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

