JUNE 18 • 2020 | 17
middle of the desert, she lis-
tened in on discussions of
where and how people might
sit and pray. Katz said it felt like
witnessing history.
“This type of thing feels
unique not only because there
is really nothing like it else-
where, but specifically because
of where in the world it is being
built,
” Katz said.
The JDC plans to continue
its relationship with the Dubai
Jewish community — it’s hop-
ing to place a Jewish Service
Corps fellow there in the future,
Hoffman said.
“Jessica was actually the
beginning of a very successful
first step in what's been a grow-
ing relationship with the com-
munity,
” he said.
After leaving Dubai in
November, Katz made one last
stop in Israel to lead an Entwine
trip for members of The Well,
and then headed back to New
York in mid-December. Before
she knew it, the fellowship year
had ended, and she was back in
Detroit.
Coming back was, in some
ways, strange for Katz. She
wasn’t sure if she wanted to stay
in the area after returning home
from her fellowship, but after a
few weeks of catching up with
old friends and re-
immersing herself in the com-
munity, she knew this was
where she was supposed to be.
“There’s something about
leaving and coming back,
” she
said. “Coming back, I really felt
that community uplift… It real-
ly made me even more excited
about staying in Detroit and
continuing to build what exists
here.
”
Fellows are chosen for the
program in part because of
their status as leaders in their
own communities. They’re
expected to take what they learn
during their year of travel and
bring it home to their own fam-
ilies, friends and coworkers. But
that’s been a challenge this year.
When the COVID-19 pan-
demic hit Michigan in March,
mere months after Katz’s return,
everything changed.
Katz said the pandemic has
made it more challenging to
impart the lessons she learned
from the fellowship. She would
have loved to encourage peo-
ple back home to travel and
see Jewish life in other places
around the world. Still, Katz
said she tried to soak up as
much as she could during the
fellowship and is now focused
on starting conversations with-
in organizations she’s already
involved in.
“Right now, it's more of con-
sider these questions, consider
where you’re from, or do you
know where you’re from?” Katz
said.
COVID-19 threw a wrench
in Katz’s personal life, too. She
now serves as a consultant for
local organizations, including
Jewish programming group
Partners Detroit. But the year
of travel had left her craving
in-person events with friends
and family, which aren’t possible
right now.
Still, she said, “that resilience
and that experience [of the fel-
lowship] kind of set me up to be
perfectly fine with sitting inside
on my own many days kind of
figuring it out. It’s a balance. It’s
not necessarily what I wanted to
be doing, but at the same time
I feel pretty well-equipped for
quarantine.
”
Although the ongoing pan-
demic means we’ll likely need
to stay at home for a while
longer, Katz said she’s feeling
more grateful than ever for this
worldwide Jewish community.
She encourages people to keep
one eye on the Jewish people’s
past and one eye toward our
community’s future.
“It's probably even more
so important to remember
that there are Jews around the
world, and that we’re all really
connected.
”
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