Maddie Reiches, a young leader in the Kansas City Jewish community recently nominated to the Jewish Federation board, is preparing to travel to Argentina next month with The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, as part of an “Entwine Insider Trip.”
The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee — more commonly referred to as JDC or “The Joint” — is one of Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City’s two “core” overseas partner organizations, and the partner through which Kansas City maintains its partnership with and grantmaking to the Jewish communities of Bulgaria and Romania. In recent years, a number of local Jewish community members have traveled and learned more about JDC’s work around the globe, including on the Federation mission to Havana, Cuba, in the fall of 2019 (another mission was scheduled to Bulgaria and Romania in March 2020, but was canceled because of COVID-19).
JDC Entwine is a program designed “to catalyze the current generation of Jewish young adults to view global Jewish awareness, connection, and responsibility as core to their identity.” A key piece of Entwine programming to both engage young adults and develop them as leaders are these “Insider Trips,” which consist of seven- to 10-day travel programs for groups of young professionals, who spend up to five hours per day volunteering and learning about the issues facing the communities they visit. The trips also serve as an exchange for participants to foster connections with Jewish peers around the world.
“I love traveling to new places, and I jumped at the opportunity to visit Buenos Aires,” Reiches said. “When I learned that there were about 180,000 Jews living in Argentina, it sealed the deal. Learning about Argentinian Jewish history and culture should be fascinating.”
Tricia Uhlmann, a past chair of Jewish Federation and JDC board member, is rather passionate about the Entwine program, the opportunities it provides, and how it connects global Jewry.
“I have supported JDC Entwine since its inception and continue to do so because I believe that it is the best tool to get the top Jewish young adults attracted to, educated about and involved in Jewish life, and to train them as our future leaders, advocates and stakeholders,” Uhlmann said. “Young people today live global lives and JDC Entwine connects the global to the local: building community at home through service abroad. It is a gift that JDC gives to the Jewish people, and a gift that the Kansas City Jewish Federation can give to our Jewish community that it serves.”
Moving forward, Uhlmann hopes additional young leaders in the Kansas City Jewish community will want to take advantage of the opportunity to travel on Entwine Insider Trips and deepen their Jewish connection and engagement. Destinations on the 2023 trip list may include Romania, Poland, Moldova, India, Morocco, South Africa, Argentina and Greece, for example.
Twenty- and thirty-somethings interested in such experiences can reach out to Becca Levine at Jewish Federation to learn more (). Since 2008, JDC Entwine–formerly known as the Next Gen Service and Leadership Initiative–has grown to reach more than 30,000 young adults in their 20s and 30s who have connected through an array of programs, including Insider Trips.
