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The Levin Family: Michael and Fallon Levin with their daughter Zehava.
RACHEL ROSENBAUM
Rachel Rosenbaum is an incoming Chal-
lenge Detroit fellow who will be working
for General Motors. She's from Fayette-
ville, N.Y., and is a graduate of Cornell
University, where she majored in design
and environmental management.
We caught up with Rosenbaum within
hours of her
drive into
Detroit, a seven-
hour commute.
Rosenbaum,
ii.
who has no
connections in
Detroit, desired
to "do some-
thing right after
graduation to
get immersed in Rachel Rosenbaum
ili l
70 October 2014
I
Rth THREAD
r. Michael Levin, born in Jerusalem,
matched into the Wayne State urology
residency program back in 2011. He
visited Moishe House shortly after
making Detroit his new home. While
there, he met Farmington Hills-native
Fallon Garfield-Turner, currently a
nurse at Henry Ford West Bloomfield
in the general medicine and oncology unit, who was
just about to give up on finding a spouse in Detroit.
Fallon, searching across America and Toronto,
ended up finding exactly what she was looking for
in her own backyard.
Together, Michael and Fallon now have a
7-month old daughter, Zahava, who is already a
regular at the new Chabad of Greater Downtown
Detroit.
Zahava, which means gold, represents a new gen-
eration in Jewish Detroit. Levin, now a fourth-year
resident, didn't let the negative headlines he saw
about Detroit define the city he now calls home. He
seized the positivity. That's what some people call
opportunity Detroit.
"We have been so welcomed into the Detroit
Jewish community," Levin said. "Homes are always
open for a Shabbat or holiday meal. Besides that,
there are so many different ways to engage in the
Jewish community in Metro Detroit, such as dy-
namic discussions through the Maimonides Society,
Jewish Federation or Partners in Torah. NextGen
always has great events. Good Shabbos Detroit has
been a lot of fun as well, and Chabad in the D is our
latest craze; we can't get enough!"
One insider's tip he recommends: going to Coach
Insignia on the top floor of the Ren Cen, where the
views are amazing and you can even get a kosher
meal.
Of the dozens of young Jews that have moved to
Detroit over the last three years, most have roots or
connections in the local Jewish community. Each
year, though, there's a handful from other states
that choose to make Detroit their new home.
Several fellowship programs have been developed
or expanded over the last few years that help to re-
cruit more young adults to the city. These programs,
usually limited to 12 24 months, include Teach for
America, a competitive, two-year placement for re-
cent grads who want to advance educational equal-
ity; Repair the World, a cohort of fellows advancing
tikkun olam in the community; Challenge Detroit,
a yearlong fellowship where a few dozen recent
graduates are selected to spend a year in a top job
placement in Detroit; and Venture for America, a
two-year program where top-tier university grads
get placed in corporate or entrepreneurial settings.
Detroit is one of the cities that houses Venture for
America fellows.
The Detroit Jewish News recently spoke with a
dozen recent graduates who moved to Detroit from
other states.
-
a hands-on experience." She'll be working
at the Renaissance Center at the GM
Innovation Exchange Lab. While there,
she'll work with existing departments at
GM to impact how people think about
design. She lives in Midtown with one
other fellowship participant.
Though we caught up with Rosenbaum
within her first 24 hours in the city, she re-
marks how friendly people are in Detroit,
and she already went for a run on the Riv-
erfront. Rosenbaum, active in her temple
during childhood and a Jewish camper
for many years, is looking for a place to go
for the holidays and is looking forward to
meeting new friends in the city.
MAX NUSSENBAUM
Max Nussenbaum is a recent graduate
of the first Venture for America (VFA)
Max Nussenbaum at the Detroit house he restored for Venture for America fellows
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