24 | OCTOBER 3 • 2024 J N G raffiti artist Elyasaf Miara is painting roadside bomb shelters, turning them into calming oases. Vered Glass is helping families coping with crisis to create networks of communal support. Adi Rozen is putting together pampering gift packages with offerings of Israeli products from communities bordering the Gaza strip. Yarin Sultan has created a forum to help Israelis influence policy makers and implement strategic policy changes. They are among the 15 Israelis from cities and vil- lages near the Gaza border whose projects are being funded by Kolot, an Israel-based nonprofit dedicated to helping the State of Israel realize core Jewish ethical principles and spiritual ideals. The Restart program aims to help revitalize Israeli communities on the bor- der with Gaza. In mid-September, a delegation of Restart partici- pants spent a week visiting Chicago, Ann Arbor and Detroit, where they shared information about their projects and learned how American Jewish communi- ties have responded to the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023. Kolot (“voices” in Hebrew) was started in 1997 after the assassination of the late Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin. The organization invites leaders into its beit midrash (house of study) to learn from Jewish sources, to engage in constructive disagreement and to share with one another responsibility for Israeli society. Participants represent both religious and secular Jewish, Bedouin, Druze and Muslim Israelis, who work together to ensure that Israel maintains its iden- tity as both a Jewish and a democratic state. Kolot CEO Shlomo Weinish said that after Oct. 7, the group’s leaders decided to focus on projects in the Otef, sometimes called the “Gaza Envelope. ” They put together the Restart group to help promote healing. Launched in mid-May, Restart honors the memory of Ofir Libstein, the mayor of the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council and a graduate of Kolot’s local gov- ernment leadership program who lost his life on Oct. 7. The Restart members are civic leaders and entre- preneurs from different backgrounds committed to rebuilding the region through innovative social ini- tiatives empowered by Jewish values. Their projects include business development, educational outreach, tourism, welfare, community building and the arts. AN IMPROMPTU MURAL Fourteen Restart members (the 15th was unable to travel at the time), along with Weinish and Kolot Beit Midrash Director Leon Wiener Dow, arrived in Chicago on Sept. 9 and traveled to Detroit on Sept. 12. They spent the following day in Ann Arbor. On Sept. 14, they met with leaders of the Jewish Federation of Detroit. Adat Shalom Synagogue, Chabad of West Bloomfield and Temple Beth El hosted the group for Shabbat, and they spent Saturday evening with The Well (see story on page 26.). On Sunday, they toured Jewish sites in the city of Detroit, and on Monday they visited Hillel Day School, where, in an impromp- tu move, Elyasaf Miara painted a mural on a wall. They also met with a team from the Michigan Israel Business Accelerator before flying back to Israel. Weinish said the trip was intended to help Israelis learn about American Jewish life, to enable American Jews to hear stories about life in the Otef and to create partnerships. Federation CEO Steve Ingber told the group that Detroit’s emergency fundraising campaign in the wake of Oct. 7 brought in $28 million from 3,800 donors; nearly 40% of the donations came from what he described as “non-traditional donors, ” including many non-Jews. David Kurzmann, Federation’s senior director of community affairs and Federation’s liaison to Jewish Community Security Inc., noted that there has been a big uptick in antisemitic incidents in the United States since October, making Federation’s community rela- tions efforts more important than ever. He lamented the fact that Jewish-Muslim interfaith work, traditionally strong in Southeastern Michigan, has pretty much frozen since Oct. 7, with poisonous language and no public engagement between the two groups. Daniel Buxbaum, community relations associate for Federation, said bringing Israeli voices to non-Jewish communities was a priority. Rabbi Asher Lopatin, director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Ann Arbor, said one of the greatest tragedies of Oct. 7 is that it greatly diminished American Jews’ belief in the possibility of a shared society in Israel. But Lopatin said he feels interfaith dialogue is not a lost cause. “We have to keep trying, ” he said. “I don’t think there’s a choice. ” During their meetings, the Israelis distributed honey from Israel and bumper stickers and pins featuring the red poppy anemone (kalaniyot in Hebrew), Israel’s national flower, which symbolizes renewal, resilience and the vibrant spirit of the Israeli people. Visiting artist creates mural at Hillel Day School. Kolot ‘Restart’ Members Visit Detroit BARBARA LEWIS CONTRIBUTING WRITER OUR COMMUNITY Elyasaf Miara painted a mural on a wall at Hillel Day School. In Israel, she paints roadside bomb shelters, turning them into calming oases. She was here with a cohort from Kolot, an Israel-based nonprofit dedicated to helping the State of Israel realize core Jewish ethical principles and spiritual ideals. The inaugural meeting of Restart, a program focused on rebuilding the Gaza Envelope through innovative social initiatives and leadership empowered by Jewish values. COURTESY OF KOLOT