Fourteen teens from each community were selected to participate on the Journey. The program takes place over three weeks in July-August 2005 with coordination by trained professionals from both communities. The outlines of the program are as follows:

In Rochester: Six days of interactive learning about Jewish life in America; includes a visit to Washington DC to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, visits to area synagogues, as well as excursions to Watkins Glen, Niagra Falls, and much more. The Israeli children are paired with American counterparts and stay in their homes. Exercises and activities help them to get to know each other and to experience differences and similarities between Israeli and American teens. The week concludes with a picnic at the home of Journey Co-Chair Ricki Birnbaum.

In Poland: Seven days of visits to Jewish community centers, monuments, villages, and concentration camps in Poland, including discussions with Polish Holocaust survivors, rescuers and their descendants. In Poland, the group will trace the history of Poland's Jewish community, visiting ghetto remains, cemeteries, and synagogues in Bialystok, Lublin and Krakow. They will receive tours in Treblinka, Majdanek, Sobibor, and Auschwitz where they will learn about the Holocaust where it happened. They will visit museums and other institutions educating them about the history of European Jewry.

In Israel: Finally, the teens will migrate to the site of ancient and modern miracles - the land of Israel. Eight days of visits to major sites throughout Israel and a deeper understanding of the significance of Israel as the Jewish homeland and the spiritual/cultural center of Judaism ensue. While in Modi'in, the Rochester teens stay in the homes of their new friends. They  travel to a wide variety of sites throughout the country to learn about its rich history and the extraordinary achievements of the modern state in just half a century. They visit ancient Jerusalem and modern, bustling Tel Aviv. They tour the Ghetto Fighers Kibbutz, the Golan Heights, the Sea of Galilee, take camel rides in the Arad region, explore the Judean Desert, Ein Gedi and the Dead Sea.

The Journey for Identity, which includes numerous stop-overs in Modi'in, will conclude with a farewell dinner at the home of Hilla Hadas.

Learn more about Partnership 2000.

Visit our joint website at www.partner.il.org/modiin.

Visit "A Journey in Photos" .