The Israel Promise

File Photo by David Joseph

Buildilig Identity
Through Families

Ryan Tapper on Detroit's Teen Mission 2 Israel last year.

she said. "This is what's going to maintain their Jewish
identity in the future."
"We're interested in making Jews out of people,"
said Larry Sherman, who has served as vice president of
n effort to ensure that every young person in
the United Jewish Foundation and an officer of the
the Detroit Jewish community will have the
Allied
Jewish Campaign. "We feel that sending people
opportunity to take a trip to Israel got a mil-
to
Israel
is the best way to do it. We've spent a lifetime
' lion-dollar boost last week.
in taking people to Israel, and the
The gift from Jane and D. Larry
best thing to do is to start when
Sherman moves Detroit into the
they're young."
forefront of a growing national
Endowment proceeds, about
t:TheT
movement to increase Jewish identi-
$75,000
a year at current rates,
ty among young people by giving
vt.
will
subsidize
overall costs of
them a firsthand look at the land
future
teen
and
young adult mis-
Three $1-million gifts will aid
that God covenanted to the Jews in
sions
to
Israel
and
will provide
biblical times.
teen and young adult trips to
scholarship dollars for those who
The gift reflects a personal convic-
need additional assistance. The
Israel, Jewish education
tion of Jane Sherman, who made her
details have yet to be worked out,
first trip to Israel in 1961 when she
locally and expand the •
Jane Sherman said, but her family
was 21. She chaired Detroit's first teen
and Federation leaders will decide
Holocaust Memorial Center.
mission to Israel in 1996, was execu-
from year to year how much
tive director of Michigan Miracle
money will go to the Teen
Mission II in 1995 and serves on the
Mission, the Detroit Teen Unity Mission/International
board of governors of the Jewish Agency for Israel.
March of the Living and other efforts.
Sherman, the daughter of Detroit businessman and
No one knows the value of an Israel experience bet-
philanthropist Max Fisher, noted that the Israel of 1961
ter than Jane and Larry," said Robert Aronson,
was a whole different world." Now, she said, Israel has
Federation's executive vice president. "Making it more
grown into a powerful first-rate country that can corn-
affordable
is the best way to involve more of our young
pete with other countries with large populations.
people
in
this
life-enriching adventure."
"Two things are crucial to maintain Jewish identity
on page 10
ISRAEL
PROMISE
in children — Jewish day schools and trips to Israel,"

HARRY KIRS BAUM
StaffWriter

((

7/9

1999

6 Detroit Jewish News

A

new endowment will help fami-
lies promote Jewish identity by
working with professionals from
Detroit-area synagogues and edu-
cation agencies.
A Franklin couple, Mandell (Bill) and
Madeleine Berman, is giving $1 million to
promote Jewish continuity and development
through Jewish Experiences for Families
(JEFF), a 13-year-old, congregation-centered
program run by the Agency for Jewish
Education of Metropolitan Detroit.
"The Bermans recognize that family
education is a critical piece in the Jewish
continuity puzzle," said Robert Aronson,
executive vice president of the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit. "If the
organized community supports Jewish fam-
ilies, we will all benefit."
JEFF works with the community's syna-
gogues and agencies to bring families
together to learn about Judaism. The AJE
says that 4,000 families took part in JEFF
programming last year.
The new gift will create the Berman
Family Education Fund as part of the
Jewish Life Fund, one component of the
$50-million Millennium Campaign for
Detroit's Jewish Future, co-sponsored by
Federation and the United Jewish
Foundation of Metropolitan Detroit.
Federation will provide $75,000 in match-
ing funds in the first year of the endowment,
doubling what can be used for programming.
Funding will go toward family-oriented
programming, such as camping, parenting
classes, and holiday and Shabbat programs.
Bill Berman is a past president of AJE,
honorary chair of the Jewish Education
Service of North America and chair of
JESNA's Berman Research and Evaluation
Center. The University of Michigan Hillel
Center carries his name.
A recipient of Federation's highest honor,
the Fred M. Butzel Award for
Distinguished Community Service, he's a
L\
past president of Federation and the
national Council of Jewish Federations. He
co-chairs the Year 2000 population study
for CJF and the North American Jewish
Data Bank. Under his direction, the
Mandell L. Berman Center of the NAJDB
and Brandeis University conducted the
1990 CJF National Population Study.
Berman is also on the boards of the
American Jewish Joint Distribution
Committee and United Israel Appeal. He
and his wife created the Berman Award for
Outstanding Professional Service to honor
staff at Federation's agencies. ri
— Lonny Goldsmith

