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Hebrew school dropout. I didn't have
a bat mitzvah. My Hebrew is not
amazing, but I get by. I started learn-
ing Hebrew at MSU, and I've taken
many classes since. I was 21 when I
finally celebrated my bat mitzvah at
Tamarack with a little help from my
friend and tutor, Eli Rockowitz."
Gathering Detroiters
In the age of Facebook and Skype,
home is truly a state of mind, where
family and friends can connect
and keep in touch. Even so, now
that Amy has a family of her own,
she remains acutely aware of the
6,000 miles between Tel Aviv and
Farmington Hills where her parents,
Bonnie and Ken Gross, and family
live. In spite of the distance, or per-
haps because of it, Amy is as com-
mitted as ever to identifying herself
as a Detroiter in Israel and to build-
ing community connections through
the Detroit Federation.
"I remember watching Detroiters
gather to play kickball in Chicago
and in other cities, and I was jealous
that we didn't have something like
that for expat Detroiters in Israel:'
Amy says.
And here's where the friendships
that were first forged at Tamarack
came back into play. Among the
counselors in that first group of
Israelis who came to Michigan in
2002, Yoav Raban has remained a
close friend of Amy's. Through the
years, Yoav also has come to be a
familiar face in the Federation fam-
ily, returning to the community first
as a shaliach [emissary] and cur-
rently as Federation's young adult
outreach and engagement coordina-
tor in Israel.
Together, Amy and Yoav started
organizing meetings among the few
Detroiters they knew. Three years
ago, they hosted their first event, a
traditional Thanksgiving dinner at
Amy's home. This year, the event
drew more than 40 people.
"We have a great support system
for people living here and search-
ing for that sense of home in Israel:'
Amy says. "We have students in
study abroad and grad programs,
lone soldiers who have made aliyah,
young couples with children, people
from Michigan we never would have
known were it not for our Detroiters
in Israel network."
Looking Back,
Looking Forward
Looking back on the summer he met
Amy at Tamarack, Yoav recalls how
Amy stood out as a leader and how
meaningful the connection with her
Israeli campers was for her.
"Through the years, our profes-
sional careers also have crossed
paths," he says. "When I moved back
to Israel in 2011 and initiated the
Federation's `Detroiters in Israel'
program, Amy was the first person
I called. I was looking for a young
committed lay leader to help me
build up the program. I was lucky to
have Amy in Israel at that point in
time; I knew I would be able to rely
on her strong leadership qualities
and on her passion and strong con-
nection to our Detroit Jewish com-
munity."
Detroiters is Israel is fully backed
by the Federation with the goal to
connect young Detroiters who are
either on a long-term program or
living in Israel, and to provide a
bridge between Detroit's Partnership
Region in the Central Galilee and
their community back home.
According to Amy, "It's not
enough to come here once on a mis-
sion, check Israel off the bucket list
and never come back. Birthright
missions certainly have changed the
game, and Detroit Birthrighters are
now more commonly revisiting and
forming connections:'
As for celebrating Thanksgiving,
Israeli-style, it's become a fairly tra-
ditional affair, though turkeys are a
rarity and must be ordered from the
butcher almost a week in advance.
Ready-made pumpkin pies are even
more elusive.
"After calling every bakery in the
neighborhood to locate one, I'm pretty
sure the only way to find a pumpkin pie
is Israel is to make one yourself. So we
opted for a carrot cake this year"
❑
Vivian Henoch is editor of myjewishdetroit.
org, where this story first appeared.
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