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October 13, 2011 - Image 20

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 2011-10-13

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

Dr

"THERE HAVE BEEN MANY FILMS
ABOUT THE HOLOCAUST AND
ROSE BOSCH'S LA RAFLE HAS A
DESERVED PLACE AMONG THE
BEST OF THEM INCLUDING
SCHINDLER'S LIST AND THE
PIANIST. IT TELLS OF A
HORRIFIC PERIOD IN FRENCH
HISTORY NEVER TOLD
ON FILM BEFORE.

- Jeanette, Aaron,



Chana and

it6tvifthe Kotel

MELANIE LAURENT GAD ELNIALEH

ROSE F;OSCH

Judy Lash Balint
Special to the Jewish News

Psria,

T

16 luiiist 1942.
4 haunn du satin...

idgivem•ros",•

vgl

•;74 17:"..".•

-7

BASED UPON YEARS OF RE-
SEARCH, THE FILM CHARTS THE
STORY OF THE 'VEL D'HIV
ROUNDUP' WHICH OCCURRED
IN OCCUPIED PARIS IN THE
SUMMER OF 1942, WHEN 13,000
JEWS WERE ROUNDED UP BY
THE FRENCH POLICE."

-PRISCILLA EYLES. LITTLEIVH/TEIIES

Exclusive Engagement:

OCT. 21-22-23

FRIDAY @ 7PM
SATURDAY @ 7PM
SUNDAY @ 2PM

wwwed ia.orgicift

313.833.3237

DETROIT
INSTITUTE
OF ARTS

20 October 13 ' 2011

made the right decision in choosing the
150-family Modern Orthodox community
nestled in the hills near Tiberias and Lake
here's nothing typical about
Kinneret.
the Singer family's aliyah. The
Mitzpe Netofa has a reputation for going
West Bloomfield family of Mitch
all out to help immigrant families, and
(Baruch) and Jeanette (Yonit) Singer and
Singer says the community "over-deliv-
three of their children, Chana, 12, Dovid,
ered" in their assistance.
10, and Aaron, 8, arrived to settle in Israel
"All our bureaucratic chores were
on a Nefesh B'Nefesh charter flight in mid- accomplished within three days of our
August, accompanied by the family's pet
arrival;' he marvels, explaining that some-
snake and a dog.
one from the community accompanied
At Ben-Gurion airport they were greeted them on every single errand, whether to
by 32 members of Mitzpe Netofa, the
open a bank account, purchase appliances
Galilee community they had chosen after
or sign up for phone service. "It mitigated
painstaking but speedy research following all our stress!'
Jeanette and the kids' first trip to Israel
Unlike many other middle-aged immi-
just seven months earlier.
grants, the Singers don't have to worry
"We're living the aliyah dream:' Mitch
about changing careers and finding work
Singer says. "We heard all the horror sto-
in Israel. Singer sold his insurance busi-
ries, but we feel blessed."
nesses in Detroit, and he and Jeanette
The Singers, former members of Sara & decided to focus all their attention on rais-
Morris Tugman Bais Chabad Torah Center
ing their three youngest kids — two older
of West Bloomfield, are continuing to
sons in their 20s are remaining behind for
home-school their kids as they did in the
the time being.
U.S., and the transition from Michigan to
Singer, a native Michigander and self-
the hills of central Galilee could not have
described baal teshuvah (non-observant
been smoother, says Mitch Singer after a
Jew who becomes observant) of 14 years,
month in Israel.
was the first one in the family to start
While many immigrants from the
thinking about aliyah after a trip to Israel
United States complain about Israeli gov-
in 2001 with his then 18-year-old son.
ernment bureaucracy and difficulty mak-
"It was the height of the intifada, and we
ing ends meet, the Singers' main problem
got shot at and were here when Sbarro's
has been finding adequate food for their
restaurant in Jerusalem was blown up, but
pet 18-month-old ball python snake,
I left saying, `This is our country, I love it,"
whose U.S diet comprised frozen mice
he recalls. "I came back and told Jeanette,
readily available in pet stores.
who had never been to Israel, that if we
After convincing the U.S. Fish and
ever left Detroit, that's where we should
Wildlife Department to issue an export
go!'
and transport order for the unusual pet,
Their daughter's bat mitzvah last
and persuading El Al to accept the special
January provided the occasion for a fam-
container, it took the Singers a few weeks
ily trip accompanied by tour guide Mike
to come up with a solution to their snake
Hirst.
food problem: They found a local snake
"When Mike met us at the airport and
breeder who took them to the closest pet
said 'Welcome home; Jeanette turned to
store and helped negotiate the purchase
me and said, `You're right, we're home, and
of a couple of gerbils who will multiply
from then on everything changed, and we
and provide food for the still-growing pet
began to think we could really make this
python.
our home."
The incident was yet another confir-
After an intense tour of the country
mation for Singer that the family had
where Hirst "brought Israel alive" for

Jeanette and Mitch Singer and children

Dovid, 10, Aaron, 8, and Chana, 12, upon
arrival in Israel

the Singers, the family returned to West
Bloomfield in early February, and Singer
immediately started the aliyah process.
With the help of Nefesh B'Nefesh, an orga-
nization that assists families in aliyah, and
daily phone calls to Hirst in Israel, Singer,
who says he spent 15 hours a day on
research, managed to narrow down their
search for the perfect place to start their
new lives from 100 communities to 10.
What clinched Jeanette and Mitch's
decision was another trip to Israel where
they spent time in all 10 places and deter-
mined that Mitzpe Netofa had a good cli-
mate, the right balance of English speakers
(around 15 percent), one central shul that
serves everyone, and families who share
their religious and family outlook.
What surprised them most was the
negative reaction of many of their West
Bloomfield fellow Jews and even rabbis to
their aliyah. "People actually tried to dis-
courage us from moving to Israel," Mitch
says.
"But every day I wake up and feel like
we're living a dream. It's like we're The
Waltons living on the mountain. It's a very
safe place where they raise special kids
here. That's a top priority for us:'

Judy Lash Balint is an award-winning

Jerusalem-based writer and author. She blogs
at jerusalemdiaries.blogspot.com .

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