Editorials and Letters to the Editor are posted and archived on JN Online: www.detroitjewishnews.corn Giving Thanks he Detroit Jewish community has much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving weekend. Richly diverse and at least 96,000 strong, we're a model for North American Jewry in many ways: • Religious pluralism. While inter-stream disharmony infects spiritual life in Israel, Detroit Jews are busy bringing the streams together in learning, in the arts, in social justice and in tzeda- ka. Inter-stream friendships have overcome inter- stream tensions, in many instances. • Jewish learning. While many Jewish com- munities flail for the right religious education formula, Detroit's aggregate of classroom and enrichment experiences for Jews of all ages is a national envy. As a community, we've backed up this blueprint for learning Jewishly with healthy financial support. • Eldercare services. The jury is out on the community decision earlier this decade to pri- vatize management of senior housing services, but Detroit's brew of independent living, skilled nursing, busing and cultural services for seniors is nonetheless strong. That's heartening because the elderly are the heartbeat of our community. • Communal leadership. We're the ninth largest Jewish community in America, but the fourth most generous in federated campaigns. And that's because of a unique mix of big machers (Yiddish for doers) and small donors. Such grass- roots unity among Jews of all backgrounds has helped elevate Detroiters like Max Fisher, Joel Tauber, David Hermelin, Dr. Conrad Giles and Robert Aronson to national communal stature. • Ties to Israel. Land-for-peace backers thrive in Detroit, but so does the Zionist Organization of America, signaling that we can differ politically but still share a love for the Jewish homeland. Beyond that, thousands of us have nurtured that love on Michigan's adult, young leadership and teen missions to Israel. And the Michigan-Central Galilee education- al/cultural/economic partnership, known as Partnership 2000, is a promising venture to build bridges of understanding. • Synagogues. Synagogues are territorial by nature, but ours, more times than not, grab headlines for building alliances, not barricades. They need to do more to attract the under- affiliated, to share resources and to inspire fam- ily learning, make no mistake about that, but our synagogues are largely successful in invigo- rating collective spirituality. • Jewish Community Center. Some of its bud- get and programming practices have drawn the glare of public scrutiny, as well they should, but the JCC remains Detroit Jewry's central address. It not only offers a potpourri of on-campus pro- grams and services, but also co-hosts some of the larger community's biggest success stories, such as the Walk for Israel, Jewish Book Fair and Semi- nars for Adult Jewish Enrichment. Like any Jewish community, we face a pepper pot of challenges to our survival as a people. But we also have plenty to be thankful for. I I Caring For Our Children B irthright Israel, an ambitious plan to increase the number of teenaged and young adult Jews from the diaspora who spend at least a few weeks in Israel, is an attractive idea — and, at least initial- ly, a successful one. Since it was first proposed about a year ago as a partnership between philan- thropists, the state of Israel and local agencies all around the world, it has been enthusiastically embraced. In the United States alone, more than 20,000 college-aged Jews applied for financing under the plan, more than double the number it could immediately serve. Last week, Birthright proponents renewed their pitch to members of the United Jewish Communities General Assembly in Atlanta to support the plan. Their plea was generally well received, although some federation officials cautioned strongly that the initiative had to be closely linked to the work of local agencies and that it should not supplant those efforts. Another major concern is the pre- and post- framework of Birthright Israel. Can one expect to send assimilated young adults to Israel and walk away with an inspiring experience? What are the limits of cultivating their Jewish identi- ty upon return? Should such a program be more based on need than lack of affiliation? (In most cases, previous visitors to Israel are not eligible). We share such concerns and are encouraged that the national sponsors seem to be listening. But we continue to think that it will be a sorry outcome if all that the plan produces is thousands more young people who can say "I've been to Israel," but who don't ultimately connect with their Jewish identity. It is always tempting to sit back and think that a nice magic bullet," like a low-cost trip to Israel, will get us as parents and community leaders off the hook of our continuing responsibility to build that identity. • A trip to Israel ought to be a capstone in the building, the experience that firmly cements all the previous work — at home, in school and synagogue, with youth groups — by letting young people see first hand and by our daily example why this covenanted land of Israel is so important to them and their future. Our chil- dren deserve our strongest efforts to help them love Judaism. That, even more than a trip to Israel, is their birthright. FII CC IN Focus - aking Music Jana Robbins, right, who was appearing in Detroit at the Fisher Theatre's production of the musical Footloose, performed Nov. 3 at the Prentis Apartments in Oak Park. Here, she's joined in singing "My Yiddishe Mama" by resident Sylvia Halliburton, 78. LETTERS Committee Unites Families On Oct. 21, the Tri-Syna- gogue Committee hosted its second Women's Night Out dinner. The committee is made up of representatives from Congregation Beth Shalom, Young Israel of Oak Park and Temple Emanu-El. Activities take place with the guidance and invaluable assistance of the Neighbor- hood Project, a program of the Jewish Federation of Met- ropolitan Detroit. The pur- pose of the committee is to bring together families and individuals from our commu- nity. The women's night is one of many successes in the past two years. Many of the pro- grams are focused on Jewish holidays and mitzvah projects. Last month's dinner took place at the Jewish Com- munity Cen- ter in Oak Park. Seventy women attended with equal representa- tion from all three congregations. There were three speakers: Rachel Berg, Barbara Klein and Alicia Nelson. Each spoke on Jewish women they admired. At each table, women from all three congregations sat together. Every table was filled with spontaneous dis- cussion as all the women shared ideas and concerns about preserving the Jewish home and raising children, as well as about our schools, health care and care for the aging. The speakers were moving and articulate. 11/26 1999 37