AUGUST 10 • 2023 | 25
graming included a talk with psychologists Lior Yonai
and Tammy Goren on how to best support our children
and a tour of the Isuf Kravi army base for Gedud Zikit at
Machane Ofer.
But we also had fun! Highlights included Guru Zuzu
(silent dancing) through the Dizengoff Center Mall in Tel
Aviv, a visit to the Ethiopian Heritage Center, mindfulness
exercises on a Tzfat rooftop, a musical desert experience
where we celebrated some women receiving a Jewish
name for the first time and, of course, visiting the Kotel.
Everywhere we went, we were received with so much
love and appreciation. When locals learned we were a
group of moms of Lone Soldiers from around the world,
many had tears in their eyes and emotionally told us how
much they appreciated us and our sacrifice. They have to
do this, but we don’t, and our kids are right there on the
front lines with theirs.
Israel, I’ve learned, is a place where you’ll make random
connections that are not really so random. On Day Three,
we explored the mystical city of Tzfat. At one point, I
was in artist Avraham Loewenthal’s studio, admiring his
unusual tekiyah (Shofar blows) artwork.
I decided to purchase a small piece for my friends who
were looking after my three younger kids back home. As
Avraham packaged the artwork, we chatted and I quickly
learned he was from Detroit. It’s always such fun to ran-
domly discover a fellow Detroiter when you’re thousands
of miles away!
“Which school did you go to?” I asked him.
“
Akiva, now Farber.
”
Eager to find a common connection, I tried to think
who I knew at Akiva/Farber 30 years ago (not so easy,
since I wasn’t even in Detroit yet then myself!) Finally, I
asked, “Did you know Rabbi Eliezer Cohen?”
Avraham lit up. “Of course! He tutored me!”
continued on page 26
Rochel happened to
meet former Detroiter
Avraham Loewenthal at
his art studio in Tzfat.
Rochel was met at the
airport by her son’s
host mom, Leah Torem,
and then met her son
Natanel in Tel Aviv.
The Momentum moms
with their T-shirts and
berets in Jerusalem
The mothers are
reunited with their
Lone Soldiers.