34 | AUGUST 11 • 2022
JN: Was there Zionism in your
home?
Shira: My parents have always
been pro-aliyah, but aliyah was
not realistic when they bought
a house and had full-time jobs
and three young kids. When
people talk about aliyah, they
think about the ages of the
kids, which was always a factor
for us.
JN: Tell me about your par-
ents’ aliyah.
Shira: I was just wrapping up
my second year in Israel and
I got a phone call from my
mother: “Shira, we sold the
house and are making aliyah.
” I
thought I was getting pranked
by the “Mojo in the Morning”
talk show, but it was true.
They made aliyah in the
summer, and I was elated! It
is amazing to have a support
system in Israel, and I got mine
back — and the best part was, I
became their support system. I
helped them deal with health-
care, phone bills, and setting up
electricity and water, and it was
amazing to know I can help
them.
JN: What was your biggest
influence for making aliyah?
Shira: Akiva (Farber) did
an amazing job of bringing
us Israel’s Memorial and
Independence days. They put
on the complete ceremony just
like it is in Israel. We even had
the sirens, which made us cry.
I am very idealistic. Once,
when I was reading the parshah
that said Moshe, the leader of
the Jewish people, couldn’t go
into Israel, and I thought about
the fact that he led everyone, he
did all the work and he moti-
vated the Jews, but he couldn’t
go in. That really bothered me.
After knowing this, how could
we not go in?
JN: When you got here, what
did you do?
Shira: When I first came, I
decided to do Sherut Leumi
(National Service). I wanted
to experience the raw, hard,
challenging neighborhoods, to
get the real Israeli experience.
I worked in a special-needs
kindergarten in Ramat Gan in
the mornings and, in the after-
noons, I helped run a club for
teens who were dealing with
living in a neighborhood with
drugs and a violence problem.
JN: What are you doing these
days?
Shira: I create marketing strat-
egies and campaigns for Anglo
businesses in Israel and create
websites for clients and busi-
nesses.
JN: How did you meet your
husband?
Shira: I love this question
because my story shows the
value of giving back. When
making aliyah alone, I received
a lot of support from the com-
munity and from an organiza-
tion that supports Lone Soldiers
and lone national service volun-
teers. It is hard to accept help,
so I would say to myself, “I will
give back as soon as I can.
”
When my family made ali-
yah, I started volunteering with
Lone Soldiers and National
Service volunteers and creat-
ed a program called “
Adopt
a Soldier,
” where I set up
“matches” between families and
soldiers.
I invited our own soldier,
Menachem, for Shabbat and
that is how I found my match.
JN: What do you love about
living here?
Shira: I made aliyah the sum-
mer of 2013, so I experienced
Protective Edge in the summer
of 2014, which was really chal-
lenging. But what did I learn? I
learned about the humanity in
Israel. Random people would
ship trucks of hygiene products
and food without question. It
was natural because Israelis
care about one another.
Before that happened, there
were small examples through-
out the whole year. Being alone,
I was invited out for weekends
and meals and taken care of by
strangers.
JN: What do you miss about
living in Michigan?
Shira: I miss the scenery, the
greenery and family. My hus-
band and I are going on a trip
this summer to Florida, New
York and Detroit. The first two
places are for tourism — Times
Square and Disney World —
but we’re going to Detroit to
show him my childhood and
my memories. Detroit is a close
community, and I will always
feel at home there.
JN: Do you have a message for
any young person who’s think-
ing about making aliyah?
Shira: If you’re coming for
idealistic reasons, try to do a
program and experience being
with Israelis. Try not to be in
a bubble because a bubble can
hurt you in the long run. It’s
like an immune system and
when it breaks, it’s going to be
harder.
From the beginning, you
can have English-speaking
friends, but network with
Israelis and try to be in pro-
grams and speaking Hebrew
with Israelis.
Shira Brown:
‘How could we not’ move to Israel?
AVIVA ZACKS CONTRIBUTING WRITER
ERETZ
MEET THE OLIM
Shira (Parshan) Brown, 26,
made aliyah from Southfield in
2014 at age 18. Growing up at
Young Israel of Oak Park and
as a student at Akiva Hebrew
Day School (now Farber),
Shira had a strong Zionist edu-
cation.
Menachem and Shira Brown