NOVEMBER 21 • 2024 | 11

their free time for something else. 
Most of them probably don’t even 
have family in Israel, but they came 
to feel the connection and support.”

WORK SITES
The Shinshinim’s weekly work 
sites include regular day schools 
and religious schools. Day school 
work sites include Hillel Day 
School, Farber Hebrew Day School 
and Frankel Jewish Academy. 
Religious school work sites 
include Yachad Religious School, 
Temple Beth-El, Adat Shalom 
Synagogue, Congregation Beth 
Ahm, Congregation Shaarey Zedek, 
Temple Israel and Temple Shir 
Shalom. Their students range from 
pre-Kindergarten to 12th grade. 
Ori notes how warm and 
welcoming Hillel has been for her, 
especially with there being so many 
Israeli teachers. 

“On Oct. 7, which was obviously 
a hard day, especially not being at 
home with my family, everybody 
was so caring and made sure we 
were all feeling OK,” she says. 
“They told me if I need a break, to 
take my time. Everybody just wants 
us to do the best we can.”
Ofir is the first Shinshinim at 
Farber Hebrew Day School and 
Young Israel of Southfield, which 
has been exciting for him. 
“I’m seeing I can make a big 
impact,” he says. “Something 
that’s really impressed me is how 
ingrained Israel and Israeli culture 
is in the schools. Whether it’s 
during the lessons, there being 
Israeli flags or the students reciting 
‘Hatikvah,’ the kids are taking it 
seriously.”
The Shinshinim program has also 
expanded to BBYO this year. Each 
of the Shinshinim are in different 

BBYO chapters working with 
teenagers. 
A stand-out moment for 
Nisan was during an Oct. 7 
commemoration event at FJA. 
It struck him seeing how much 
the high school students (many 
just a year younger than he is) 
took it seriously and gave the 
commemoration the respect it 
deserves. 
“I was shocked by how engrossed 
they were with the subject matter, 
the activities we did and to see how 
it affected them,” Nisan says. “Many 
came out of it telling us they now 
understand why people fight, why 
people want to go to the army, and 
that they want to go to the army 
now.” 

U.S. ELECTION
The Shinshinim were here for the 
2024 U.S. presidential election. 

Experiencing that process was 
fascinating for them.
“We were lucky that somebody 
from Federation came and talked to 
us about the election — about how 
it works and all the little bits and 
bobs of it,” Ori says. “I was grateful 
to learn a bit more about it and 
seeing it in action was amazing.” 
Ofir adds, “It was interesting to 
follow it on the news, to hear and 
see the different opinions about 
everything. It’s really different than 
in Israel. Here, it’s on a much bigger 
scale.”
Nisan, who was born in America 
and is now 18 years old, was able to 
vote for the very first time. 
“It was pretty cool,” he says. “I 
voted on Election Day, and I went 
in the middle of the day and there 
was no line.”
Nisan said it was “pretty 
stressful” up until Election Day 

continued on page 12

LEFT: The Shinshinim arrive at the airport. RIGHT: Shahar and Ori at the cider mill. 
FACING PAGE: The Shinshinim stood on the bimah and recited a Prayer for Israel.

