FEBRUARY 15 • 2024 | 33

volunteering. Since then, she 
has maintained her advocacy 
for Israel and the Jewish 
community on campus, 
proudly participating in 
the March for Israel in DC 
as a representative of both 
her native Detroit and the 
University of Michigan in 
November. 
In December, Atara was 
a distinguished speaker at 
the JNF Global Conference 
in Denver, addressing an 
audience of over 2,000 
people on the issue of 
antisemitism on college 
campuses. During her 
time at the conference, she 
launched one of her new 
pieces as another fundraising 
campaign for Israel, a 
papercut of the prayer for the 
state of Israel.
After her graduation from 
U-M in May, Atara will be 
making aliyah and pursuing 
her entrepreneurial dream 
of opening her own Judaica 
studio, AtaraKetubot. To 
stay updated on her artistic 
journey, you can follow her 
on Instagram @Ataraketubot. 

OLIVIA BERLIN 
Olivia Berlin is 
the senior 
program associate 
in the Israel & 
Overseas 
Department at the Jewish 
Federation of Detroit.
Born and raised in Metro 
Detroit, Olivia is a graduate 
of Michigan State University. 
She is a recent graduate of 
Spertus Institute for Jewish 
Learning and Leadership 
where she received her 
master’s degree in Jewish 
professional studies and 

certificate of Israel Education 
from the iCenter.
Prior to working at the 
Jewish Federation of Detroit, 
Olivia worked at Hillel of 
Metro Detroit, spent many 
summers at URJ Camp 
George and taught English 
while participating in Masa 
Israel Teaching Fellow in 
Rishon L’Zion.
Outside of work, Olivia 
loves to have Shabbat dinner 
parties with friends, travel 
and knit the occasional hat. 

MAYA 
GURFINKEL 
Maya was raised 
in Ann Arbor. 
After attending 
Kalamazoo 
College and joining the 
Hillel Campus Alliance of 
Michigan (HCAM), Maya 
moved to Greensboro, North 
Carolina, where she worked 
as outreach and engagement 
manager for the Greensboro 
Jewish Federation. While 
working in Greensboro, 
Maya oversaw the young 
professional network, the 
leadership development 
course, PJ Library and the 
Triad Jewish Film Festival. 
After a few years, Maya 
moved back to Michigan 
with her partner and now 
resides in Ferndale.
Maya currently works 
as the director of the 2024 
Detroit JCC Maccabi 
Games. In this role, Maya 
helps direct a dedicated 
staff and lay leader-driven 
team. Maya hopes to 
cultivate an environment 
where participants will 
make lifelong memories 
and connections within the 

Jewish community. Maya 
looks forward to the Games 
this summer and encourages 
all community members to 
get involved. 
In her free time, Maya 
enjoys spending time with 
her partner, family, friends 
and pets. Some of Maya’s 
favorite hobbies are hiking 
and traveling. She is involved 
with the Detroit Ultimate 
Frisbee League. 

LIOR ZISSER-
YOGEV 
Lior Zisser-Yogev, 
who serves as our 
community’s 
Shlicha through 
the Jewish Federation of 
Detroit, grew up in Givat 
Ella in Emek Izrael in 
Detroit’s Partnership2Gether 
region. After meeting the 
Jewish community of 
Michigan in camp, she 
decided to get involved in 
Shlichut and Israel 
education. 
After finishing her army 
service as a combat soldier 
and a teacher, Lior worked 
in other Jewish summer 
camps and spent two years 
as a community Shlicha in 
Peoria, Illinois, and even 
a summer as a Shlicha in 
Sydney, Australia. 
Lior has a B.A. in 
education and political 
science, and M.A. in public 
policy and management 
(both from the Hebrew 
University) and a teaching 
certificate in civil studies. 
For the past eight years, 
Lior worked in various roles 
for different ministries in 
the Israeli government such 
as the Ministry of Labor and 

Social Affairs, the Ministry 
for Social Equality and the 
Civil Service Commission.
Lior moved here from Israel 
with her family, her husband, 
Gil, and their daughters Zeve, 
7, and Rona, 4.

DANIEL 
BUCKSBAUM 
Daniel 
Bucksbaum is a 
passionate 
advocate for 
Israel and the Jewish people. 
He graduated with honors 
from Western Michigan 
University with a B.A. in 
political science focusing on 
contemporary Middle 
Eastern politics and a minor 
in Arabic. Daniel is also a 
member of the Phi Beta 
Kappa Honors Society. He 
has written extensively about 
Israel and the Middle East, 
and some of his work has 
been published in the 
Jerusalem Post, the Times of 
Israel and other publications.
Daniel is the Israel and 
Interfaith associate for the 
Jewish Community Relations 
Council/American Jewish 
Committee Detroit (JCRC/
AJC). With this role, Daniel 
works to build meaningful 
relationships between the 
Jewish community and 
other religious and ethnic 
communities in Metro 
Detroit, including the Hindu, 
Hispanic and Chaldean 
communities, and Detroit’s 
large Muslim and Arab-
American community. 
As JCRC/AJC’s Israel 
associate, Daniel also 
works collaboratively with 
community leaders, school 
boards, elected officials and 

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