MARCH 24 • 2022 | 15
never seen places like Masada
or Independence Hall will be
able to do those things,
” Bill
Goldstein said.
Both Goldsteins have been
on Grosfeld Missions, one of
the several Federation mis-
sion programs designed to
strengthen the Detroit Jewish
community and develop
connections between young
Detroiters and Israel. One of
Diane Goldstein’s most mem-
orable trips to Israel was on a
Grosfeld Mission.
“We started in Poland and
flew into Israel. Poland was
right out of a movie, gray and
rainy, and we landed in Israel
to beautiful sunshine and the
birds fluttering,
” she said. “I
just remember being moved
to a point of tears when we
landed in Israel of just how
much we as a people have
persevered, how much we’ve
supported each other and how
strong our communities have
been historically.
“I remember landing and
calling Bill and saying we’re
canceling our winter break
plans, and we’re coming back
to Israel because there’s just no
other place to be,
” she contin-
ued. “
All the time and money
you spend there comes back
twentyfold.
”
That experience led the
Goldsteins to bring their chil-
dren to Israel on a family mis-
sion, meeting and connecting
with an Israeli family in the
Partnership2Gether region.
“We got to know this family
fairly well just in an evening of
dinner at their home, realizing
we were way more similar
than we were different, even
though we live in such differ-
ent places and opposite sides
of the world,
” Bill Goldstein
said.
“
And that’s the plan for
this mission as well,
” Diane
Goldstein added. “There will
be an evening spent in a home
with an Israeli family, which I
think most people who come
back from our Detroit trips
rank pretty highly.
”
NEW THINGS TO SEE
New things to see and experi-
ences to be had in Israel that
weren’t necessarily there 10-to-
15 years ago — such as the
many startups and advance-
ments in the tech and medical
fields — could be among the
many stops on the trip.
“But even if that’s not in
their wheelhouse, I’ve done
a fabulous graffiti tour there.
There’s a bunch of stuff hap-
pening with fashion and
food and wine and culture
surrounding that,
” Diane
Goldstein said.
The Goldsteins said hun-
dreds of couples and singles
showed interest in Motor City
Mission months before regis-
tration went public, consisting
of a wide range of people from
all different backgrounds.
Every time the Goldsteins
have been to Israel, they’ve felt
better about the country and
about being a Jewish person.
Both said they believe that
will be a similar experience
for Motor City Mission par-
ticipants — no matter how
many times they’ve been to
the country.
“It’ll wrap up everything,
”
Diane Goldstein said. “It’ll hit
your intellectual curiosity. It’ll
hit your heartstrings. It’ll hit
your emotional ties, both to
the country and the people
there. We’ve traveled exten-
sively, and it’s hard to come up
with another trip that hits and
checks off so many boxes.
”
Federation President Matt
Lester’s Jewish journey began
with a Federation young adult
mission to Israel in 1999.
Lester hopes Motor City
Mission can have a similar
impact on others.
“We know, as American
Jews, that Israel is a second
continued on page 16
While in his last year of college, Jon Berman was
looking with concern at the balance in his college fund.
“I was fortunate to grow up in a family that helped me
establish that college fund, because at home, we tended to
frown on debt,” Jon said. “As a result, I’m pretty
squeamish about that kind of financial obligation.
However, I needed to finish undergrad, and I was short.
So when a friend mentioned Hebrew Free Loan as a
source for interest-free money for college, and then my
grandmother also mentioned HFL, I looked into it.”
Jon went to the HFL website and learned about the
agency’s William Davidson Jewish College Loan
Program. “I applied, but I didn’t expect to be helped,”
Jon said. “I wasn’t sure if there was a level of ‘Jewish
enough’ that I would have to meet in order to get money
from a Jewish agency. Also, I was at the end of my under-
grad experience, not the beginning, and I didn’t know
if that mattered. None of that factored in at all, but still I
felt it necessary to package myself to them as a good
investment: a person with a good internship, and great
post-graduation prospects. HFL just looked at me as a
person who had a need, and they worked with me.”
Jon, who majored in physics and math, graduated
and went on to become a data scientist, a job that
allows him to work with the numbers he enjoys. He also
repaid his HFL loan as quickly as he could.
“HFL helped me, and I was grateful for it,” Jon said.
“I also learned that it’s the borrower loan payments that
return to HFL and combine into fresh loan capital and
then allow new loans to be made. It really opened my
eyes that my loan payments could help the next person.
It’s a group effort – community for the community.”
STORY
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