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