24 | OCTOBER 6 • 2022 

G

rowing up in the Oak 
Park area, Aliza Bracha 
Klein was surrounded 
by a thriving Jewish communi-
ty. “I loved growing up in Oak 
Park,
” the Jewish social worker 
recalls. “The community was 
very close-knit, and everyone 
was warm and friendly.
”
To this day, Klein, 36, of 
Oak Park, where she continues 
to live, keeps in touch with 
many of her classmates. That’s 
because from an early age, she 
strengthened her connection to 

Judaism and became involved 
with numerous organizations.
First, she joined a Taglit-
Birthright trip with Hillel of 
Metro Detroit 
in 2008. “That’s 
also around the 
time I went to 
my first Young 
Adult Division 
event, now 
called NEXTGen 
Detroit,
” Klein 
recalls.
For the young adult, the 

Israel trip was life-changing. 
“Taglit-Birthright deepened my 
Jewish connections and encour-
aged me to become even more 
involved with Hillel of Metro 
Detroit.
”

GROWING THE 
COMMUNITY
Through her Hillel involve-
ment, Klein became a 
Grinspoon Israel Advocacy 
intern with a focus on Israel 
multicultural dialogue. Later, 
she became a student engage-

ment intern. 
From there, Klein’s involve-
ment with Hillel of Metro 
Detroit only grew. She eventu-
ally became a board member, 
finally sitting on the organiza-
tion’s advisory board.
After Hillel of Metro Detroit, 
Klein spent four years at the 
JCRC/AJC as an administrative 
assistant.
“During that time, I had 
the wonderful opportunity 
to return to Israel under the 
JCRC as a representative to the 
Diplomatic Seminar for Young 
Jewish Leaders by the ministry 
of Foreign Affairs,
” Klein says. 
“In addition, I also represented 
the AJC, before JCRC and the 
AJC merged, by attending the 
Allianz-AJC Third Generation 
Initiative in Berlin, Germany, 
called Germany Close Up.
”
Still, there was more work 
to do. Following the JCRC/
AJC initiatives, Klein joined 
NEXTGen Detroit’s board 
and co-chaired the volunteer 
committee. Now, she sits on the 
JFamily advisory committee.

MAKING A POSITIVE 
IMPACT
As a social worker who 
graduated from Wayne State 
University, it’s second-nature 
for Klein to want to nurture 
and grow the community.
Throughout her childhood, 
Klein’s family “adopted” other 
families for the holidays to help 
those in need celebrate. In high 
school, she was involved in a 
community service club. She 
also served as an AmeriCorps 
member working with the 
homeless population.
Therefore, the idea of giving 
back was ingrained at a young 
age. It was an important lesson 
Klein carried with her through-
out her various positions in 
social work.
During graduate school, 
for example, she completed 

NEXT DOR

VOICE OF A NEW GENERATION

Meet Hillel of Metro Detroit’s new social worker, 
Aliza Bracha Klein.

A Jewish Journey 
Comes Full Circle

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Aliza 
Bracha 
Klein

Aryeh Klein, Aliza 
Bracha Klein and 
twins Meira Chana 
and Shlomo Aharon

