Dear Community Members,
Thank you for allowing me to serve as the Executive Director of your
Jewish Community Center (JCC) for the past year. I am looking for-
ward to a continued partnership as Associate Executive Director,
effective July 1, 1996.
" if i have seen fur-
ther it is by standing
on the shoulders oir
Wants.
You, the Jewish community, have enabled me to actively participate in
your history, heritage and culture. The Detroit community is my corn-
munity and this year has truly been a year of partnership. Only a rela-
tionship of this magnitude could have accomplished the awesome
goal of keeping our Center as one of the central addresses of the Jewish community.
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Our Center is one of 275 JCCs throughout the continent serving a total estimated one million members. This
past year has been both exciting and challenging for us all. From volunteering, to program participation, to offer-
ing financial assistance, the community has continued to offer support; the JCC staff and Board of Directors
have gone above and beyond the call of duty; Federation and the Jewish Community Center Association have
played an instrumental role in our advancement. It is these partnerships that have enabled us to lay the founda-
tion for the exciting changes ahead.
Leah Ann Kleinfeldt
JCC Executive Director
The effort to establish a Center of Jewish life in Detroit extends over a half century and the JCC's history has
been long and successful. Since 1926, the Center has been a gathering place for the people of our community.
Three generations later, the Center still upholds its mission of delivering high quality programs which enrich and
enhance Jewish life.
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The community has inherited an impressive legacy upon which to build its future.. The commitment we make to
provide Jewish continuity for our children and our children's children at this crucial moment in time has to be
deep and all-encompassing. It has become frighteningly clear that in order to maintain a Jewish identity in this
modern age, we must set forth on a cultural, as well as educational mission. We must continue to move in a
decisive fashion towards upgrading the quality and quantity of the JCC's Jewish offerings. In light of the contem-
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porary situation of Jews in a changing world, we must strengthen the Center's social and recreational
mission.
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The Jewish Community Center of today is a complex and multifaceted institution. It weaves together a
variety of activities and attempts to address an agenda suited to the needs and concerns of the times.
This year the JCC has begun to rethink that agenda and to change with the times. The Center is a
place where we understand challenge, and commit ourselves to building a strong foundation so we
may reconnect ourselves and our families to the richness and tradition of our Jewish heritage.
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Thousands of individuals have come through the Center's doors this year because for many, the JCC
continues to be the primary location for cultural, recreational and educational activities. The Center's
programs directly mirror the entire human life cycle, from early childhood through the senior years. Although
there are other institutions in Jewish life, the Center is uniquely positioned to impact thousands of lives.
We invite you and your family to enter our Jewish neighborhood. To appreciate our Center you only need visit on
a typical day. The scene is one of bustling activity— Jewish teens playing basketball and doing aerobics, families
visiting My Jewish Discovery Place Children's Museum, and seniors engaged in animated discussion. This is
only a snapshot of Jewish life at the Maple/Drake and Jimmy Prentis Morris buildings where the activities con-
tain a mixture of contemporary themes and traditional Jewish values.
Together in this environment we continue to build a Jewish Community Center that promotes Jewish together-
ness, joy and community pride. A neighborhood for the celebration of memories that will last a lifetime. United
with a shared mission to build community and promote Jewish value, the Center will help ensure Jewish continu-
ity.
The caring, committed, professional staff and Board of Directors of the Jewish Community Center of
Metropolitan Detroit, look forward to an exciting year as
we continue the dynamic task of learning from the past,
living in the present, and preparing to build for the
future.
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We invite you, the Detroit Jewish community, to wel-
come David Sorkin as Executive Director and Harry
Eisenberg as JCC President. Maze! Tov.
said, Separate not
0 Leah Ann Kleinfeldt
yourself' from the commonly.
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Right:
Douglas Bloom,
JCC President reads to a
Child Development class.