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. 

continued from page 19

continued from page 19

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