The Talk Of The Towns

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HARRY KIRSBAUM
StaffWriter

N

umbers don't matter; good
discussion does. Looking
back at the turnout during
the first round of four
Town Hall meetings planned to
reach out to Jews living outside the
core Jewish areas of metro Detroit,
the organizers said the name of the
game was discussion.
The meeting in Royal Oak drew
60 participants, but the other three
— in Commerce Township, Grosse
Pointe, and Troy/Rochester Hills —
attracted only 30 each and a dozen
of them were officials of the Jewish
Community Council of
Metropolitan Detroit or staff mem-
bers of invited communal agencies.
We never targeted a certain
number of people. We were never
hoping for a large turnout," said
David Gad-Harf, Council executive
director. "We were hoping to get
30-50 people in order to have a
good discussion. With 100 people,
we still would have only had 15 or
20 people talking."
They were a success by the quality
of the discussion," added Beverly Yost,
the council staffer who organized the
meetings. "When we started planning
this, I wasn't really sure that people
would feel comfortable coming to a
meeting like this and talking about the
issues that ended up being discussed.
They were very open and personal about
why they chose to live where they live,
about what kinds of problems they
encountered and about what they would
like to see from the Jewish community."
"We didn't undertake this in order
to achieve some specific, quantifiable
goal," said Arthur Horwitz, publisher
of the Jewish News, a co-sponsor of the
event. "It was the right thing to do; it
is the right thing to do."
"It would have been nicer to have
a larger attendance," said Sue
Stettner, director of the Interfaith
Connection at the Agency for Jewish

Harry Kirsbaum can be reached at

(248) 354-6060, ext. 244, or by email
at hkirsbaunz@thejewishnews.conz.

Four Town Hall meetings drew light
turnout but a lot of speakers.

to their workplace, Yost said.
Education of Metropolitan Detroit.
"In Troy, we had people who said
She cited the large number of people
they grew up in non-Jewish areas and
who were connected with
never yearned to be near Jews," she
Congregation Shir Tikvah in Troy,
said. "In Grosse Pointe, they moved
where the fourth meeting was held,
there to be close to their jobs, and liv-
but added, "the questions asked were
ing near Jews was not important. In
important even if you are affiliated."
Royal Oak, we heard people talk
"I would have liked to see better
about economic issues. They can live
attendance, but I don't know if that's
there comfortably —there's a lot less
just a factor of how many people live
material pressure than in the core area,
out in that area, or because the weather
and the wife doesn't have to work, or
was so nice that evening," said Michele
work full-time.
Goldstein, a planner with
"Even though they
the city of Rochester Hills
Gad-Hai
David
don't
feel a need to live
and committee member
Congregation
speaks
at
among
a strong Jewish
for last Wednesday's meet-
Shir Tikvah.
population, they still
ing. "The people need a
want certain things from
forum where they can
the community," Yost added. "One of
bring up their concerns, especially in
the most common things I learned
those areas where there isn't a large
was the complaint that children didn't
Jewish population, or agencies to ser-
have the opportunity to meet eligible
vice those populations."
Jewish
single people."
Discussions ranged from the rea-
The Jewish Community Council is
sons why the Jews live outside the core
the community relations arm of the
area, to what kind of problems they
Jewish community, and an umbrella
had living Jewishly there.
organization of 200 local Jewish orga-
People moved to these areas for the
nizations. The idea for the Town Hall
housing, schools and/or to live closer

meetings stemmed from the
council's discussion of more
effective ways to convey
messages to the Jewish corn-
munity and how to involve
residents in council busi-
ness, said Gad-Harf.
By going to the non-tra-
ditional areas, he felt, "we
could provide a real service
by having a more general
meeting and inviting repre-
sentatives of various agencies
and organizations."
The council went about
identifying those areas and
contacting the leadership
of an already existing
Jewish institution in the
areas, said Yost.
It wasn't just a rubber
stamp. If we didn't have
their help, we couldn't have
done anything," she said.
We needed them to tell us
where to publicize these
events. They mentioned us
in their newsletters and
provided us with the names
of people to invite."
The council plans to revisit the four
areas in a few years and to hold two
more Town Hall meetings in the
Plymouth/Canton and downriver
areas in the fall, said Gad-Harf.
"Following each Town Hall meet-
ing, we write up the notes and create
a summary focusing on the issues
raised at the meeting, then dissemi-
nate the information to the proper
organizations, agencies and the
Federation," he said.
At Shir Tikvah last week, partici-
pants complained that public schools
in the area were not well informed
about the Jewish holidays, making it
difficult for parents, teachers and stu-
dents to work around them.
Gad-Harf, who is a candidate for
the public school board in West
Bloomfield, said the council would
work on the matter.
"Talking with the parents, we'll ask
for a list of priorities, what is the most
important objective, then we'll discuss
what we think will be achievable given
the circumstances," he said. The

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1999

Detroit Jewish News

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