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A MONTHLY MIX OF IDEAS

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Women With A Mission

Lisa Brody

Community View

Jerusalem

W

e met at Continental Airlines
at Detroit Metropolitan

Airport on Sunday morning,
Jan. 27 — 39 women and two Federation
professionals, heading to Israel on Mosaic,
the first women's mission from the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit in
almost 20 years. A campaign and leader-
ship development mission, we were travel-
ing to Israel to learn firsthand how our
local dollars make a difference in Israel.
For some, it was their first trip; for others
it was like returning home.
In Israel, we were met by our fabulous
guide, Naomi Rockowitz, who made
aliyah from Australia over 20 years ago.
Throughout the week we shared in Israel,
we were mesmerized by Naomi's knowl-
edge of Israeli and Judaic history and of
Detroit's partnership region in the Central
Galilee. We also enjoyed her excellent taste
in restaurants.
While she had us up at 6:30 each morn-
ing and on the bus by 8, going well into
the evening, she also understood that time
needed to be set aside in each location
for shopping. This was a women's mission
after all.
Our first stop on Monday was at Tishbi
winery, where we sampled Israeli wines
and fresh-baked breads, hummus, tahini
and grilled vegetables. We then made our
way to Tsippori, with its bird's-eye view
of the Galilee, and the beautiful mosaic of
the Mona Lisa of the Galilee, which is the
face of our mission.
The next couple of days were a mix
of visiting areas in Detroit's partner-
ship region and cold, swirling rain and
whipping winds. A planned visit to Safed
was canceled as roads in and out of that
ancient city were closed. We had a success-
ful visit to Nazareth Illit Absorption Center
in the Partnership 2000 region, where
an Ethiopian woman had us all reduced
to tears as she shared her family's pain-
ful journey through Ethiopia and Sudan
before being airlifted to Israel. We were
startled to learn of a small community of
Jews from the north of India.
Visits to JFMD's Parents and Children
Together—Ethiopian Enrichment
Program (PACT), which our Detroit dol-

Lisa Brody, Lori Siegel of Bloomfield Hills and Lori Garon of Franklin at Tishbi

Winery in Israel.

We met by the windmill to say a
Shehechiyanu. We each received a wom-
en's siddur from participant Leah Ann
Kleinfeldt and her husband, in memory of
her recently deceased mother-in-law, Sara
Kirzner. We gathered together, blessed
to be together in Jerusalem, awed by the
sight of snow, humbled by our gifts of
friendship and siddurim.
Jerusalem was filled with history
— from the new museum at Yad Vashem,
where we were led on an unbelievable tour
by Eliezer Ayalon. Eli, 81 years old, inti-
mately led us back to his ghetto in Poland,
and to the five camps he managed to sur-
vive, while the rest of his family perished.
We went underground in the City of
David, and walked the newly unearthed
streets built by King Herod at the
Davidson Archeological Park. A special
moment was our visit to the Hermelin
Steps, where mission leader Marcie
Hermelin Orley proudly recalled her fami-
ly's involvement in the recent excavation.
For me, the mission was crystallized on
Friday afternoon, as the sun was setting
and Shabbat was arriving. We were at the
Western Wall, standing in silent reverence,
tucking our notes into cracks in the wall.
Two new friends put their arms around
me, and we stood in silence, heads bent
together, and felt our history and our pres-
ent join together. ❑

Lisa Brody lives in Birmingham.

Brenda Moskovitz of Franklin, Lisa Brody, Carolyn Tisdale of West Bloomfield and
Leah Trosch of Franklin at Gonke nightclub in Tel Aviv.

lars support, brought home to many of us
exactly why we raise money for Israel.
Our visit to the new Palmach Museum
in Tel Aviv contrasted the new we had just
seen with how Jewish fighters had helped
create this magnificent country. We heard
remarkable lectures, including with Col.
Miri Eisen, former foreign media adviser
to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert during the
2006 Lebanon War, who assured us that
CNN's Israeli coverage, from her point of
view, was not nearly as biased as many of
us had perceived.
Most importantly, we women had a
blast together. By the second day, we were
climbing on the bus and sitting with
whomever had a free seat, meeting new
friends and getting to know the others
better. At meals, we had so much fun sit-

ting in different groups. In Tel Aviv, we
took over a delightful fish restaurant
overlooking the roiling Mediterranean
on a hurricane-like night to meet 28 of
our Israeli counterparts from the suburb
of Savyon. These professional and phil-
anthropic women have created an after-
school center for at-risk students, who end
their school day throughout the country
at 1 p.m. They then joined us at the Gonke
nightclub, where we sang and danced on
the tables.

Snowy Jerusalem

Then we entered Jerusalem, which had
a major snowfall for the first time in
decades. Outside the city's gates, I laughed
seeing boys, with peyot and tallit fringes
flapping, throwing snowballs at cars.

Mosaic: A Women's Mission to Israel,
Jan. 27-Feb. 4, was sponsored by the
Women's Department of the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.
It was chaired by Lori Garon and
Leah Trosch. Susie Citrin, Campaign
chairperson, and Marcie Hermelin
Orley, associate chairperson,
also participated, as did Marion
Freedman, director, Women's
Department, and Marianne Milgrom
Bloomberg, director, Mission
Outreach and Development.
The mission's goal was to educate
committed women about the Jewish
Federation, its mission and goals,
and United Jewish Communities
programs worldwide in support of
Jewish life, and to train them to work
as effective solicitors for the Jewish
Federation upon their return. ❑

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February 28 • 2008

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