20 | MARCH 2 • 2023
OUR COMMUNITY
W
hen I was growing up in the 1970s,
spending time in Israel generally
meant living on a kibbutz. As a gay
kid, this didn’t particularly appeal to me, and I
didn’t visit until many years later, when, most
recently, my husband, Michael Neumann, an
anesthesiologist, and I were fortunate to be part
of the Detroit Federation’s Forman 3 Leadership
Mission. The experience was
life-changing. This was certainly not
the agrarian Israel of my childhood.
The Forman Leadership Mission,
under Federation’s Maimonides
Society, was created by the late Dr.
Jeffrey Forman to cultivate future
leadership for the Maimonides
Society and the Detroit Federation. It includes
Gen X couples — where at least one member of
each couple is a physician — in a yearlong lead-
ership program that culminates with a mission to
Israel through a medical lens. This year’s five-day
whirlwind mission included 25 participants and
was chaired by Drs. Beth and Brad Rosenberg
and Michael Feld and advised by Terri Farber.
It began with a private visit to the Peres Center
for Peace and Innovation. Peres believed that
innovation was the best road to peace. On the
north side of Tel Aviv, located on a bluff directly
overlooking the Mediterranean, this modern
architectural masterpiece is the fruition of his
vision. The Peres Center does just that.
As a gay couple, it was especially exciting to
visit the new Magen David Adom Blood Bank.
The facility is not only the most secure blood
Couple celebrates a meaningful trip to Israel
as part of the Forman 3 Leadership Mission.
A Mission to Remember
Brian
Kutinsky
BRIAN KUTINSKY SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
TOP TO BOTTOM: A group pic at the Peres Center for Peace & Innovation. Leaders of the
Forman Mission: Beth and Brad Rosenberg, Michael Feld and Terri Farber. Brian Kutinsky
and Michael Neumann. A group photo at the Kotel.
COURTESY OF FEDERATION