2008 by then Jewish Federation President Ward Katz, who had heard about similar missions sponsored by Jewish Federations in other cities. About a year ago, after recruiting John Isenberg and Steve Karbank to serve with him as co-chairs, Katz’s vision for Shorashim I began to come together.

Mission chairs and participants Peter Beren, Max Goldman, Edward Goldstein, Glenn Goldstein, Arthur Liebenthal, Aaron March, Michael Rainen, Peter Shapiro, John Starr, Mike Fishman and Todd Stettner, executive vice president and CEO of Jewish Federation, met three times before departure on Oct. 23 to learn and get to know one another better. The itinerary, which incorporated the best ideas from other cities as well as from participants, was arranged and tweaked up to the last minute by the Jewish Federation’s special campaign projects director and veteran mission planner, Debbie Granoff, and Gail Weinberg, financial resource development director. They assured everyone’s needs were met before, during and after the mission.

“I had been to Israel many times before, and all trips to Israel are special in their own way,” said Karbank. “But this trip had that measure of magic. “It wasn’t the itinerary, although it was great. It wasn’t the food or the wine or the places we stayed, which were also great. There was something that happened that was really dynamic and wonderful and heartwarming and exciting and thrilling, and I think everyone on the trip felt it.”

Shorashim I’s non-stop schedule offered what proved to be just the right mix of business, political, military, cultural and recreational activities, with the spotlight on people on the cutting edge of Israeli society.