EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK LETTERS Letters are posted and archived on JN Online: WWw detr oitj ewishnews.corn A Place For All Jews "Once, JCCs were places where Jews could gather to rehearse how to be Americans. Now, however, with America so accommodating ... and with a renewed American appreciation of ethnicity, JCCs in the early 21st century are places where Jews come to associate with, and learn how to be, Jews." — Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin C onstruction dust hasn't obscured the richer opportu- nities for learning and mingling Jewishly at Detroit Jewry's central address. That's the legacy of Larry Wolfe, outgoing presi- dent of the Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit. It's also the backdrop for Sharon Hart, the engaging, enthusias- tic incoming president. Wolfe served three years instead of the customary two because ROBERT A. his term kicked off the JCC's $25 million capital and endow- SKLAR ment campaign, in cooperation with the Jewish Federation of Editor Metropolitan Detroit and its real estate arm, the United Jewish Foundation. The campaign has grown to $33 million, in part because of escalating con- struction costs. The net result is a wealth of improvements to both the D. Dan and Betty Kahn Building in West Bloomfield and the Jimmy Prentis Morris Building in Oak Park during this 75th anniversary year for the JCC. Wolfe and Federation leaders have ridden a financial riptide as needs (a new heating and cooling system) and priorities (a first-class banquet and meeting hall) drove up the costs of upgrading the 26-year-old Kahn Building. Rooms and what is in them are important. But Wolfe knows that the quality of the programming ultimately will shape the JCC. Shortly after becoming president three years ago, he said: "The Center needs to become more Jewish, more spiritually functional, by offering more Judaic programming and enrichment opportunities." He wasn't saying the JCC wasn't Jewish enough. The JCC is Jewish Detroit's heartbeat for informal learning and camaraderie. The planned Center for Judaic Discovery and Michigan ORT Resource Center at Kahn will underscore that. Rather, Wolfe was challenging himself to secure the future of the JCC as a place where Jews "can feel Jewish, while learning about being Jewish in any manner they choose." That was a worthy goal. You may have been born Jewish, or you may have converted to Judaism, but that doesn't mean you feel Jewish or live Jewishly. On Her Own Hart and Wolfe are friends as well as colleagues. And she has Sharon Hart no intention of drastically shifting course -- a wise move, given all the Construction dust that still must fly. But she stands in no one's shadow. A proven leader and tire- less worker, she really cares about us as a Jewish community. A native Detroiter, I've followed the fortunes of the JCC for more than half of its 75 years. I've seen hopes dimmed by disharmony and lack of funding. And I've seen dreams fulfilled thanks to teamwork and generous donors. Clearly, we have a penchant for rebuilding, even reinventing, the Jewish Community Center — and not letting it wither. Over the years, the JCC has had crowning moments and slippery climbs, but in the end, we're a better community because it has graced our lives. Key challenges for Hart include reining in construction costs, endowing pro- grams, returning the Midrasha Center for Adult Jewish Learning's library archives to public use, reviewing the JCC's breadth of social services, and sus- taining relationships with the Jewish Academy of Metropolitan Detroit, Jewish Ensemble Theatre and Holocaust Memorial Center. Keeping the two-campus JCC the heart of our Jewish neighborhood — and accessible to all — is another of Hart's key challenges. As Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Baltimore put it at Hart's installation on June 21: "JCCs are the great uniters — the place where all Jews are equal citizens. Just as in a neighborhood, you become embraced simply because you are there." ❑ One Size Does Not Fit All Keep Shoah Center On Jewish Campus I think that the Holocaust Memorial Center should be on the Applebaum Campus ("Different Directions," June 29, page 14). The land around the Center where it now is has a different meaning to the Jewish community than land on Orchard Lake Road. Has anyone watched the traffic on Orchard Lake and 12 Mile roads from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day? How do you think buses and cars going north are going to turn in and out into heavy traffic? Phyllis Grossman Southfield HMC Needs Space To Serve Public When the Holocaust Memorial Center ("Different Directions," June 29, page 14) was built in 1984, the first of its kind in the nation, no one dreamed that it would instruct and inspire more than 4,000 groups a year. As a docent, I am thrilled by the volume of interest in the history and lessons of the Holocaust, but am also frustrated by the constraints of our existing facility. For example, when two school buses arrive packed with 110 students and 12 chaperones, the HMC is faced with the daunting challenge of pro- viding each individual with a two- hour program that includes an intro- duction, a comprehensive tour of exhibits, a film, and a half-hour meet- ing with the survivor-speaker. Since we cannot address 110-plus students at once, we divide them into four groups and then stagger each one's entry into the museum, so that we don't bump into the group ahead of us or obstruct the group behind us. Keep in mind, other visitors may already be in the building or due to arrive shortly. We have no central meeting room and no place for guests to leave their coats. Exhibit halls are too narrow for large numbers of people. The modest- sized conference room, where history comes alive when the survivor person- ally addresses our visitors, is often stacked with boxes and supplies because it doubles as a workroom. With doors closed; it becomes stu and overheated. At times, there aren't enough seats. LETTERS on page 6 JARC INDEPENDENT LIVING SERVICES TAILOR-MADE TO EACH INDIVIDUAL'S NEEDS • WE PROVIDE MORE THAN DAILY LIVING ASSISTANCE... WE PROVIDE A COMMUNITY. 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