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among her fellow JWV comrades, many 
of whom are 50, 60, even 75-plus years her 
senior.
Only one year out from having graduated 
from the Frankel Jewish Academy (FJA), I 
was immediately struck by Rachel’s confi-
dent yet humble demeanor. Describing her 
as older beyond her years is a vast under-
statement. Hers was a story deserving to 
share with our community.
Rachel was surprised by my invitation 
to write about her, explaining she wasn’t 
one to purposely draw attention to herself. 
I reflected on the bigger picture of how 
her joining the JWV could help usher in a 
new generation of support for its mission 
and legacy, which included defending the 
rights and benefits of all service members 
in peacetime and war, fighting antisemitism 
and supporting the State of Israel. 
In turn, her participation could inspire 
those who may be considering serving our 
nation and to the Jewish community as a 
whole. 
Rachel agreed to an interview. Several 
conversations followed in the days ahead, 
including with her parents, grandmother, 
former Frankel school counselor, Army 
recruiter, Rabbi Aaron Starr and the JWV 
member who recruited her to join the orga-
nization. This is her story.

PATRIOTISM IN HER DNA
Rachel’s paternal grandfather, Morris Baker, 
of blessed memory, was a corporal in the 
U.S. Army. He fought in the Battle of the 
Bulge during WWII and was awarded the 
Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts. His 
wife, Rachel’s grandmother Beverly Baker, 
still resides in Bloomfield Hills. 
Rachel’s maternal grandparents, Zvi and 
Yaffa Shevach, moved from Israel to the 
U.S. in 1966 and 1970 respectively, where 
they met and married. Zvi was drafted 
into the U.S. Army and served during the 
Vietnam era.
While she looks upon their service with 
great pride, she admits that it wasn’t the 
deciding factor in her enlisting in the Army. 
“I’m not wanting to do something just 
because other people are doing it,
” Rachel 
said.
Nor was Rachel’s love for country and 
desire to serve brought on by a sudden 
epiphany during her junior year in high 

school in 2020 when she began the 
MIARNG application process. 
Instead, Rachel says her unwavering 
sense of patriotism and desire to serve 
grew out of the examples set by her par-
ents throughout her childhood. “My par-
ents taught me, and brought me up to be, 
very patriotic,
” she said. 
That would include witnessing acts 
of kindness her father, Adam Baker, has 
exhibited over the years toward those 
he’s encountered in the military and first 
responders. Adam told me he will stop 
and acknowledge them, thank them for 
their service and, when the situation 
presents itself, anonymously pick up their 
checks in restaurants. 
It’s no surprise then that Rachel began to 
show an interest in, and respect for, those 
in uniform from a very early age, an appre-
ciation that was even extended during her 
family’s numerous trips to Israel.

ISRAEL LIKE A SECOND HOME
A love for Israel is inextricably forged in 
Rachel’s family. As previously mentioned, 
Rachel’s maternal grandparents are Israeli-
born. They live in Farmington Hills, but 
most of their family still resides in Israel.
Adam Baker’s parents’ love for Israel was 
so strong that on the last day of a family 
trip to Israel in 1969, Adam’s father, Morris, 
slipped away from his hotel for two hours, 
returning with a surprise announcement 
that he had just purchased an apartment 
in Netanya, declaring to the family: “We’re 
spending the summers here from now on.
”
Rachel was born on Jan. 8, 2003, seven 
years to the day her WWII hero grand-
father Morris passed away. His legacy of 
service and love for Israel lives on through 
the granddaughter he didn’t have a chance 
to meet. In her 19 years, Rachel has visited 
Israel 14 times.
Adam recalls fondly how after one trip, 
Rachel, just a grade-schooler at the time, 
presented him with an 8½-inch card 
she had made, unsolicited, to send to a 
IDF Special Forces soldier the family had 
befriended during a trip to the West Bank. 
“Thank you for keeping us and Israel 
safe,
” it read. “It was all spontaneous on her 
part,
” Adam said, “based on what she felt 
and nothing that I had prompted her to do. 
I was touched and thought it was a very 

sophisticated connection for someone of 
her age.
”
Rachel’s appreciation for Israel’s Zionism 
and service to country would grow over the 
years as the Baker family, supporters of the 
Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF), 
would host Israeli soldiers who had come to 
town to speak at FIDF events. 
“I grew up around them in my home,
” 
said Rachel. “I remember thinking at the 
time that I thought this was a pretty cool 
experience for a kid like me in elementary 
school.
”
Sadly ironic, the annual trips Rachel 
so cherishes to Israel, interrupted at first 
by COVID, are now on hold for security 
reasons since she was accepted into the 
MIARNG. As of early September 2021, 
men and women serving in the U.S. Armed 
Services are restricted from traveling on 
leave to countries in the United States 
Central Command Area of Responsibility 
(AOR), of which is Israel is a member. 

FOCUSED ON THE FUTURE
While serving her country is in her imme-
diate future, Rachel’s end game is to one 
day work in law enforcement. “From fourth 
grade on, I was enamored with crime 

Rachel Baker was sworn into the Michigan 
Army National Guard on Nov. 4, 2020, at the 
Military Entrance Processing Station in Troy.

