v7 1S1-1. NEWS
THIS ISSUE 60c
SERVING DETROIT'S JEWISH COMMUNITY
CLOSE—UP
JULY 24, 1987 / 27 TAMMUZ 5747
Jewish Population
Shrinks; Ann Arbor's
Doubles In A Decade
The Detroit community now ranks 12th
DAVID HOLZEL
DETROIT JEWS
Staff Writer
100,000
Fifty years ago, the Detroit area's
Jewish population ranked seventh in
the nation; today it is in 12th place.
In 1936, the estimated population of
the Jewish community was 94,000;
the most recent estimate by the
Jewish Welfare Federation is between
60,000 and 70,000.
These statistics are part of a
survey of U.S. Jewry in the recently-
published 1987 American Jewish
Wor
With
Woody
At 51, Woody Allen wants to be taken
seriously. Many of his fans, though,
would prefer that he make them laugh.
Year Book.
The survey points to rapid growth
over the past half-century of Jewish
centers in the Sun Belt, the West
Coast, and the Northeast, and a
steady decline in the central portion
of the country.
Detroit and Michigan appear
typical of this trend. According to Jeff
Scheckner, research associate for the
Council of Jewish Federations in New
York City, Michigan had 105,000
Jews in 1936, 2.2 percent of the total
state population. By last year, that
figure had dropped to 82,260, or 0.9
percent of Michigan residents.
The only state gain appears to be
in Ann Arbor, where Jews have been
drawn to the University of Michigan.
In 1936, 200 Jews were recorded liv-
ing in Ann Arbor. Ten years ago, there
were 1,150 Jews there. Last year it
was reported that 3,000 Jews lived in
Ann Arbor.
"Ann Arbor is a college town with
a lot of scientific things happening;'
explained Dr. Barry A. Kosmin, direc-
tor of the North American Jewish
90,000
80,000
70,000
1936
1966
1976
1986
Data Bank and one of the authors of
the Year Book survey.
"The trend of professionalization
has led people to leave" Detroit and
Michigan, but has attracted some to
Ann Arbor, Dr. Kosmin said. "Jews
are overeducated for the local
economies in some ways."
In addition to the migration of
young people out of the old industrial
areas of the country, many older Jews
have left upon retirement, Dr. Kosmin
added.
"None of this is census informa-
tion," he cautioned. "These figures
are estimates." Small communities
like Ann Arbor base their figures on
field representatives from the United
Jewish Appeal or community leaders,
Scheckner said. Many large Jewish
communities have conducted
demographic studies to ascertain
their actual populations. Detroit is
conspicuous among large com-
Continued on Page 20
Caracas
Mission
A PHOTOGRAPHER LOOKS
AT JERUSALEM. Contents Page 7.
Four local
athletes are
competing in
Venezuela.