metro

Teen Mission participants had two weeks of an amazing trip cut short.

Keri Guten Cohen

Story Development Editor

T

he 96 teen participants on
Federation's Sue & Alan J.
Kaufman Family Teen Mission
returned to Detroit July 17 on two flights
from Israel and two buses from New York.
Before the arrival of each bus, sev-
eral hours apart, parents talked among
themselves, eager to greet the teens who
had been recalled after careful decision-
making because of escalation in the war
in Gaza.
The teens were in Israel for 16 days,
originally due back home Aug. 1.
Bittersweet was the word used most by
parents to describe the trip cut short by
war.
Lauren Lesson of West Bloomfield was
waiting in the Adat Shalom Synagogue
parking lot in Farmington Hills for her son
Corey, 16, to arrive on the first TM14 bus.
"I am anxious, a mixture of sad and
relief:' she said. "It's been a tense couple of
weeks. I feel Federation has been so won-
derful in handling the situation. I have a
new-found appreciation and awareness of
Federation, and I'd like to give back:'
Brian Klayman of West Bloomfield was
excited to see his daughter, Rebecca, 16,
and agreed with most parents' assessment
that Federation and its Israel and Overseas
Department handled a difficult situation well.
At the parents' meeting the week
before, 200 parents left at ease knowing
Federation was doing the right thing:' he
said of the earlier decision to keep the
teens in Israel. "It amazed me when my
daughter called [before the meeting] cry-
ing beyond belief because she didn't want
to leave Israel:'
But, when a rocket was fired at Eilat
while the teens were there, things changed.
TM14 then went north to Tiberias, closer
to Detroit's Partnership2Gether region in
the Central Galilee, where the situation
was safer. When Hamas refused a cease-
fire, Scott Kaufman, Federation CEO, says
they decided to bring the teens home
after consulting with experts in Israel. In
2006, the Teen Mission came home early
because of the Second Lebanon War.
Klayman felt the timing was good. "I
didn't want them to be scarred:' he said. "I
want her not to be afraid to go back:'

Short, But Meaningful
"When we were on the bus about to get
off at 696 and Orchard Lake, I went to the

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July 24 • 2014

Gabby Harvey and Rachel Stone say
goodbye to Israeli Raz Gino.

Carol Cooper of West Bloomfield share a homecoming hug with her daughter,
Claudia, after the first bus arrived with teens returning early from Federation's
Teen Mission.

mic and said, 'People are going to say your
trip was cut short, that you didn't get a full
experience said Sara Nathanson, 22, of
Farmington Hills, one of nine American
TM14 counselors. "The 16 days on the
ground were absolutely incredible — noth-
ing takes away from the time we had.
"After we heard the first rocket siren in
Mizpe Ramon [in the Negev], one Israeli
camper came up to me and was visibly
upset:' Nathanson said. "I sat him down
and talked to him. He wasn't upset about
the rockets, but that everyone would go
home.
"These kids are old enough to under-
stand the repercussions. They knew about
2006, so after that first siren they asked
what they can do to continue the trip. It
was always about making the most of the
trip; we knew time was limited as the vio-
lence escalated:'

Bonding With Israeli Teens

Fifteen Israeli teens from the Central
Galilee took part in TM14, and Nathanson
said they were very helpful to their
American counterparts.
"They would tell stories about the
Lebanon war when they were about 8
— how to deal with sirens, for example
Nathanson said. "If the kids got panicky,
the Israeli teens would comfort them.
They took on a supporting role, and I
didn't expect that.
"We expected more panic, but they
trusted us. They knew we were in contact
with safety headquarters in Israel and with

Federation. Once we knew we were com-
ing home, we sat them down in a circle.
They knew what we were going to say;
close to a half broke down in tears. They
were overwhelmingly upset and opposed.
They wanted to call their parents to let
them stay on their own.
"It reinforced our community:'
Nathanson said. "The Americans and
Israelis were comforting and supporting
each other. These friendships will last. The
kids took on these roles; they absolutely
stepped up. It was such a good growing
experience for them and for me.
"I couldn't be more proud of how they
handled it. Israel is a really special place;
they had only two weeks and they had
tremendously strong feelings about the
country. We were able to give them a spe-
cial experience:'
With plenty of time at the airport and
on the bus, Nathanson said teens on her
bus took turns reflecting on the trip's most
moving moments.
"A couple kids said it was having to say
goodbye to the Israeli teens:' she said.
"There was a sense of guilt almost that we
got to go home and they had to stay where
the violence is. They were together two
weeks, but they bonded:'
Olivia Stillman, 16, of Birmingham, daugh-
ter of Donna and Alan Stillman, agreed and
says the teens here and in Israel are talking to
each other through social media.
"It was so hard to leave the Israeli kids;
I love them and feel like I've known them
forever:' she said.

Olivia Stillman and Rebecca Klayman at
the Western Wall

"I thought these two weeks were way
more life-changing than if we have had
a normal trip. Being in Israel when such
a real situation was going on and being
a part of it, watching the news, was life-
changing for me at least. It strengthened
my desire to go back.
"This experience made me feel more
responsibility to study the Middle East
and do anything I can do to make it bet-
ter:' said Stillman, who will be a junior at
Birmingham Groves High School.
"We are definitely capable of doing
something, and many of the first-timers
are so passionate about it:' she said. "If we
all come together, we could do something:'
The first follow-up TM14 event was
expected to be a barbecue before the
community Israel solidarity event at
Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield
this week. A few of the teens were asked to
speak at the event. Other programs will be
planned.

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