JULY 21 • 2022 | 29

eally cool!” is the prevalent feeling about the Detroit 
Teen Mission’s activities.
“We ran down and jumped down the dune — it was 
really cool,” said Jordyn Grand, 16, of West Bloomfield, 
about her group’s assault on Kisui Sand Dunes.
Grand is part of the 100-strong Sue & Alan Kaufman 
& Family Teen Mission to Israel, more commonly 
known as Teen Mission 22 (TM22). The June 20 through 
July 15 adventure, the first teen mission since the pan-
demic, is joined by another 21 teens from Detroit’s 

Partnership2Gether region in the Central Galilee, bus 
counselors, a social worker, Israeli tour staff, and six syn-
agogue rabbis rotating through during the trip.
The Kasui Sand Dunes are in the Negev’s 
Uvda Valley, just south of the Leopard Temple, a 
9,000-year-old enclosure with stones bearing myste-
rious carvings of feline figures. The smooth, gleam-
ing sand dunes, comprised mostly of limestone and 
quartz, were “perfect to roll down and let off our 
energy,” noted Grand.

DAVID ESTRIN

ERETZ

FROM THE 
PARTNERSHIP2GETHER REGION

“R

Teen Mission 

NATHANIEL WARSHAY CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Detroit Teen Mission’s cool experiences.
 Part 2

Having fun on the water 
off the coast of Eilat.

continued on page 30

