22 | NOVEMBER 2 • 2023 J
N

OUR COMMUNITY

M

oshe and Shayna Davis, the Bnei 
Akiva shlichim who came to 
Southfield from Israel in 2022, 
were horrified when they heard about the 
war. Instead of wallowing, they imme-
diately began brainstorming with fellow 
Detroit shlichim, Tamar Glaser and Chana 
Neubauer, about how they could help. 
“We’re here only temporarily, but we 
know how it feels to have family in Israel,” 
said Shayna. “We particularly relate to the 
families of the Lone Soldiers since Moshe 
has two brothers who are fighting. We 
decided to reach out to the families here 
who have a soldier to show them love and 
support, to let them know that we appre-
ciate the sacrifice of their Lone Soldier — 
and of the families who sent them there.” 
On Monday, just Day 3 of the war, the 
Davis family invited children from the 
community to the home of Rachel and 
Yael Schreiber, the local bnot sheirut (Israeli 
teenagers volunteering in Detroit as part 
of their service). 
Over 30 kids, in sixth grade and under, 
baked challah together and prayed for 
Israel and the safety and strength of the 
IDF soldiers. They also decorated bags 
and wrote letters to the families, which 

were then hand-delivered to local families 
by the shlichim and bnot sheirut. 
“The reactions were amazing,” Shayna 
shared. “People were so touched that we’d 
thought of them at this scary time. They 
seemed especially touched because we are 
Israelis, and we’re obviously desperately 
worried about our own families. Baruch 
Hashem, our families are OK … Well, I 

say they’re OK, but no one is really OK 
right now.” 
Thinking of others seems to always 
have a way of boomeranging and helping 
ourselves. As Shayna said, “Doing things 
like this — and we have other plans for 
more events in the works, too — makes 
us feel productive and a little less helpless 
in the face of this very scary situation. It 
helps keeps our minds occupied so we 
don’t just feel scared and worried all the 
time.”

LETTERS FOR SOLDIERS
Erin Stiebel of Southfield was also eager 
to do something tangible; she particularly 
wanted to engage her kids, ages 2 to 9, 
with helping Israel practically.
An opportunity turned up in the form 
of Erin’s cousin’s engagement to a nice 
young man from Israel, who visited 
America over Sukkot. When war broke 
out, the groom’s brother was called up to 
the front lines, and Erin encouraged her 
kids to write letters of support to him and 
all the soldiers in his unit. The groom 

Little things, done with love, can make a difference.

continued on page 24

ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Meaningful Ways
to Help

Finding

ABOVE: Some of the bracelets by Sophia 
Gotlib and friends. TOP: Sophia Gotlib and her 
friends make blue-and-white bracelets to sell to 
raise money for the IDF.

