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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