uilding Bridges to Understanding

Of critical importance to the work of the Council is building relationships
and understanding, both within our community and with the general
community. The addition of a suburban Community Affairs Associate to
our staff allowed us to greatly expand our activities in Oakland and Wayne
counties.

In conjunction with the American Jewish Committee, NAACP and the
Urban League, Council sponsored a month-long exhibit at Wayne State
University entitled "Blacks and Jews: The American Experience." We also
produced an exhibit, which was displayed concurrently, chronicling the
local Black/Jewish partnership. Twenty-six meetings and other activities
were centered around the exhibits .

We worked with the Livonia Jewish Congregation and Shir Tikvah in Troy,
exploring ways in which they can grow and develop. The Council also
welcomed into its family the newly-established Grosse Pointe Jewish
Council, and featured three of their founders on our "Open Doors"
program on WDIV-TV4.

At our September Community Assembly, Anti-Defamation League's
Jeffrey Ross talked about rising anti-Semitism on college campuses.

Nearly 300 area secondary school students attended the semi-annual
Interfaith Youth Symposium on the Holocaust, co-sponsored by the
Council, the Greater Detroit Interfaith Round Table and the Holocaust
Memorial Center.

The Speakers Bureau arranged for dozens of speakers monthly at area
schools, churches, synagogues and organizations. Our speakers cover
the gamut of subjects from Israel to hunger and homelessness. Even
Executive Director David Gad-Harf made the lecture circuit, discussing
Israel and the Persian Gulf War to capacity audiences at the Mt.
Clemens Public Library, The University of Detroit and Temple Israel.

In conjunction with the Federation, the Council is helping to coordinate
a partnership of Federation agencies that have retained a Lansing-
based lobbying firm. Also in conjunction with the Federation, the
Michigan Jewish Conference was established, to bring together 12
Michigan Jewish communities and engage in advocacy on behalf of
the statewide Jewish community.

Council staffers and board members put their feet into action,
participating in Southfield's annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Peace
Walk and the Focus:HOPE Walk For Justice.

A position taken by the Domestic Concerns Committee on behalf of the
rights of the Tibetan people grew into a national issue when NJCRAC
adopted the position, leading to a meeting between high-level
national Jewish leadership and the Dalai Lama. Our own Domestic
Concerns Director, Miriam Schey (merman, attended that meeting,

The Michigan Jewish Conference, along with Council, conducted the
Official State of Michigan Holocaust commemoration in Lansing,
which recognized those who experienced the Holocaust as children.

Our efforts this year were far-reaching, and brought us together with our
friends and neighbors in a great variety of activities.