Project Renewal:
Fulfilling A Dream

Continued from Page L-1

twinned. In the rest of the world, the
partner is Keren Hayesod. The
Jewish Agency serves as the
agency for all Project Renewal
undertakings funded by Diaspora
communities.
Project Renewal attempts to
deal with two related issues: social
justice and economic equality.
It began as a five-year
experiment with the goal of
rehabilitating 160 neighborhoods.
Today, the program is no longer
an experiment but part of the fabric
of Israel's development. To date,
more than $193 million has been
raised by the UJA-Federation
campaign and 62 Project Renewal
neighborhoods are twinned with 271
Jewish communities in the United
States.
The key is the unique
partnership between Diaspora
twinned communities and the
Renewal neighborhoods — making
residents aware that someone out
there cares.
Two years after Project Renewal
began, the Detroit Jewish
community was twinned with Ramla.
Five years later, one could see
the changes: apartments had been
renovated, roads paved and
programs put in place for youth,
senior adults and families.
A new $2 million Fisher/
Taubman Community Center in the
middle of town was named for
Detroiters Max M. Fisher and A.
Alfred Taubman.

Thanks to a special project
undertaken in 1984 by Federation's
Women's Division, $206,000 was
raised to modernize and maintain
Ramla's Senior Citizens Center.
During its seven-year
association with Ramla, Detroit was
also responsible for the Hermelin
and Goldman Cognitive
Kindergaten, Rose Family Library,
Field Family Youth Club and a
dental clinic.
But more than bricks and
mortar, the real achievement of
Project Renewal lies in the
involvement of the residents
themselves. The program could not
have worked without their direct
participation.
With the creation of local

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THE JEWISH NEWS

20300 Civic Center Drive
Suite 240
Southfield, Michigan 48076
June 30, 1989
Associate Publisher Arthur M. Horwitz
News Editor Heidi Press
Jewish Experiences for Families
Adviser Harlene W. Appelman
Illustrator Neil Beckman

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FRIDAY, JUNE 30, 1989

steering committees, the residents
learned to make decisions about
their lives and to work with
government officials toward the
realization of their dreams for their
neighborhood.
After completion of its $5.6
million commitment to Ramla, the
Jewish Welfare Federation
requested a second Project
Renewal neighborhood. In 1988,
Detroit was twinned with the
neighborhood of Neot Shazar in
Yavne. Federation set a goal of $3.5
million for Neot Shazar.
Plans for the neighborhood
include a comprehensive program of
capital and social projects:
expansion of the teaching system,
adaptation of facilities and
equipment for the school system;
and upgrading the level of all
community services.
Missions, synagogue and
temple groups, students and teens
are visiting Yavne. For the second
year, youngsters from Yavne will
come to Camp Maas this summer.
Project Renewal funds for Neot
Shazar currently total $2.4 million.
This includes $1.9 million raised
during the past year.
As with Ramla, both the Jewish
community of Detroit and its Project
Renewal neighborhood are
benefitting from a unique
partnership of Am Echad — one
people, one destiny.

well-developed industrial park and is
just a few kilometers from the Nahal
Soreq Atomic Energy Park, which is
devoted to the peaceful uses of
atomic energy.
Through Project Renewal, the
Detroit Jewish community has
accepted the challenge of

rehabilitating Neot Shazar, the old
section of the city.
Capital projects include five
programs: a community center, day
care center, senior citizens' center,
enhancement of the existing child
development center and the Henry
Ford II Memorial Park.

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Continued from Page L-1

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population, moved to the Galilee.
While the Sanhedrin sat in
Yavne, the Hebrew calendar was
regulated, setting the times and
dates of all the holidays and the
new moons. The Bible was
canonized and translated into Greek
and rules were set governing the
writings of the Hebrew language.
In 96 C.E., Rabbi Yohanan ben
Zakkai was succeeded by Rabban
Gamliel, another important scholar
and direct descendant of Hillel.
Together with the Sanhedrin, he
determined the Halachah and set
the order of the daily prayer book,
much of which we still follow.
During this period, Yavne
replaced Jerusalem as the
destination for festival pilgrimages.
Rabban Gamliel is buried next to
the neighborhood park, which is to
carry the name of Henry Ford II. To
this day, Rabban Gamliel's tomb is
a popular site for pilgrimages.
The modern city of Yavne is
located near the sea. It has a new,

Marilyn Grant is Detroit's Project
Renewal coordinator in Israel.

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