formed Jewish Business 
Network. 

ELENA 
LUCHINA
Elena Luchina 
serves as 
lecturer in 
Yiddish at the 
University of 
Michigan. 
She grew up in Moscow and 
holds a Ph.D. in linguistics 
from the Hebrew University 
of Jerusalem. Her Yiddish 
language courses are also 
open for students at Michigan 
State University, University 
of Minnesota, University of 
Iowa and University of Illinois 
Urbana-Champaign. Elena 
helps the student find ways to 
explore and express themselves 
creatively in a new language 
by connecting to history and 
making new friends from 
different generations and 
countries. She also brings 
her knowledge of diversity 
in languages and culture to a 
course she teaches on Jewish 
languages around the world. 
 Elena translates songs into 
Yiddish and writes original 
songs, and she has been 
assisting people in the area 
with various Yiddish creative 
projects. Her big dream is to 
be part of organizing a yearly 
klezmer festival in Michigan. 
In the last few years, Elena 
has been hosting the Jewish 
Song Circle together with her 
friends Moss Herberholz and 
Shoshanna Ruth Wechter. 
Participants bring tunes to 
teach others. Sometimes these 
are wordless tunes, sometimes 
these are simple repetitive songs 
in English, Hebrew, Yiddish, 
Ladino, Ukrainian, Czech and 
other languages. People are wel-
come to hum, sing, tap, rock, 
dance, use a variety of musical 
instruments or just enjoy the 
space. 
The group attracted not only 

students, but also young pro-
fessionals from Ann Arbor and 
Metro Detroit, as well as other 
generations. More information 
about the circle can be found 
on Instagram @simpleyiddish 
or in a Facebook group Jewish 
Song Circle in Ann Arbor. 
 As you could guess at this 
point, Elena enjoys singing, 
learning new languages and 
building communities. She also 
likes dancing lindy hop, tango 
and bachata, making improv 
comedy and birdwatching. Her 
latest achievement was learn-
ing how to drive and getting 
her own car, so you will now 
see her in Metro Detroit more 
often. 

EMMA 
TRIVAX
Emma Trivax 
is an associ-
ate attorney 
at Troutman 
Pepper 
Hamilton 
Sanders LLP and works in the 
Health Sciences Transactional 
group, focusing on health-
care regulatory work. Emma 
was born and raised in West 
Bloomfield and has been 
involved with Temple Israel her 
whole life. 
Emma recently joined the 
Anti-Defamation League 
(ADL) after noticing a severe 
uptick in antisemitic events in 
Michigan. In 2021, she joined a 
program, the Glass Leadership 
Institute (GLI), within the 
ADL, which is a program that 
educates young adults on how 
to recognize and fight antisem-
itism, hatred and bigotry in all 
forms. Now, Emma is on the 
board of the ADL and currently 
co-chairs the GLI program. In 
2022, Emma organized a com-
munity-wide program wherein 
a panel discussed the nuances 
between antisemitism, anti-Zi-
onism and progressive political 
ideology.

Emma recently joined the 
TI4Israel committee at Temple 
Israel, which is a committee 
that puts on events and edu-
cational sessions that teach 
the community at large about 
Israel. In addition to her volun-
teer work, Emma has worked 
with Temple Israel since age 
14, first as a teaching assistant 
for religious school, then as 
a co-director of the Temple 
Israel children’s choir. Now, in 
addition to her role as the choir 
director, Emma is also a canto-
rial soloist at Temple Israel. 
In law school, Emma restart-
ed the Jewish Law Student 
Association (JLSA) at Wayne 
State University Law School, 
which had been on hiatus for 
several years. In her tenure as 
the JLSA president, she was 
able to raise funds for HIAS, 
a Jewish American nonprofit 
organization that provides 
humanitarian aid and assistance 
to refugees.
She loves exploring the 
food scene in Metro Detroit. 
In the last several years, she 
has seen exponential growth 
in the amount of fantastic 
restaurants that are being 
opened. She’s happy to give 
recommendations. Most people 
don’t know that she has been a 
drummer for nearly 20 years.
 

ERICA 
MEYERS
Since 
September 
2021, Erica 
Meyers (she/
her) has been 
the engagement 
and program associate at The 
Well, helping to build inclusive, 
innovative and intentional 
Jewish community for young 
adults in their 20s and 30s. 
 Erica grew up in West 
Bloomfield, spending much of 
her time at Temple Israel. From 
Mother-Toddler and preschool 
to religious school to YFTI 

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