Editorials

Editorials and Letters to the Editor are posted and archived on JN Online:
www.detroitjewishnews.com

People To People

I

is easy to take Federation's Annual Campaign
for granted.
It's Detroit Jewry's oldest, largest and most
respected organized humanitarian appeal. It
works like clockwork with comparatively low overhead.
And it's always there, no matter what the need.
The campaign is accountable to the Detroit Jew-
ish community. And its overseer, the Jewish Federa-
tion of Metropolitan Detroit, knows that. It's up to
us, as a community, to ask questions, make sugges-
tions and demand accountability -- and to give.
Clearly, the emphasis is on serving the needy. The
2001 Campaign kicks off with Super Sunday on
Oct. 29.
For widowed seniors who largely live from one
Social Security check to the next, living alone is bad
enough. Being hungry is worse. The situation turns
acute when they face having to choose between buy-
ing groceries and having their prescriptions filled.
For lower-income families that are underinsured
on health coverage, it takes only one major illness to
wreak havoc.
Enter Jewish Family Service, one of the better-
known Campaign recipients. Each month, JFS helps
upwards of 100 people who need counseling or
assistance, and have nowhere else in the Jewish com-
munity to turn.
Jewish Vocational Service, another major recipi-
ent, relies on the Campaign to offset costs beyond
government contracts. Every day, JVS helps people
find jobs. It also makes life more meaningful for
hundreds of adults with developmental disabilities
or chronic mental illness.
Other local spending priorities include Jewish
education, camp scholarships, eldercare services,
resettlement, family crises and disability care. The
most vulnerable are the most served through our
Campaign contributions.

Dry Bones

(rescue); aliyah to Israel continues at a near-record
clip from nations in economic or political turmoil.
The Campaign isn't the only pillar of Jewish
Detroit's communal support. Non-Campaign
sources include the United Jewish Foundation, Fed-
eration's banking/real estate arm; the Irving A.
Rubin Jewish Community Trust for the Elderly; and
the Federation/Foundation-sponsored Millennium
Campaign for Detroit's Jewish Future.
With charitable funds abounding, why is the
Campaign still vital?
Because Jews in trouble still need to be rescued
and resettled. The weak still need to be cared for.
The young still need to be educated to assure Jewish
continuity.
The sheer numbers of people touched by the Cam-
paign — and its overseas partners, the Jewish Agency
for Israel and the American Jewish Joint Distribution
Committee — is into the hundreds of thousands.
No other appeal makes it possible for the Jewish
community to provide so many kinds of services to
individuals and families of all ages and needs. Partic-
ipation in the Campaign paints a wonderful portrait
of what it means to be a people. ❑

Stabenow For Senate

E

A Giving Community
For 74 years, the Campaign has watched over us —
unceasingly. No wonder support comes from Jews
living at all socioeconomic levels; last year, gifts
under $100 totaled 5,700.
Wide-ranging input from volunteers, profession-
als and lay leaders drive the allocation process. Fed-
eration's governors have the ultimate say.
In tribute to the values that we hold, our com-
munity ranks fourth nationally in per-capita giving
— even though we're only the 11th largest in popu-
lation (roughly 100,000 Jews).
This year, 15,500 donors have raised $30.5 mil-
lion. This coming year, 2,000 new gifts will be need-
ed, offsetting the donors who die, move or otherwise
don't give again.
The overseas/local split remains about 51/49 to
underscore the Jewish commitment to tikkun olam,
repair of the world. This year, a special subsidy of
$1.2 million will help resettle Ethiopian Jews and
help feed the hungry in the former Soviet Union.
We also can't abandon the mitzvah of pikuach nefesh

very U.S. Senate and House race carries
extra meaning this year. With the close-
ness of the presidential race and the small
margin between the Republican and
Democratic political parties in both halls of Con-
gress, every seat has the potential to be a key vote —
a swing vote — on Capitol Hill.
With that in mind, we examined the voting
records and political positions of the two major-
party candidates for U.S. Senate from Michigan:
Republican incumbent Spencer Abraham of Auburn
Hills and Democratic challenger U.S. Rep. Debbie
Stabenow of Lansing.
Without hesitation, we endorse Stabenow on the
Tuesday, Nov. 7, general-election ballot.
Abraham's undistinguished response to issues of spe-
cial interest to the American Jewish community during
his first six-year term convinces us that he doesn't merit
another six years in office. Stabenow, however, stands
tall when evaluated in the same light.
On the critical domestic issues of education
reform, Social Security, the federal-budget surplus
and a woman's right to choose, Abraham and
Stabenow mirror their parties' national positions.
And we've already endorsed the Democratic presi-
dential ticket of Al Gore and Joe Lieberman, partly
because of that party's stands.
In this day and age of attack ads and generalities,
we have found it very hard to pinpoint Abraham's
positions, even on his campaign literature or on his
Senate and campaign Web sites. Stabenow's staff
responded in a timely way to the Jewish News
request for brief position statements on 12 major
domestic issues. Despite repeated requests, Abra-

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ham's staff did not to respond by our deadline. We
fear the senator's lack of response reflects a lack of
concern for the Jewish community.
On the topic of the Middle East and Israel,
Stabenow's fine record clearly trumps Abraham's poor
one. Beyond that, two weeks ago Abraham was one of
two senators who refused to sign a letter to President
Bill Clinton accusing Palestinian Authority Chairman
Yasser Arafat of a "deliberate campaign of violence"
despite Israel's willingness to negotiate a lasting peace.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee-drafted
letter carried signatures of 96 senators.
Meanwhile, we again ask the junior senator from
Michigan why he stonewalled a Senate hearing on
Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Helene White's
nomination by Clinton to a federal appellate judge-
ship? Such a public rebuke because of a partisan
squabble with the president endangers the adminis-
tration of justice. The seat that White would fill has
been vacant for five years, long enough for the Judi-
cial Conference of the United States to call it a judi-
cial emergency.
Voters shouldn't forget that blatant disrespect
for the bipartisan process of confirming judges.
GOP presidential candidate George W. Bush
speaks of his bipartisan successes in Texas and his
hopes to do the same in Washington. We wonder
how Abraham's partisan mistreatment of Judge
Helene White would resonate in a Bush adminis-
tration seeking to grow the concept of bipartisan-
ship in Congress.
Let's be clear: We don't believe Abraham is anti-
Semitic. His credentials include ecumenical service
and his campaign supporters include Jews.
But in the final analysis, we think Debbie
Stabenow is the better choice to represent Michi-
gan and the Jewish community in the U.S. Sen-
ate. ❑

10/27
2000

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