APRIL 6 • 2023 | 43
highest priority on assisting
groups and populations
in Jerusalem in need of
support, according to the
Marathon’s website.
“Incorporating a social
and communal dimension
in the race gives added
value to the runners’
experience,” Leon said.
Rothstein, 40, has
participated for 12 years.
He made aliyah in 2007
with his wife, Leezie
Strauss, who hails from
Queens, New York. An
occupational therapist at
Orchaos Ish, the largest
Talmud-Torah in Har Nof,
and in private practice,
Leezie and Ellie have six
children, ages 1 to 17.
Levitz, 30, who grew
up in Southfield, knew
Rothstein, who went to
school and was good
friends with his older
brother, Shimi Pesis. He ran
the 5K run for Kav Lanoar
for the second year.
“I’m not a serious runner,
but I did good for what
I was expecting, and I
enjoyed it,” said Levitz,
who completed the run in
under 38 minutes. “I always
have a lot of fun at the
Jerusalem Marathon, the
only one I’ve ever run in,
and I raised $380 for Ellie’s
organization.”
Levitz, a customer
success manager at
CauseMatch, plans on
running again next year.
He and his wife Tova, 29,
a freelance graphic designer
from West Hempstead, New
York, made aliyah in 2019,
with their daughter Adina,
now 5. They live in Beit
Shemesh, and now have a
younger daughter, Esti, who
is 1 year old.
My wife, Shaina and
I participated in the
Marathon for the second
time since making aliyah
in 2019. The event was
canceled in 2020 and
2021, owing to the COVID
pandemic lockdown.
We live in Efrat and
participated with our
four children, ages 4 to 8.
“The children always love
coming to Jerusalem, where
we lived for a year, and
playing at Sachar Park,”
Shaina said.
We moved from Oak
Park to Jerusalem our first
year in Israel. We were
preceded in aliyah by
Shaina’s older brother, Avi
Shevin, his wife, Aviya, and
daughter, Sarah Nechama,
11, in 2012. Their younger
sister Tova Jacobovitz
and her family, husband
Danny and children Akiva,
11, Yael, 8, and Rafi, 4,
followed in 2020 from Oak
Park. Their parents, Lisa
and Elliott Shevin, made
aliyah, also from Oak Park,
in 2021 with their daughter
Chana. They all live within
walking distance in Efrat.
“We intend to participate
again next year,” Shaina
said. “Our children love
hiking, as do we.”
We often are joined
by our oldest daughter,
Madeleine Truitt, 28, who
moved to Israel in 2013.
She lives in Jerusalem with
her husband, Abraham, and
daughter, Dalia.
Next year’s event is
scheduled for Friday, March
8, 2024. “Kav Lanoar will
participate next year,” said
Rothstein, “and we hope
that more Detroiters will
walk for our team and
agency.”
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