20 | DECEMBER 21 • 2023
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her Detroit home on Oct. 14, was represent-
ed by Rabbi Ariana Silverman of the Isaac
Agree Downtown Synagogue, where Woll
had been president.
Other dignitaries at the event included
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel,
U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Bloomfield,
and State Sen. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit,
Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield
and Detroit Pistons Vice Chairman Arn Tellem.
Stevens had private FaceTime meetings with
both mothers. Ben Ami and Moses said they are
grateful for her tremendous support and her efforts to
secure the release of their fathers and the other remaining
hostages.
During the proceedings, a few dozen protesters from
Jewish Voice for Peace could briefly be heard chanting
“Cease fire now.”
been captured. He worried about his
mother; she was in her house alone; no
one had seen her all day. Only two days
later did he see video showing her being
taken away by Hamas terrorists.
Moses said he saw his father in a
Hamas video a week after the attack but
has had no news of him since. His father
is almost 80, he said, and “even a strong
man, after two months in captivity …”
He has vowed not to shave or cut his
hair until his father is released.
THE COMMUNITY’S EMBRACE
Ben Ami said she and Moses felt
embraced by the Detroit Jewish
community. “It’s like getting a big hug
from all the community,” she said of
their warm welcome.
The two spoke at halftime of a Detroit
Pistons game Dec. 6, the day they
arrived. On the Friday after Menorah
in the D, they met with congregants of
Temple Israel, then returned to Israel,
with a short stop in New York.
Ben Ami says she wants Israel’s
government to make the release of the
hostages its No. 1 priority. And she
wants the world to know about Hamas’
atrocities.
One quarter of the residents of her
kibbutz were murdered or kidnapped in
the Oct. 7 attack.
“It’s impossible to imagine any
country accepting that,” she said. “We
need the world’s support. Everyone who
reads this needs to speak up and stand
with us.”
Moses says he feels bad for the
civilians in Gaza but wants the world to
realize that what’s happening there is the
fault of Hamas, not Israel. He also feels
bitter about the Red Cross, which, he
said, did nothing to help the kidnapped
Israelis.
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CLOCKWISE: Ella Ben Ami and Yair
Moses on stage at Menorah in the D,
sitting next to Rep. Haley Stevens.
Menorah in the D took place Dec. 7 in
Campus Martius. Hundreds showed up
to mark the start of Chanukah in Detroit.
OUR COMMUNITY