FEBRUARY 15 • 2024 | 59
A CHANGE OF PLANS
Since then, the Lester
Ambassador Program has
facilitated several trips for
participating Israelis to come
to Metro Detroit and Metro
Detroiters to visit Israel.
While in Metro Detroit,
Stern was introduced to area
synagogues, organizations and
community members to learn
more about American Judaism.
In Israel, meanwhile, participants
learned about Israeli culture and
how different sects of Judaism
intersect.
Everything was full steam
ahead for the Lester Ambassador
Program, and the cohort even
began planning a trip to meet
in a mutual location outside of
Metro Detroit and Israel, when
the surprise attack by Hamas put
a halt on any further planning.
The American cohort last
visited Israel through the Lester
Ambassador Program in spring
of 2023, just a few months shy
of when the deadly conflict
emerged.
Hamas’ attack caught all by
surprise, including Stern, who
planned to take advantage of Oct.
7 — a seasonably nice weekend
day — by picnicking with some
friends.
Instead, he found himself
quickly packing his bags and
reporting by noon that same day
to his IDF base, where he serves
as part of the reserves. Since Oct.
7, Stern has spent four months
serving at the northern border
with Lebanon and in Gaza.
At the time of this article, he
had just returned home from
active duty the night before
speaking with the Detroit Jewish
News. Stern, who has the rank of
major and serves in the infantry
reconnaissance unit, fought in the
major Gazan city of Khan Younis.
“It was pretty intense fighting,”
he says. “My brigade found and
killed almost 200 terrorists.”
Sadly, the brigade also lost
seven IDF soldiers who were
killed in battle.
FINDING CONNECTION
IN CRISIS
It was a physically, mentally
and emotionally challenging
four months, but Stern says one
thing that kept him afloat and
motivated was the WhatsApp
group chat with the Lester
Ambassador Program.
Every day, Metro Detroit
ambassadors checked in on
their Israeli counterparts. The
Israeli cohort also asked how
the war was perceived in the
U.S. and what news coverage
was like. “There were different
opinions and views,” said Stern,
who has three children. “It was
very valuable for us because we
left our families without any
warning.”
Stern also accommodated a
small group of Metro Detroiters
who recently visited Israel for
a short period of time to bear
witness to the crisis and show
solidarity for their Israeli friends.
“I escorted a solidarity mission
to one of the kibbutzes that was
badly destroyed,” he says. “It was
meaningful to go there wearing a
uniform [and in army gear].”
Stern brought fellow soldiers
along to meet the Metro
Detroiters.
“It gives you strength to know
that you’re not alone because here
in the media, you keep seeing that
the whole world is against us,” he
says. “The unanimous support
that we get from the Detroit
community is very important for
us.
“It gives us a really good
feeling,” Stern adds, “at the end of
the day to know we have a family
in Detroit.”
MAZEL TOV!
Finnegan Leary (Baruch) of West
Bloomfield will become a bar
mitzvah at Temple Kol Ami in
West Bloomfield on Saturday,
Feb. 17, 2024. He is the son of
Michael and Miriam Leary and
brother of Emily Leary. Grandparents are
Faye Menczer and Howard Friedman of
West Bloomfield, Kevin and Janice Leary of
Prospect, Conn., and the late Edward
Menczer.
Finnegan is a student at South Hills
Middle School in West Bloomfield. He is
collecting donations of new or gently used
yoga mats to improve the conditions of the
homeless to reduce illness and death due
to hypothermia from sleeping on the cold
ground. Yoga mats are lightweight, portable
and don’t conduct heat/cold. Donations are
being collected through February at Temple
Kol Ami.
Ami Isaac Katz, son of Carri and
Paul Katz, will lead the
congregation in prayer as a bar
mitzvah at Temple Israel in West
Bloomfield on Friday, Feb. 16,
2024. He will be joined in
celebration by his sisters Talia and Ellie.
Ami is the loving grand-child of Nita and
Randy Bernstein, Angie and Boris Kaufman,
and Boris Katz.
He is a student at South Hills Middle
School in Bloomfield Hills. Ami’s
most meaningful mitzvah project was
volunteering his time with Yad Ezra in
Berkley.
HOW TO SUBMIT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Mazel Tov! announcements are welcomed
for members of the Jewish community.
Anniversaries, engagements and weddings with
a photo (preferably color) can appear at a cost of
$18 each. Births are $10. There is no charge for
bar/bat mitzvahs or for special birthdays starting
at the 90th.
For information, contact Editorial Assistant
Sy Manello at smanello@thejewishnews.com or
(248) 351-5147 for information or for a mailed or
emailed copy of guidelines.