OPINION

PHIL JACOBS

Managing Editor

T

hroughout the year,
there are many people
in our community
whose names appear in
these pages on more than an
average basis.
One of these is Mark
Schlussel, who recently was
elected to his third year as
Jewish Federation presi-
dent. For many, it is easy to
be derisive when a
photograph appears and re-
appears in the newspaper.
That person we callously
label an "opportunist," a
"publicity seeker." But this
isn't even close to the case
with Mark Schlussel. The
past two years have been, by
any one's admission, two of
the most hectic yet pro-
gressive years in the history
of the world Jewish com-
munity as well as Detroit's
Jewish community.
In his two full terms, con-
sider the following events
and issues that have faced
Mr. Schlussel and the Fed-
eration. In no particular
order, there's the expansion
of the Jimmy Prentis Morris
Jewish Community Center
in Oak Park; there's the sale
of the B'nai Moshe building
to Yeshiva Beth Yehudah, a
move that absolutely
preserved Jewish solidarity
in the 10 Mile corridor of
Oak Park and Southfield;
priority-based budgeting
that forced constituent
agencies to cut back for the
first time 5 percent; strate-
gic planning of the budget
for the future; an Operation
Exodus appeal that raised
more than $20 million over
and above the regular Cam-
paign; the move of the Fed-
eration building from 163
Madison to Bloomfield Twp.
the takeover of the Jewish
Home for Aged by a Federa-
tion-selected management
team; a rally in support of
the allied coalition against
Iraq and many other issues.
It's difficult to read a
paragraph like the one
above. Journalists are train-
ed that the reader gets bogg-
ed down in something like
this. But imagine Mr.
Schlussel's personal life, his
career. The Federation pres-
idency is a volunteer posi-
tion that he chose to do, but
it might as well be a full-
time job.
"My initial agenda two
years ago was to position our

Federation for the next 25-
30 years," he said. "I think
it's important that we con-
tinue to be, in a sense, the
local government for the
Jewish community."
He said the Federation has
done well when handling the
crisis issues facing Israel,
the Soviet Jewish commun-
ity and others. He added,
though, that Federation
needs to look at the people
who feel disenfranchised
from Judaism and from the
organized Jewish commun-
ity.
"There's an astounding
rise of disaffection of Jews
within the Jewish commun-
ity," Mr. Schlussel said.
"Many Jews no longer feel a
need to identify with institu-
tions that are Jewish or even
participate in Jewish
rituals."
He said the disenfran-
chised segment of the Jewish
community also is separated

"My initial agenda
two years ago was
to position our
Federation for the
next 25-30 years."

Mark Schlussel

from involvement in
implementing programming
or policy. And most pointed-
ly, they are out of the con-
tribution formula alto-
gether.
This area of Federation
work, Mr. Schlussel said, is
perhaps his major goal dur-
ing this third year of his
presidency. That is, of
course, barring any unfor-
seen crises or new miracles
— like the Soviet Jewish and
Ethiopian migrations — that
enter into his goal-setting
scheme.
Mr. Schlussel sees the up-
coming Federation move to
Bloomfield Twp. from
Detroit symbolically impor-
tant. He doesn't see the
move as an abandonment
because, he bluntly said,
there was little that was
Jewish left behind to aban-
don.
"This puts us in the mid-
dle," he said. "We're part of
the Jewish neighborhood
now. There are people in this
area who don't know where
we are or who we are. Now,
we'll be able to interact.
People will be able to come
to our building and see us
and talk to us. I think it's go-

ing to do so much for the
community."
Other major issues facing
the Federation are more in
the capital categories. First,
the Federation's review and
development committee still
must finds answers concern-
ing the financial structure
and future move of the Jew-
ish Home for Aged. Plans to
build a new West Bloomfield
home are basically dead in
the water. The Home, which
has been costing the Federa-
tion better than $1 million a
year in supplemental fun-
ding alone, is an issue Mr.
Schlussel said must be taken
care of this year.
Mr. Schlussel has no im-
mediate plans to seek any
sort of Council of Jewish
Federation position. But, as
far as national issues are con-
cerned, he is extremely
disturbed by the tone of the
the loan guarantee issue
between President Bush and
the American Jewish com-
munity. He said that the
President unleashed nation-
wide anti-Semitism when he
used the word "lobbyists" to
describe the Jews who came
to Washington, D.C., to urge
their congressional repre-
sentatives to pass the guar-
antees.
While he is worried about
this anti-Semitism, he is
equally concerned by the

Pho to by Glenn Triest

Setting Goals For Community
During Mr. Schlussel's 3rd Year

Mark Schlussel: Shouldering responsibility.

further divisiveness he sees
in the Jewish community
itself.
"I've always been a strong
believer in the unity of the
Jewish people no matter
what their religious prac-
tice," he said. "We don't
have the luxury of dividing
ourselves as a people. We
just don't."
Mr. Schlussel is hoping for
a year of growth for Detroit's
Jewish community. On

paper, everything from the
headquarters move to the
Home fiscal operation seem
to be moving forward. Barr-
ing unforseen conflicts on
Capitol Hill, in Israel or
elsewhere, there are goals to
be met. But as Mr. Schlussel
found out last year at this
time, before Saddam Hus-
sein sent his message via
Scud to Tel Aviv, the goals
don't change. We just get
more of them. El

Student Expresses 'Racist' View
After Visit To Land Of Israel

DEBORAH KOVSKY

Special to The Jewish News

A

. I a racist?
I don't think I am,
although to me, that
tiny stretch of rocky land bet-
ween Syria, Jordan and
Egypt will always be Israel,
not Palestine. Jerusalem will
always be the City of David,
not Mohammed or Jesus.
I will always weep when I
stand before the Western Wall
because a mosque stands on
the holy Temple Mount. I will
not hesitate to take up arms
in defense of the Jewish state
if the need ever arises. Many
people — the United Nations,
for example — would consider
me a racist, despite George

Deborah Kovsky is a senior at
Walled Lake Western High
School and visited Israel on
an Edgar Bronfman Youth
Fellowship.

Bush's proclamations to the
contrary.
I don't want to give the im-
pression that I have a blind
love of Israel. Blind love is as
foolish, and as dangerous, as
blind hatred. I spent five
weeks studying and traveling
in Israel this past summer,
soaking in its culture and
analyzing its politics.
I went to Israel with a very
gung-ho attitude but I was
quickly sobered by what I saw
there. I met with Palestinian
activists and realized that the
Palestinians eat and sleep
and work and cry and have
feelings like pretty much
everyone else in the world. I
saw the vast difference bet-
ween the clean, modern
Israeli cities and the rambl-
ing Arab villages.
I talked to a soldier, a boy
nearly my own age, who told
me in his broken English that
he was afraid to go to war, he

didn't want to kill, he didn't
hate anyone.
But I saw other things as
well. I saw date palms grow-
ing in the desert. I saw in-
dustrial parks to rival any-
thing that might be found in
the United States. I saw the
ruins of beautiful Caesarea,
where concerts are once again
held in the ancient amphi-
theater.
I saw native-born sabras
and foreign-born olim, bound
together by an unshakable
pride in their common
heritage. I heard the haun-
ting call of the muezzin
mingle with the wait of the
Sabbath sirens, calling two
peoples to prayer on Friday
evenings.
I realize that Israel must
change — that much is in-
evitable. I believe that Israel
will eventually return the oc-
cupied territories — and, as
Continued on Page 12

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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