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