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A Weekend with
Award Winning Novelist
Dara Horn

September 23 - 24, 2016

Olga Andryushchenko enjoys the art at the Farber Soul Center.

Friday night, September 23
Kabbalat Shabbat services begin at 6:00 p.m.
followed by dinner and Dara Horn’s presentation:
What Does It Mean to be a Jewish Writer?

trips here to Detroit for an incredible
Mifgash reunion,” said Sue Kaufman,
Birthright Israel Foundation’s regional
council chair.
“Our local participants host the Israelis
in their homes, and together they spend
a week exploring and learning about our
local Jewish community while strength-
ening and solidifying the friendships that
began while they were in Israel.”
Mifgash is translated from Hebrew
as “encounter” and is often used to
describe the interaction between Israeli
and American travelers on Birthright
programs. But here in Detroit, an entire
week is devoted to building real and last-
ing relationships among the young adults
of Metro Detroit and the Central Galilee
region.
“While the Birthright trip in Israel
and the Mifgash program here in
Detroit are two different experiences,
there are a lot of parallels,” said Eviatar
Baksis, NEXTGen Detroit’s Birthright
Israel expert. “For example, we see the
Holocaust Memorial here, and we visit
Yad Vashem there. We have a home hos-
pitality night in the Partnership Region
in Israel, and we have our Israelis stay
in homes here. In this way, we really see
how similar our communities are and
illustrate how we are all part of a global
Jewish family.”
Seventeen Israelis and more than 50
Americans participated in the eighth
annual Mifgash week in August, which
included everything from a daylong
tour of Detroit and visits to local Jewish
agencies, to an all-American night of
bowling and a day spent on the beach at
Tamarack Camps.
“I feel that I have really good friends
after this trip. Friends for life,” said Eli
Katzir from Migdal HaEmek, who par-
ticipated on the June Birthright trip. “I
think it’s amazing we’re here in America
visiting the Jewish community in Detroit.
“In my opinion, the most incred-
ible thing is the hospitality with the
hosts. The families and friends are very
welcoming, and it’s really fun to hang

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Jewish languages it was written in. But today, when one of the
largest Jewish communities in world history doesn’t use a
Jewish language, can English become one? Dara will share her
thoughts about making English into a Jewish language, and the
power of Jewish language, for the American Jewish future.

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Supervised activities will be provided for children after dinner.

Saturday, September 24
Shabbat Lunch and Learn

Shabbat morning services will begin at 9:30 a.m. and will be
followed by Shabbat lunch at noon
and Dara’s presentation at 12:45 p.m.

On the Purpose of Jewish Storytelling

What is the relationship between plot and belief? In this discussion
of Jewish storytelling, Dara will describe how all stories are
ultimately rooted in beliefs, and explore ancient and modern examples
that demonstrate how Jewish storytelling is exceptional among world
literary patterns for its insistent reliance on the reader.

Saturday night, September 24
Community Wide Selichot

Beth Ahm is proud to welcome the Conservative congregations for
this year’s Selichot program.
Refreshments will be available at 9:30 p.m.
and will be followed by Dara’s presentation at 10:00 p.m.

Technology, Memory and the Past
that Lives in the Present

Selichot services will begin at 11:00 p.m.

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the Schreier Shabbat Limmud Fund

Congregation Beth Ahm
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2069770

22 September 15 • 2016

out and see a real family in America,”
he added. “And the city is beautiful.
Downtown Detroit is an awesome place.
All the history and rebirth of the city are
very interesting to me.”
Over eight years, Federation has
brought 160 young Israelis from the
Partnership Region to Metro Detroit for
Mifgash and engaged roughly 800 local
participants.
The friendships made through the
Detroit community Birthright trips
create a bridge between these two com-
munities that has resulted in marriages,
lifelong friendships, job opportunities
and, most importantly, a greater under-
standing and love between young Israeli
and American Jews.
“Going on the Detroit community
trip was a unique experience. We’re
able to take the connections we made
home with us,” said Alex Siegel of West
Bloomfield, who participated on the June
trip. “And it’s so cool to say I have friends
in Israel now. I was so excited to have
them come to Detroit and introduce
them to our life here. And knowing I
have friends in Israel that I can stay with
really encourages me to go back.”

*

details

Registration for this year’s Birthright
trips opened Sept. 12. For more
information, contact Eviatar Baksis at
baksis@jfmd.org.

Aviv Levy shows off the challah while
on a tour of the JCC’s Shalom Street.

