formance engineer at General
Motors, responsible for the
calibration of surround view
cameras.
Growing up attending
Temple Shir Shalom, he
was actively involved in
SSTY Youth Group as a
board member responsible
for social affairs. The
leadership opportunities it gave
him have helped influence
his current involvement with
NEXTGen Detroit.
Most recently, he’s been
active in hosting events and
developing engagement
strategies for young
community members. He has
also joined the NEXT-Gen
Liaison Program as a volunteer
for the Frankel Jewish
Academy Board of Advisors
and enjoys learning from
and working with Frankel’s
leadership to maximize impact
at FJA.
He is grateful to be part of a
community with such a strong
sense of Jewish leadership and
support and looks forward to
continuing his involvement
and helping create an even
stronger Metro Detroit Jewish
community.
In January, he married his
wife, Julia Bleznak, and they
currently live in Birmingham.
They enjoy having Shabbat
dinners with friends and new
members of the community. In
their free time, they love to try
new restaurants, travel to new
places and play pickleball.
NADAV PAIS-
GREENAPPLE
Nadav Pais-
Greenapple
was born
and raised in
Southfield, son
of Julia Pais and
Beth Greenapple (z”l), former
Hillel Day School teacher.
A graduate of The Roeper
School, he attended Habonim
Dror Camp Tavor in Three
Rivers, Michigan, and grew up
at Congregation Beth Ahm.
These institutions fostered
a passionate Jewish identity
within Nadav, which he
expresses through his work as a
historian and Yiddishist, writer,
educator and filmmaker.
He believes that
understanding the vibrancy
of our shared Jewish heritage,
history, language and culture
is essential to the continued
flourishing of our Metro
Detroit Jewish community.
He spent a summer in Israel
at Hebrew University of
Jerusalem, and learned to
read, speak and write Yiddish
at the National Yiddish Book
Center’s Steiner Summer
Yiddish Program in Amherst,
Massachusetts. He earned his
B.A. in history with a minor
in Jewish studies from Wayne
State University in 2022.
Nadav researches Detroit’s
historical Yiddish theater,
bringing new depth to our
understanding of Yiddish
arts and culture in early
20th-century Detroit. He has
shared his research in lectures
around our community,
and has two blog articles
forthcoming at In geveb, the
online journal of Yiddish
Studies. He is currently
translating a 1929 short story
about Detroit by Yiddish satirist
and playwright Moshe Nadir
called The Ford Factory.
His favorite Metro Detroit
activity is visiting the DIA, and
people might be surprised to
know that nobody can decide
what color his hair is.
Since graduating, he teaches
Tanach at Hillel Day School in
Farmington Hills, and in his
spare time he volunteers with
the Jewish Historical Society of
Michigan.
He lives in Oak Park with
his fiancee — whom he met at
the Steiner Summer Yiddish
Program — Hannah Mills,
education associate at The
Zekelman Holocaust Center.
They have three cats and many
books.
NARGIZ
NESIMOVA
KRAMER
Nargiz’s
involvement
in the Metro
Detroit Jewish
community
started with her education.
From the very beginning, her
parents made sure that a Jewish
education was a top priority, so
she and her siblings attended
Hillel Day School.
She always wanted to be an
attorney from a very young age.
She went to Oakland University
for undergrad and University
of Detroit Mercy School of Law
for her law degree.
Nargiz has her own law
practice based out of Southfield
(nesimovalaw.com). As an
attorney, she tries to use the
Jewish values that were instilled
in her in her area of work. Her
primary area of practice is in
criminal defense and in real
estate/business litigation.
Although they are different
areas of law, there is similarity
in that they both involve
being in the courtroom and
advocating on behalf of her
clients. She enjoys finding
solutions to her clients’
problems, whether it is a
criminal matter or a civil issue.
She thinks helping people
navigate through their legal
struggles is humbling and
rewarding.
Nargiz is the president of
the Jewish Bar Association
of Michigan (JBAM). JBAM
provides social events and
educational seminars to the
Jewish legal community,
in addition to awarding a
scholarship every year to a local
law student.
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28 | FEBRUARY 16 • 2023