JUNE 10 • 2021 | 21
be the woman whose case he
had researched.
He emailed Ouza, who
quickly responded. They email
chatted about their experiences
and their families and realized
both had grown up in reli-
gious families in Detroit. They
became Facebook friends.
About a year ago, Ouza
was reassigned to Wright-
Patterson; she and Hochheiser
were excited to meet at last.
But with Hochheiser on base
only for short periods totaling
about five weeks a year, and
Ouza sometimes working away
from the base, it took until last
May for both to be there at the
same time. Hochheiser was
determined to record their first
in-person meeting with a photo.
Ouza went one better, putting
a short video of the occasion
on her TikTok feed, which has
more than 114,000 followers.
In the short video,
Hochheiser gives Ouza his
nametape — the strip of cloth
with his name on it that the
Air Force requires on uniforms
and various pieces of equip-
ment. He says he thinks of her
as family; he feels Jews and
Muslims are “cousins” descend-
ed from a common ancestor,
Abraham. She addresses him
as “my cousin, my brother, my
Jewish brother.” Viewer com-
ments on the TikTok have been
overwhelmingly favorable,
unlike those on the Left Field
website, which Hochheiser
described as “hateful.”
“We both represent our cul-
ture and community within the
military, and we represent the
military within our community
and our cultures,” Hochheiser
said. “We were both raised in
households where we learned
to respect all people. We are
more similar than we are
different. So, while we don’t
always agree, we still stand
together.”
Ouza agreed, saying diversity
and inclusion builds a better
national defense, “We are
stronger when we recognize
and honor one another’s dif-
ferent needs and experiences,”
she said.
Hochheiser, the son
of Michael and Bracha
Hochheiser, graduated from
Yeshiva Beth Yehudah in
Southfield, Touro College in
Brooklyn and the Cleveland
Marshall College of Law. He
lives in Beachwood, Ohio, a
suburb of Cleveland, with his
wife, Rebecca Baum. He has a
son, 15, and a daughter, 9.
He says he and Ouza both
like to take every opportunity
they can to set a good example
and to enlighten people about
their backgrounds. He is often
the first kippah-wearing Jew
his colleagues have met. She is
often the first Muslim.
They have been the target of
antisemitic and anti-Muslim
attacks, but that only strength-
ens their resolve.
“Diversity and inclusion
is the only way to overcome
hatred based on religion,
creed, gender and sexual ori-
entation,” Hochheiser said.
“Such attacks have only moti-
vated us to stand up, stand tall
and stand together.”
“WE WERE BOTH RAISED IN
HOUSEHOLDS WHERE WE
LEARNED TO RESPECT
ALL PEOPLE.”
— YOSEF HOCHHEISER
A
fter a thorough
search, Yad Ezra hired
Daniella HarPaz
Mechnikov as the new execu-
tive director for the organiza-
tion. She started the job June 1.
Bringing more than 20 years
of experience, Mechnikov will
be responsible for overseeing
the administration, programs
and strategic plan
of the Berkley-
based kosher food
pantry. Other key
duties will include
fundraising, mar-
keting and com-
munity outreach.
She will be
replacing Lea Luger, who has
worked at Yad Ezra since 1993.
Luger will continue her sup-
port through the organization’s
annual event on Sept. 1.
“Having worked with
Daniella for the past year, cer-
tainly during stressful times,
I’ve seen someone who is very
capable, who is passionate
about the organization and
the work we do, cares tre-
mendously about the clients
and volunteers, and has the
ability to lead the organization
into new and greater heights,”
Luger said.
Mechnikov is a former
director of education at
Congregation B’nai Moshe
in West Bloomfield and
Congregation Shir Tikvah in
Troy. She then left that world
and started her own market-
ing company, K2M Creative
Media, more than 10 years ago.
Prior to being named exec-
utive director, Mechnikov
served as a marketing con-
sultant for Yad Ezra starting
in February 2020. Before
she could get her feet wet in
the position, the COVID-
19 pandemic hit. Yad Ezra
quickly had to strategize how
to get food to its clients, and
Mechnikov quickly found her-
self with an important role.
She helped brainstorm ideas
for Yad Ezra’s COVID plans,
then led the charge in manag-
ing the food delivery process,
helping provide approximate-
ly 1,100 deliveries a month
throughout the height of the
pandemic.
Thriving in an import-
ant role in the organiza-
tion in such a tough time,
Mechnikov gained a unique
appreciation for Yad Ezra.
“I found myself in love
with this place and really
connected to the staff,” she
said. “We all bonded through
this pandemic.”
When Luger announced
she was retiring, Mechnikov’s
efforts made her an obvious
candidate for the role.
Now, having to build off
what Luger built for so long
and coming off the impact
and unpredictability of a
pandemic, Mechnikov real-
izes she has important shoes
to fill and important work
to do.
“I am thrilled to be named
Yad Ezra’s new executive
director and look forward
to collaborating with the
board of directors and exec-
utive committee that give
such staunch and committed
support to this special orga-
nization,” Mechnikov said.
“As we begin a transition
to a post-pandemic set of
processes and reality, I know
that we will continue to pro-
vide much-needed food to
our clients.”
Daniella
Mechnikov
New Leader
at Yad Ezra
DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER