Message from the
President
and
Executive Vice-President
I
111 1
2
Most of us regard history in larger-than-life terms. We
think of golden ages, eras of enlightenment, epic con-
quests and revolutions.
Fewer of us think of history as a series of individual
congregations representing every stream in Jewish life, to
the tireless Allied Jewish Campaign volunteers and pro-
fessional staff, and to the contributors who make this
community so extraordinary.
acts—often resulting from personal decisions of great
courage, or careful design, or generosity of spirit.
As more Soviet Jews are reunited with their families
here, our family of agencies has performed magnificently,
But if we define it this way, history was made in Detroit
this year.
stretching their strained budgets to meet the special needs.
Their cooperation, the skill and caring of their staffs,
have been without parallel.
It was thousands of individual acts that led our Jewish
community to raise more than $47 million for so many
important needs: $27 million for beneficiaries of the
Allied Jewish Campaign; more than $3 million for a new
student Hillel building at the University of Michigan;
nearly $2.5 million for Passage to Freedom, the cam-
paign for the rescue and resettlement of Soviet Jewry;
Beyond the fund raising and the basics of absorption,
however, many of us see an obligation to help the new-
comers become part of our community, sharing in the
riches of a vibrant Jewish life. Just as Federation's Com-
mission on Identity and Affiliation challenged us to find
creative ways of reaching out to those on the periphery
$1.8 million for Project Renewal, the partnership program
that has brought hope to disadvantaged neighborhoods
in Israel.
of Jewish life, we can do no less for those Jews whose
And more—$13 million more for vital community pro-
program sponsored by the National Council of Jewish
jects from donors to United Jewish Charities' Federated
Endowment-Fund. Not bad for one year!
Our community has been blessed with a long memory
and a remarkable legacy of leadership and commitment.
We acknowledge the courage that brought preceding
generations from the old country to the new. And we
share the obligations they imposed by their labor and fore-
sight in building our institutions. This year demonstrated
that we learned our lessons well.
Through our generous response to Passage to Free-
previous government prevented their affiliation.
We are heartened by efforts like Family-to-Family, a
Women and Federation Women's Division that is bring-
ing immigrants and longtime Detroiters together for
friendship and moral support. It is, we hope, only the
beginning.
If Passage to Freedom touched our hearts this year,
Who Is a Jew tested our unity. This potentially divisive
question, posed in a political context, reverberated far
beyond the borders of Israel. To our credit, the Detroit
Jewish community refused to let it divide us. The proof
lay in the superb response to Campaign Super Sunday
dom, Detroiters became part of the historic exodus of
and, once again, the overwhelming participation of
Soviet Jewry. Whatever their destination, we said, we
must help. And help we did—thanks to the rabbis and
Orthodox, Reform, Humanistic and Conservative
congregations.
1