18 | MAY 16 • 2024 

classes at Berkley High School. She is a 
member of the National Honor Society, 
the president of the Science Honor 
Society and is an active participant in 
the Jewish Student Union at BHS. 
Shira is a wonderful musician who 
plays the violin, receiving honors for 
her musicianship from the MSBOA. 
Her athletic abilities include sailing 
and volleyball. She is also involved in 
theater as a pit musician and auditorium 
technical staff.
Shira is passionate about helping 
others. As a participant in AJC’s Leaders 
for Tomorrow program in 2022-2023, 
taking trips to see family in Israel and 
recently traveling with her mom to help 
farms in Israel (picking clementines) 
are ways she demonstrates her passion 
for Israel. She has worked at Aish Camp 
Daycare and is a madrichah for the 
Yachad Religious School, where she has 
planned lessons and activities for the 
students.
Shira has and will continue to touch 
and help the world around her through 
her passion, dedication and abilities. 

ARIEL SER

Ariel Ser, 18, lives 
in West 
Bloomfield and is 
soon to graduate 
from North 
Farmington High 
School. He is a 
rising star at Adat 
Shalom 
Synagogue in 
Farmington Hills.
Since he was in 
eighth grade, Ariel has been a madrich at 
the Adat Shalom-Beth Achim Learning 
Community. He did an amazing job 
working with teachers, students and 
madrichim. Plus, his students loved him. 
Ariel is also passionate about 
volunteering — in general and at Adat 
Shalom. He participated in the first two 
years of the Better to Serve program in 
partnership with JARC and represented 
the community at the Youth United 

Interfaith teen community service 
summer program. 
After attending Young Judea camp, 
this summer he is a returning counselor 
at Camp Young Judea Midwest. Camp is 
definitely one of his happy places. 
Ariel is an amazing artist. He 
continues to excel in his art classes 
at school and earned his academic 
letter and pin. He worked with Ofri, a 
community Shinshinit from Israel, to 
design and paint a colorful mural in 
Adat Shalom’s new Israelscape room. He 
is a blue belt in Jui Jitsu and enjoys 
coaching kids’ classes. 
Next year, he plans to move back to 
Israel where he was born to serve in the 
Israel Defense Forces. Ariel Ser is truly a 
rising star. 

ARI SKLAR

Ari Sklar, 16, 
lives in 
Huntington 
Woods, where he 
is a junior at 
Berkley High 
School and a 
rising star at 
Temple Beth El in 
Bloomfield 
Township.
Ari is full of 
energy, and he uses a lot of that energy 
to work toward making the world a 
cleaner, greener and happier place. 
He has a passion for the environment 
and puts that passion to work at 
Berkley High School where is a 
founding member and president of 
the Environmental Club. This year 
the club achieved the highest level of 
Green Schools as created by the State 
of Michigan, the Evergreen Tier, by 
completing 20 environmental programs 
at the school. In addition to his activity 
at school, he is also a member of 
the Green Team at Temple Beth El, 
working with an active committee to 
make the temple community more 
environmentally conscious.
In addition to his environmental 

activism, Ari is a member of the 
National Honor Society, Detroit 
Metropolitan Youth Symphony, and he 
is concert master for his high school 
orchestra and a member of the varsity 
tennis team. 
He is also active at Temple Beth 
El serving as a madrich in a third-
grade classroom on Sunday mornings, 
continuing his own Jewish education in 
the temple’s Masa Teens program and 
participating in the Senior Youth Group.

CALEB STARR

Caleb Star, 16, 
lives in Southfield 
and is a junior at 
Frankel Jewish 
Academy. He is a 
rising star at 
Congregation 
Shaarey Zedek in 
Southfield. 
Caleb Starr 
is a one-of-a-
kind young 
person. As a madrich at Congregation 
Shaarey Zedek’s Religious School, he 
is a standout young leader. What truly 
sets Caleb apart is his infectious passion 
and love for Judaism and Israel, which 
permeates everything he does. 
Always in good spirits, Caleb is ready 
to lend a hand both inside and outside 
the classroom, embodying a spirit of 
service and community involvement. 
He exemplifies the values of patience, 
inclusivity and passion, making a 
significant and positive difference within 
our community. Caleb is a role model 
and a beacon of inspiration for the 
students who look up to him. 
Caleb spent a semester of his 
10th-grade year in Israel through the 
TRY program, and his love of Israel, 
command of the Hebrew language, 
and deep knowledge of Jewish customs 
and ritual makes him a unique and 
wonderful addition to the community 
and a role model for the students in the 
Religious School. He is a bright young 
leader at Congregation Shaarey Zedek. 
 

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