jews d
JOHN HARDWICK
in
the
From
Israel
With
Love
VIVIAN HENOCH SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
Welcome
Nina Yahalomi
Klevitsky, Jewish
Detroit shlichah
(and family).
ABOVE: Nina Yahalomi Klevitsky,
her husband, Omer Yahalomi, and
daughters, Ella, 4, and Na’ama, 2.
12
January 4 • 2018
W
ho chooses the life
of an emissary from
Israel? Ask Nina
Yahalomi Klevitsky. “Some
people say I can’t keep a job,”
she says with a smile. “But
everything I’ve done in the past
has led me to the Detroit com-
munity at this point in time.”
Nina has been a teacher and
a teacher supervisor, both in a
youth-at-risk high school and
in a junior high. Prior to that,
she ran the National Child and
Youth at Risk program in Tel
Aviv while completing three
degrees: a B.A. in government
jn
and diplomacy and an M.A. in
public policy from IDC Herzliya
and a M.P.H. in emergency and
disaster management from the
Tel Aviv University.
“For me, Shlichut — the
national outreach program
run by the Jewish Agency for
Israel (JAFI) — always has been
in my plans. In Israel, it’s very
easy just to live your life, do the
right thing: go to school, do the
army, travel, study, get a job,
raise a family. I’m really trying
to fit those things into a pat-
tern that makes life more inter-
esting, challenging, exciting …
and meaningful.”
For Nina, her husband, Omer
Yahalomi, and two young
daughters, Ella, 4, and Na’ama,
2, the choice to come to
Detroit, 6,000 miles from home,
was not an easy decision.
“I loved every minute as a
teacher. It was hard to leave in
the middle of so many projects
I had been working on with
the kids and the teachers. It
was hard to leave my parents
because they are so connected
to the girls. But from the start,
I had Omer’s buy in. ‘Listen to
yourself for a second,’ he told
me. ‘Your reasons for not tak-
ing the job are all about other
people. What about you? Do
something for yourself.’
“It was the right time for us.
The girls are a perfect age to
put them both into preschool
here —and we’ve just passed
one of my biggest worries and
hurdles with them — they both
love the preschool at Temple
Israel. I ran out crying the first
day, but they were OK.”
From Tzur Yitzhak (about
a half-hour north of Tel Aviv),
the Yahalomi family has set-
tled into their home in West
Bloomfield. Omer, an envi-
ronmental engineer currently
working for an Israeli company,
will soon find his place of
employment in Michigan. And,
meanwhile, he has enjoyed the
break with the girls. “Everyone
has been so warm and welcom-
ing — hosting us, inviting us
to dinners,” says Nina. “Jewish
Detroit is amazing.”
IN HER WORDS
Q: What are five Hebrew
words that describe you?
Wow, that’s hard. I need to
think:
Hitlahavut — Enthusiasm:
Because if you’re not excited
about things, it’s not worth-
while.
Ezun — Balance: Because
balance is something I continu-
ally strive for in my family and
career, study and work, life
experience and routine.
Mishpachah — Family: By
extension, my family here
includes the community. I feel I
have joined an extended family
here in Michigan.
Y’tziratiyut — Creativity: As
I define it, being open-minded,
curious, creative in your
thoughts.
Kavahah — Intention: If you
have enthusiasm and balance
and, if you are creative, then
you have kavanah — purpose,
intention — or a true mean-
ing in what you do.
Q. In brief, what is your role
as senior community shlichah
and Federation’s community
outreach developer?
The brief explanation: I am
here to bring Israel to the com-
munity.
My husband, Omer, is an
engineer, and I see myself as an
engineer, so to speak. My role
is to build bridges — people
to people — between Israel
and the community here. A
typical day can be a visit to a
school in the morning, then
to a senior home to do a pre-
sentation, then to a meeting
with the Jewish Community
Relations Council/AJC, then
to a community-wide event or
a party with NEXTGen in the
evening. It’s non-stop, diverse,
a way to explore every corner
of the community, and I love it.
Since we’ve arrived in August,
I’ve been meeting everyone I
can, at as many organizations
as possible.
I’m still in the learning,
observing mode. I have no time
to waste. My time here is lim-
ited to two or three years. My
role as a community bridge is
to connect to people who want
to know more about Israel and
to people who don’t know they
want to know about Israel.
I am an emissary — a voice
and face of Israel — not an
ambassador. I don’t have a mes-
sage sheet with talking points
that I need to adhere to. It’s
not like the government is tell-
ing me what the facts are and
what the message is that I need
to convey to the community. I
bring myself to this job without a
script or political agenda.
I chose to be here and was
matched to the Detroit Jewish
community because of who I am.