icky Blumenstein, 29, has
wagered a bet on what the
Jewish singles scene will
be like half a century from
today.
"Consider a computer
shidduch, but something
more sophisticated than
what we have now," he
said. "Or maybe, in 50 years, the gov-
ernment will assign us the match and
we won't have to think about it."
Mr. Blumenstein takes an active
role in the Jewish Federation's Young
Adult Division. Fifty years hence he
undoubtedly will have moved on to
more senior levels. Nevertheless, the
real estate developer from Bloomfield
Hills can envision a futuristic YAD
event, held downtown at the resur-
rected Caucus Club.
"I'd come dressed in tinfoil," he
joked, "carrying around a wireless elec-
tronic note pad. It would be a tele-
phone, fax machine and planner,
which would automatically check my
schedule and cross-reference my so-
cial calendar with friends."
Two B'nai B'rith Youth Organiza-
tion leaders, Lisa Zaks and Michael
Stern, have a few predictions of their
own. They say Jews will attend syna-
gogue through "virtual reality" ma-
chines, computers with
three-dimensional screens that sim-
ulate real-life experiences.
"It'll be a lot easier to go to syna-
gogue through a computer," said
Michael, 17. "Just roll out of bed and
you're there."
Lisa, 16,
isn't so en-
thusiastic:
don't
"I
think it'll
have near-
ly as much
meaning,"
she said.
What is the fu-
ture of Detroit's
Jewish communi-
ty, say in the year
2044? A quick
glimpse back to
the mid-1940s
provides testi-

R

isatowi"".7

.. jo

mony to the drastic changes
that can occur in 50 years.
From cultural hubs to syna-
gogue locations, the Detroit
Jewish landscape has experi-
enced considerable flux. Reli-
gious allegiances, Hebrew day
schools and activities for young
people have evolved alongside
shifts in community priorities.
So where do we, on the brink
of the 21st century, go from
here? Some say: Brighton.
alf a century ago, Jews
primarily lived in the
Dexter area of Detroit
and some families
resided in the city's north-
western section, bordered by
Six Mile, Woodward, Ever-
green and Eight Mile. By the
early-1950s, however, many
Jews began settling in Oak
Park, a former swamp where
young veterans could pay
$9,000 for a starter home.
Since then, the Jewish com-
munity has migrated north-
west to Southfield, Farmington and
West Bloomfield.
Jack Ukeles, president of the New
York planning and management firm
Ukeles Associates Inc., foretells a
trend in "ex-urban" relocation. In its
1990 demographic survey for the Jew-
ish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit,
the firm predicted that Jews, along
with the rest of the population, will

move past suburbia into the ex-urbs:
White Lake Township, Brighton and
other places considered the veritable
outback of yesteryear.
Technology will be one factor en-
abling people to distance themselves
from the congestion of commercial cen-
ters. And, of course, a reliable high-
way system will be essential for any
northwest migration.
"The study showed that
there already are Jews liv-
ing way out. In the future
there will be many more
people living even farther
out, in isolation," Mr. Uke-
les said.
Though many experts
agree that the Jewish popu-
lation will become more dis-
persed as time goes on,
there might be an excep-
tion to the trend.
"Jewish neighborhoods
in Detroit tend to have a
viability of about one gen-
eration," said Phillip Ap-
plebaum, past president of
the Jewish Historical So-
ciety of Michigan. "The
1980s was really the
decade of West Bloom-
field. But by the mid-
2020s, West Bloomfield
will have only the rem-
nants of a Jewish

neighborhood. Of course, not every-
thing goes according to established
patterns. Look at Oak Park."
Thirty years ago, about 50 per-
cent of Oak Park was Jewish, said
Rhoda Raderman of Neighborhood
Project. Today the Jewish popula-
tion is still 30 percent. Several fac-
tors account for this. First, Oak
Park has a vi-
brant Orthodox
Jane Sherman
hopes for a
community with
Michigan Miracle
synagogues in
Mission )0(11,
walking distance
featuring open
borders and peace
of homes. Oak
between Israel
Park residents
and surrounding
nations.
also live in close
proximity to the
Jimmy Prentis
Morris Jewish Community Center,
Yeshiva Beth Yehudah and other
Jewish institutions.
If they cultivate their religious
identities, new Americans could
play a role in maintaining the Jew-
ish population of Oak Park. Neigh-
borhood Project, which provides
interest-free loans to home buyers
in the area, this year assisted 40 fam
ilies from the former Soviet Union.
"Many new Americans are pur-
chasing homes in Oak Park after be-
ing in the country for several years,
and their parents are living in Jewish
Federation Apartments or along the
Greenfield corridor," Ms. Raderman
said. "As long as services stay in place
and people feel secure, I think Jews
will stay."

"If you're a
baseball fanatic,
you keep all the
statistics because you
care about it."

— Rabbi Martin Berman

hen again, the future might re-
veal a disheartening picture.
Imagine, in 2044, a hovercraft
journey through the old Jewish
ghost towns of West Bloomfield or Oak
Park.
Picture the JCCs, synagogues and
Federation building. Will they be sites
of bustling high-energy phonathons,
weddings and other simchahs? Or will
they be gray and dark inside? Doors

T

