OUR COMMUNITY

continued from page 11

ON THE COVER

12 | JANUARY 4 • 2024 J
N

The Shinshinim participate in community 
events almost nonstop, from various holiday 
events for Chanukah and Sukkot, speaking 
events with audiences ranging from students to 
Holocaust survivors, personal projects they’re 
working on and more. They work to present 
Israel in as many places as possible with as 
many perspectives and personal experiences as 
possible.

A DAY OF SHOCK AND HOMESICKNESS 
The 2023-24 Detroit Shinshinim arrived in 
late August and, by early October, they had 
settled into their roles. What had been a typical 
gap year for Shinshinim before them quickly 
changed on that fateful Saturday in October.
When news of the Hamas-led attack on Israel 
started trickling out, and their families began 
reaching out to them, they were confused and 
shocked. As time went by, and the scale and 
immediate implications of what happened were 
fully understood, a feeling of wanting to return 

home came over many of the Shinshinim. 
For Erela, one of the first feelings she had was 
guilt, wanting to return home to grieve with 
family and friends. She couldn’t 
turn away from watching the news 
and checking social media. 
Itamar’s mother called him that 
morning informing him of what 
happened, assuring him their fam-
ily was OK and delivering news 
that his older brother was called 
into the IDF. Itamar also wondered 
what he was doing in Detroit and 
not in Israel, wanting to find a way 
into the army. The 18-year-old 
said it was the most terrible time 
he’s had in his life, seeing “horror 
movie stuff” on the news. 
“I’
d never felt that feeling before, 
like your house is burning and all 
of your family is inside, but you are watching,
” 
he said. 

Ofri initially didn’t know how to feel. 
“I didn’t know whether I wanted to be here 
or go home,
” she said. “Like, where am I the 
most efficient? Where am I going to 
impact the most?”
Shahaf, who had a very different 
18th birthday than expected, says 
those first few days after the attack 
were hard because they were still 
trying to figure out how they felt 
and if their family and friends were 
OK. 
Shahaf and Erela are from Ahuzat Barack, a 
small moshav (settlement) in the Jezreel Valley 
consisting of about 700 families. Because it’s 
small, everybody knows everybody. From that 
moshav, around 10 people went to the desert 
music festival near the Gaza-Israel border. Only 
three of them came back. 
“We had two siblings of a good friend of ours 
who were murdered that day. We’ve known him 

The Shinshinim arrive in Detroit in August.

Erela 
Sabag

Itamar 
Grife

continued on page 14

Ofri 
Lellouche

