JANUARY 11 • 2024 | 27

was the one I want to spend the
rest of my life with,
” Jonah said.
He confirmed they were on
the same page … and moved
on to the fun part: Figuring out
how, when and where to pop the
question! He’
d planned to do it
at Park Teddy in Jerusalem, but
it was closed. Jonah’s mother and
Yaffa’s sister suggested trying to
surprise Yaffa on her army base.
“I thought it was a cool idea,
”
Jonah said. “I texted Yaffa’s com-
mander, who is a friend of my
soldiers from when I was a com-
mander in the army. I explained
that I wanted to do a nice pro-
posal on base; how can I make
that happen?”
For a few days, there was a lot
of back and forth, with no real
response.
“I had a rental car for a few
days, but since I hadn’t gotten
a response, I assumed it wasn’t
going to work out and was about
to return the car early when
suddenly I got a call from her
captain. He said, ‘I heard what
you want to do; come down, let’s
do this today!’” said Jonah, who
promptly changed his clothes,
rushed out to buy flowers and
food and practically flew to
Yaffa’s base.
Her unit had already been
briefed and when Jonah arrived,
15 chayalot (female soldiers)
were preparing tables and laying
out a red tablecloth across the
sandy entrance to the base and
lining it with rocks. They also
created a heart out of rocks and
sticks.

A TOTAL SURPRISE
From Yaffa’s perspective, the day
had been a busy one. It was her
first day of navigations on the
field. On the bus back, her com-
mander pulled Yaffa to the front
to ostensibly ask her questions.
“She asked me if I understood
everything, if I needed any help
with the Hebrew,
” Yaffa said. “I
didn’t know why she was asking

me all this, why she was doing
all she could to keep me up front
with my back facing the win-
dows!”
Then her commander
wouldn’t let her get her vest at
the back of the bus. And even
weirder, her commander was
filming her! When they disem-
barked, Yaffa turned around, saw
the “red carpet” and innocently
assumed some people on base
were doing something weird.
“Then I realized it was MY
unit … and then I saw Jonah,
”
Yaffa said. “That’s when I realized
what was happening and started
crying … He took my hand …
I was all sweaty from my day on
the field. I had on all this gear, it
was wild. But Jonah did great. It
was a very good surprise; I had
no idea.
”
They took a few steps down
the “red carpet” together and
Jonah proposed, while everyone
cheered.
And then, of course, they cel-
ebrated! Yaffa and Jonah were
granted one and a half hours
together, and they used that time
to call family in America, to
squeal over the phone lines and
spread their exciting news.
It’s a delightful Detroit-Israel
love story, a sweet proposal
in the middle of a dark time.
There’s plenty to look forward to,
including engagement parties, a
wedding to plan (so far they’re
thinking maybe spring 2024 in
Michigan) and their entire lives
together.
To the Detroit Jewish commu-
nity, Yaffa said, “No matter how
wild your story gets, if it’s meant
to be, it will be, just sit back and
enjoy the ride!”
Jonah agreed. “If you really
want something, and believe
with all your heart it’s right, it
will be. Hashem has our best
interests at heart.
”
And then both these Detroit
heroes added a heartfelt, “
Am
Yisrael Chai!”

Jonah got
down on one
knee to pop
the question.

Jonah and
Yaffa at the
FIDF dinner
in 2018 when
they had just
started dating.