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This Week

Rising From The Communal Trenches

The New

G uar

HARRY KIRSBAUM
Staff Writer

urvival of the Jewish people
has always been a goal of
Jewish communal groups in
America. And for more than
50 years, Detroit has always had a key
player at the national level.
Max Fisher, the 91-year-old philan-
thropist from Franklin, represents the
old guard of leaders who responded
swiftly when the threats to Judaism
were more physical. He helped build
institutional foundations based on the
rescue of Jews, and was instrumental
in forging bonds between the United
States and Israel in the 1950s.

S

As the new century begins, the ultimate goal of

JudaiSm's survival still faces Jewish leaders, but the

challenges have changed and a new approach is

TIES TO MAX FISHER

needed, said Joel Tauber, a Southfield business exec-

Tauber first met Max Fisher through his late father-
in-law, Barney Keywell, a major Federation donor
and Fisher's close friend. He didn't get to know
Fisher on a personal basis until he sponsored Tauber
for membership at the Franklin Hills Country Club
in 1963. The two met, and a quasi-protege/mentor
relationship soon began.
"I've tried to guide him," Fisher said. "I've spent
a lot of time with Joel talking about responsibilities,
community. He's a good listener, but what's more
important, he's a good doer."
Fisher has seen Tauber in action because they've

utive and the latest metro-Detroit Jewish leader to

achieve national prominence.

"This is a transition . ... to a period when we con-

cern ourselves with our spiritual selves, and making

Jewish life exciting, dynamic and meaningful —

something that will interest our children," he said.

"The way to do that is to change the structure of

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Tauber is dedicated to that massive restructuring.
For five years, he has worked first to merge, then to
form a partnership among the three major Jewish
communal organizations — the United Jewish
Appeal, Council of Jewish Federations and United
Israel Appeal. The fruit of that labor has become
the United Jewish Communities, an umbrella orga-
nization officially put in place last April.
The road has been filled with bumps, twists and
near-wrecks, but Tauber, with support from Fisher,
has been undaunted. Tauber said he believes the UJC
will be the new foundation to help the Jewish people
survive, and as UJC executive committee chairman,
he is dogged in his pursuit to make it work. .
Ever optimistic, Tauber uses his ability to focus
intently, combined with his background and con-
nections, to his advantage in this endeavor.
Tauber, 64, who started his philanthropic work in
his 20s, has "worked in the trenches" for the merger
of the national agencies "literally since I got to
Detroit 10 years ago," said Robert Aronson, CEO of
the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.
"He's not an overly intense person, but he's
incredibly focused," Aronson said. "You don't neces-
sarily know it from speaking with him because he's
kind of easygoing and kind of quiet. From the day
that I got here, he was talking to me about that
vision, and he helped pull it off."

our entire organization."

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Manufacturing executive
Joel Tauber helps build a
new communal foundation
for Jewish survival.

served on local, national and international commit-
tees together. As UJA national chairman for the last
decade, Tauber has consulted with Fisher every week.
And, importantly, Fisher has been a big support-
er of the UJC.
Ironically, Fisher had been chairman of each of
the old organizations UJC has replaced, and he was
on the original committee to set in place the new
organization, Tauber said.
"He was the single most supportive perSon of
these efforts," Tauber said. "How many people would
not only agree but also be supportive of putting
things they were involved with . . . into another orga-
nization? He showed an understandingof where the
Jewish people were headed, and that's extraordinary."
Getting the federations together "is a very difficult
thing," Fisher said. "It's a fundamental change. When
I was president, it was a loose organization. The cen-
tral organization didn't have that much responsibility.
"You have 180 federations all over the.country, and
to bring them together on a common need, with
what I call collective responsibility, takes some work.
And it's not going to be done in one day or one week.
"The organization is going through some pains,
which all organizations do. And I follow it quite closely.
A year from now, we should see some positive results."

UJC AS OVERSEER

Collective responsibility is a core element of the
UJC, Tauber said. Each federation runs its own
community with very independent thinkers at both
the lay and professional levels. The key is to yield
some of that independence to the national organiza-
tion to accomplish some "grander vision," he said,
and that's the only way the UJC can be effective.
Stephen Solender, the UJC president based in
New York, said getting the federations on the same
page is a "real challenge."
"Federations are legally constituted at the local

Harry Kirsbaum can be reached at (248) 354-6060, ext.
244, or by e-mail at hkirsbaum@thejewishnews.com