JANUARY 4 • 2024 | 11
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A Second Home, 

JANUARY 4 • 2024 | 11
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hen Shahaf Harari woke up 
on Oct. 7, 2023, her 18th 
birthday, she expected her 
phone to be overflowing 
with happy birthday mes-
sages from her loved ones 
back home in Israel. Shahaf 
was one month into her 
stay across the world in 
Detroit as a community 
Shinshinim. Those mes-
sages ended up being very 
different from what she 
expected. She didn’t understand. She 
was in shock. “I didn’t expect the day to 
go like that,
” Shahaf said. 
None of the 2023-24 Detroit 
Shinshinim did. Shahaf, Itamar Grife, 
Ofri Lellouche, Erela Sabag and Itay 
Nussbaum could not have expected 
their gap year in Detroit to deviate 
from the norm as much as it has. But, 
no matter what, they’ve made the best 
out of the situation, have found more 
purpose in their roles than they ever 
would’ve expected, and found a second 
home they’ve connected with on a deep-
er level than they ever thought would be 
possible.
The individuals in the Shinshinim 
(Young Israeli Emissary) program are 
high school graduates who choose to 
defer their military service for a year 
of service abroad. The young Israeli 
ambassadors are carefully selected and 
brought over by the Jewish Federation’s 
Israel and Overseas Department to 
share their Israeli spirit, energy and 
unique perspectives in their work 
at Jewish day schools, synagogues, 
religious schools and more through 
educational lessons, presentations and 
personal connections with community 
members of all ages. 
A Second Family

The 2023-24 Detroit 
Shinshinim have 
found purpose in 
Michigan while the 
crisis continues on 
the home front.

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN HARDWICK

continued on page 12

Shahaf 
Harari