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MARCH 17, 2022 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home
A FRUM GUY IN THE HOUSE Gabi Grossbard Talks About His Run for Congress BY SUSAN SCHWAMM
Gabi, you are running for Congress in Michigan, but you lived in Far Rockaway for a while. Yes. I was born and raised in Israel. I went to Sh’or Yoshuv in Far Rockaway, NY, for some of my teenage years, and then I went back to Israel and served in the Israeli Army.
When we lived in Far Rockaway, I worked ridiculous hours – like 14, 15 hours a day. We realized that for normalcy in our life the best thing to do is to move to Michigan, which we did. And I like it here. It’s a nice place to raise kids, and looking back, it was a good move.
What was your position there in the IDF? I was a sergeant when I was honorably discharged, but I was in an infantry unit for artillery. I served in some of the “funner” cities of Jenin and Jericho.
Is the Detroit community a growing frum community? Yes.
Do you remember Reb Shlomo Freifeld, zt”l, from your years in Sh’or Yoshuv? Yes. When they first started yeshiva, they would invite boys to the Friday night seudah. I was either the last or one of the very last who came to his house for a Friday night Shabbos meal. That was a really memorable experience for me. I got married towards the end of my IDF service. My wife and I moved back to Far Rockaway for a few years and lived on Neilson Street. I shouldn’t have sold my house in Far Rockaway; I’ll tell you that. It’s worth so much more today. We moved here to Michigan, to the suburbs of Detroit, in 1998. My wife is from here. And my father is from here as well, so we have a lot of relatives here.
Tell us why you decided to get into politics. It’s relatively new for me. I decided to get into politics after the 2018 election when Michigan elected Representative Rashida Tlaib to go to Congress. She is of Palestinian background, and she’s a radical leftist who is constantly trashing Israel and playing the violin, if you will, for the Palestinians. I felt that the people of Michigan should have an opportunity to answer to that. I couldn’t think of a better answer than a conservative Republican who is an observant Jew who was born, raised, and served in the Israeli military as a counterweight to that. I ran for Congress in 2020. I like to say that in 2020 I ran from scratch; this time, I’m running from experience. I learned a lot from my previous run. The last time you ran in the 9th District, correct?
