16 | APRIL 1 • 2021
I
n its efforts to continue to provide
Jewish Detroiters a way to virtually
connect during the modern Jewish
holidays leading up to Israel Independence
Day, the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit, together with JFamily of the
Jewish Community Center and the
Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington
Hills, invite all to virtually attend “Two
Countries. One Family — Days of Memory
and Meaning” April 8, 13 and 18. Advance
registration is required by going to www.
jewishdetroit.org/yom.
Yiftah Leket, senior community shaliach
(emissary) for Federation said because of
the persistence of the pandem-
ic, most events will be virtual,
except for a space-limited
socially distanced hike and a
take-home picnic in Beverly
Park on April 18.
Much of the programming
has been planned by Detroit’s
ShinShinim — young adult Israeli ambas-
sadors who spend a gap year between high
school and their service in the Israeli army
as educators in Jewish communities around
the United States. Detroit’s ShinShinim
come from the Central Galilee region
of Israel, where several attended Camp
Tamarack as younger children through the
Federation’s Partnership2Gether program.
Leket hopes that the community can
shake off Zoom fatigue and virtually
attend these events that culminate 3:30
p.m. Sunday, April 18, with a live concert
from Tel Aviv by recording artist Kobi
Oz in partnership with Milwaukee Jewish
Federation and the Jewish Federation of
Greater Oklahoma City.
“We wanted all these events to be inclusive
as possible,” Leket said. “You do not have to
be Israeli to celebrate holidays such as Yom
HaZikaron and Yom HaAtzmaut. In the
coming months, I along with our ShinShinim,
hope to deepen Detroit’s Jewish community
with Israel by having conversations about
Israel’s complex culture and society.”
YOM HASHOAH
The events begin with a Yom HaShoah
(Holocaust Remembrance Day) event,
7 p.m. Thursday, April 8, on the muse-
um’s website, holocaustcenter.org, where
one can register. It will include tributes
from Holocaust survivors, 2G and 3G
survivors and local clergy. The HMC
will also have a social media campaign,
where people can post photographs of
themselves lighting memorial candles on
Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag
#HMCRemember.
HMC Director of Events Sarah
Saltzman said while the physical presence
of large gatherings at the
museum is missed, having an
online forum means that sur-
vivors and their children and
grandchildren with Detroit
roots who live out of town
can participate and remem-
ber the victims.
“
Although we are not physically together,
we are connected by our shared commit-
ment to memorialize the victims of the
Holocaust,” Saltzman said. “Teaching the
lessons of the Holocaust is central to our
organization … We must each stand up for
OUR COMMUNITY
Federation and community partners plan
public events for the holidays.
Federation and community partners plan
Federation and community partners plan
The Days of Yom
STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Sarah
Saltzman
Yiftah
Leket
IDF FACEBOOK
An IDF officer places
new flags, each with
a black ribbon, on the
graves of IDF soldiers
for Yom HaZikaron.