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.