born in freedom. We have seen caring Detroiters
sharing their own lives with the immigrants, family to
family, in new expressions of Jewish identity.
cooperative effort will serve as a forum for exchanging
issues of concern and as an advocacy body on behalf
of all our citizens.
We watched our superb community agencies pool
already-strained resources to resettle the newcom-
ers—and then take the additional step of holding the
line on budgets so that funds could go directly to
resettlement.
Many other valuable community projects and agency
services are on the drawing board—some of them
awaiting only a source of funding. We are particularly
excited about the new "Generations" endowment pro-
gram linking the names of donors with projects that
will benefit our families today and generations to come.
We remembered a time when there was no Israel,
when American Jews were powerless to act. And so,
50 years later we acted—as Americans and as Jews.
None of our extraordinary progress could have been
achieved without the generosity of donors to the Alli-
ed Jewish Campaign and Federated Endowment Fund
programs. They enable our aged to live in dignity, our
children to touch the roots of their J ew is h ness, our
partners in Israel and around the world to hope for a
better future.
In many respects, Federation's far-reaching Jewish
population study verified what we suspected about
our community: its strength and vitality are un-
diminished. In fact, our numbers, far from declining,
are far greater than we had come to believe.
When the two of us took on the responsibilities of this
administration, we felt some anxiety about the enor-
mity of the task. A year later, we are about to put
some important pieces in place with the help of a
marvelous lay and professional leadership.
Now we must put that population study to work, help-
ing us to identify areas of need and to chart a course
for the future. If we agree that sustaining and energiz-
ing Jewish life is paramount, then we agree strategic
planning must be of the highest priority for our
community.
Detroit's response to Operation Exodus has shown
our readiness to confront emergencies among our
people wherever in the world they live. Now, we
must demonstrate our ability to anticipate the needs
of our people right here.
A significant part of that process will deal with educa-
tion. The recently completed report of the Study
Committee on Jewish Education will enable us to
reinvigorate our formal and informal programs, draw-
ing more people into the learning process and instill-
ing a greater sense of identity and affiliation.
This community possesses an awesome quality: a
spirit of individual commitment and a collective
devotion to Jewish peoplehood. The Jewish popula-
tion study found that, often, young people who leave
Detroit for education and career return here to bring
up their families. Perhaps our community's unique
quality draws them back.
The idea of homecoming can be viewed in many con-
texts. Those who have chosen to make their homes in
Oak Park and Southfield—half of our community—
are seeing exciting change in their area. The Neigh-
borhood Project, with its homebuyer incentive
loans, business and resident programs, has gone
a long way toward enhancing the quality of Jewish
life there.
For them, as for us, this is truly home.
Now, the renovation of the 10 Mile Jewish Commu-
nity Center, the completion of Jewish Federation
Apartments Phase IV, the purchase of Congregation
B'nai Moshe and its use by Yeshivat Beth Yehudah,
and the infusion of resources into the entire area are
reconfirming its tremendous appeal as a place for all
ages to live, work and play.
Mark E. Schlussel
Actually, our "neighborhood" grew this year as Federa-
tion joined with more than a dozen other outstate
communities in a Michigan Jewish Conference. This
Robert P. Aronson
President
/(e‘44-t-e'fia4-v-ft-t•t•
Executive Vice-President
1