26 | APRIL 6 • 2023
feeling relaxed and proud she accepted
the challenge, not allowing her fear to
hold her back, enjoying the view peak
to peak and taking in the story of the
Masada.
An afternoon in the Dead Sea found
Brooke and Jonathan in full laughter
with Woodside, Gottlieb and the other
travelers. Though the Dead Sea has
changed significantly over the years
and has shrunk to the point that there
isn’t enough mud for tourists to enjoy,
floating in the salty sea remains a pop-
ular activity. After some hesitation by
Jonathan, he and Brooke joined the
other tourists floating and laughing
about how different it felt in the Sea.
And, after Jonathan’s initial hesitation,
he didn’t want to leave.
Brooke and Jonathan enjoyed joining
in dancing on music-filled nights. They
joined in on drumming along with a
drum group on the final night, which
turned into a dance circle.
Jonathan was dancing and a com-
munity member pulled him into the
big group. His smile of enjoyment
was noticed by the other participants,
and even caused a guest to express to
Gottlieb afterwards how great it was
to see Jonathan happy and smiling.
Woodside also shared how gratifying
it was to see Brooke warm up to the
group and get into the crowd to drum
and dance with everyone, especially for
someone who is typically shy.
MISSION COMPLETED
While the trip was special for Brooke
and Jonathan to grow their connection
to their faith, experience culture, face
their fears and try so many new things,
many fellow travelers who got to know
Brooke and Jonathan felt their presence
on the trip was transformational in the
way they saw people with disabilities.
While Gottlieb and Woodside
were always there to assist and make
sure they were comfortable and had
everything they needed, the trip
allowed Brooke and Jonathan to show
everyone their independence and
impress everyone with how much they
were able to do on their own and what
they could overcome.
JARC CEO Shaindle Braunstein said,
“When we received a call from the
Federation over a year ago that they
wanted to make it possible for a few
people served by JARC to participate
in the Motor City Mission, we knew
we had to send a group, we just didn’t
know how we were going to do it. There
were many obstacles along the way,
the least of which was who would be
available to assist, how would we pay
for it, and how would the people we
serve be able to manage the physical
intensity of the trip.”
She added, “Living vicariously
through their daily pictures that I had
insisted they send so we could share
them with their guardians, I could see
hesitant faces become enormous smiles,
and I knew that this experience had
truly changed their lives for the better.”
A year ago, sending people JARC
serves on this Mission was just a seed
of an idea, but through the generous
support of Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit, community
supporters, and Brooke and Jonathan’s
families, this life-changing trip was
made possible. You, too, can support
JARC’s life enrichment initiatives all
year-round at jarc.org/give.
OUR COMMUNITY
JOHN HARDWICK
JARC STAFF
JARC STAFF
Jonathan and
Brooke at the
Ben-Gurion
statue
Jonathan
enjoying the
drum circle
Brooke enjoying the cable
car ride up to the Masada
continued from page 24
CLASS OF 2021
SIMON MOURANI
CLASS OF 2016
RAJ CHHAYA
CLASS OF 2022
KIANNA MATEEN
CLASS OF 2011
TERONTO ROBINSON, M.D.
CLASS OF 2015
CHRISTINA GUSTIN