jews d
in
the
No Room
For Small
Dreams
Chemi Peres, son of the late Israeli President
Shimon Peres, pays a special visit to Detroit.
TOP: Ethan Davidson, Chemi Peres and Gretchen Davidson.
ABOVE LEFT: Chemi Peres signs a book for Rabbi Aaron Starr. .
ABOVE RIGHT: Arn Tellem
BOTTOM: The final book written by Shimon Peres.
32
March 1 • 2018
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ADAM FINKEL SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
A
t 9:30 p.m. on Oct. 15, 2015,
Birmingham’s Salvatore Scallopini
had largely cleared out. It was the
last shift on a Thursday evening when the
sun barely pierced 56 degrees. The final
pasta dish would be served to Ofer Ben-
Noon, a brilliant 28-year old entrepreneur
from Tel Aviv, who had a concrete plan to
secure the billion vehicles that make up the
$2 trillion global auto industry. He’d be back
at DTW within 24 hours; ready as always
to confront an industry in doubt. Just over
two years later, his firm Argus would be
acquired for $430 million. From day one,
Ofer had no room for small dreams.
No room for small dreams has long been
the mantra for change-agents in Israel,
many who have been inspired by the life
and legacy of the late President Shimon
Peres. On Sept. 13, 2016, Shimon Peres was
meeting with hundreds of entrepreneurs
from around the world to encourage them
to invest in Israeli technologies. It was a
classic Q & A with his son, Chemi. A social
media campaign was created to advance
Israeli innovation. But before the day ended,
Shimon Peres would be rushed to the hos-
pital. He died on Sept. 28, and the State of
Israel would lose its last founding father.
It’s a legacy of diplomacy, public service
and a disregard for the status quo that
spurred some of the most challenging
military operations in the nation’s history,
advanced the startup-nation revolution and
left a legacy with a profound commitment
to coexistence efforts.
Shimon’s late wife would tell her children,
“Your father is like the wind. You will never
be able to stop him or hold him back.”
Peres, who emigrated to the land of Israel
from his native Poland, lost his extended
family in the Holocaust. He’d serve Israel in
numerous roles including prime minister,
president and the head of several other
ministries, including as foreign minister. It’s
no wonder that his final book is called No
Room for Small Dreams.
This past August, Arn Tellem was in Israel
with the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders,
a program that hosts training camps for
top teenage players throughout the world.
Tellem, vice chairman of the Detroit
Pistons, helped put together an event in
Jaffa. He had known Shimon Peres for many
years because of their overlapping contribu-
tions to promote coexistence. Tellem saw
his dear friend Chemi Peres and told him
to come to Detroit, saying he “must come
firsthand to see one of the greatest Jewish
communities in the nation.”
A SPECIAL VISIT
Chemi Peres arrived in Detroit the after-
noon of Feb. 8 to build relationships with
Detroit’s Jewish community and to share
the lessons of his father’s life, as illustrated
in his final book, No Room for Small Dreams:
Courage, Imagination, and the Making of
Modern Israel.
The visit included a reception held at the
home of Ethan and Gretchen Davidson,
which included remarks from Tellem
and Federation CEO Scott Kaufman. The
Federation helped to organize Peres’ events.
Peres also visited the William Davidson
Foundation to discuss the Peres Center
for Peace and Innovation, and the Israeli
Innovation Center, which is planned to
open this fall.
One of the highlights for Friday was a
meeting held with Brian Hermelin, manag-
ing partner of Rock Bridge Growth Equity.
During the Thursday reception, Chemi
shared remarks about his father’s encour-
agement to keep the Jewish people united,
his father’s request to always stay Jewish,
the profound change that existed in Israel
during Shimon’s life, and how he always
sought to remain hopeful despite periods of
enormous adversity.
After a very active day of meetings, Chemi
went to a Detroit Pistons game at Little
Caesars Arena.
Chemi, one of Israel’s most prominent
leaders and venture capital investors, seek-
ing to transform the nation for another gen-
eration of change-agents, is another man
who has no room for small dreams. •