Arthur Horwitz becomes
AJE _president as
community focuses on
Jewish education.

Arthur
Horwitz

DIANA LIEBERMAN

StaffWriter

I is in an era of unparalleled
support for lifelong Jewish
education that Arthur M.
Horwitz, publisher of the
Detroit Jewish News, assumes
the presidency of the Agency
for Jewish Education (AJE) — Detroit
Jewry's central resource for educational
services.
Allocations from the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit to
Federation's Alliance for Jewish
Education — the community's central
educational planning body — have
more than doubled within the past 10
years, from $1,998,850 in the 1992-93
fiscal year to $4,336,432 for 2002-20( i.
Federation's Alliance allocates a sig-
nificant portion of its funds to the
AJE, which, in turn, initiates programs
at all age levels in collaboration with
congregations, schools and other
Jewish- institutions.
In addition, Jewish day and supple-
mentary schools have received increased
endowments from national agencies and
local philanthropists.
Enrollment has ballooned in programs
such as the Robert Kornwise Judaica
Weekend for teens and the SAJE pro-
gram (Seminars in Adult Jewish
Enrichment). The new Florence Melton
Adult Mini School has a waiting list.
It is in this optimistic spirit that
Horwitz, 47, takes over as leader of
the AJE. A native of New Haven,
Conn., Horwitz graduated from the
University of Connecticut and, in 1982,
earned a master's degree in public and
private management from Yale
University School of Management. He
moved to Michigan in 1986 to become
associate publisher of the Jewish News;
he became publisher in 1995.
Horwitz, president of Jewish
Renaissance Media, the Southfield-based

parent company of the Jewish News, lives
in West Bloomfield with his wife, Gina,
and their three children: Daniel, 17, a
senior at West Bloomfield High School;
Adam, 13, an eighth-grader at Hillel
Day School of Metropolitan Detroit;
and Stephanie, 8, a Hillel third-grader.
He recently spoke about his involve-
ment in Detroit-area Jewish education
and his hopes for the future.

How did you get involved in the AJE?
My involvement with the Agency
for Jewish Education began with the
Jewish Experiences For Families
[JEFF] program.
Shortly after moving here, I was
introduced by the head of the Fresh
Air Society, Steve Makoff, to Harlene
Appelman [now director of
Federation's Alliance for Jewish
Education]. At the time, Harlene was
program director and JEFF was a col-
laboration among the Fresh Air
Society, United Hebrew Schools and
the Jewish Community Center.
In partnership with JEFF, the Jewish
News in 1987 created a monthly, experi-
ential, family-oriented section called
Echayim. I edited it, with Harlene's
input. We wanted to create Chemed sec-
tions where you not only would learn
somethina b but then go out and do it.
The first issue related to Rosh
Hashanah. Together with JEFF, we cre-
ated an event called Apples and Honey
[8,c Lots, Lots More], and its now com-
ing up on its 14th year. In spring of
1988, we started the Great Purim Parcel
Project, which just finished its 13th year.

,

We did the Echayim section for seven
years. That led to a monthly glossy sec-
tion called AppleTree, edited by
Elizabeth Applebaum, which today is a
weekly section.
So Jewish education has been at the
top of my agenda — and the top of the
agenda at the Jewish News — going all
the way back to 1987.
Now, Jewish education has taken the
top position not only on my agenda, but
on the agenda of the community at
large. And that's not where it had been
for years and years.

What are the roles of the president of
the AJE and its executive director?
Rabbi [Judah] Isaacs, as executive
director, is the one who, on a day-in,
day-out basis, leads, motivates, chal-
lenges, rewards and measures the
progress of both the agency and its staff:
He takes a broader vision than a per-
son or a board might articulate, and
brings it to life.
We are there to help in a macro sense,
to identify areas of opportunity and
need and to try to create the support to
move the agency's agenda forward.

What were the AJE's major accom-
plishments during the past two years,
under the leadership of past president
Jim Jonas?
Jim was the right person at the right
time. He brought tremendous manage-
ment and leadership skills to an agency
that was still being reshaped from the
time it evolved out of the old United
Hebrew Schools format.
With the departure of the previous
executive director, Howard Gelberd, the
agency very much needed an experi-
enced, thoughtful and competent hand
ro help chart its course. Jim was able to
do a tremendous amount of behind-
the-scenes infrastructure work that I
believe now positions the AJE to move
forward in many more visible ways.

How will you build on these accom-
plishments?
Because of the platform constructed by
Jim and others, the agency can continue
to reshape itself, focusing much more on
providing service to all areas of Jewish
education in innovative, creative ways.
As Federation's Alliance looks at the
big picture for the entire community
and its broad educational needs and pri-
orities, and seeks the dollars to help
make those happen, the AJE will contin-
ue to be the innovative implementer,
creator, developer, supporter — and
trainer of the people needed to carry
them out.

What has the AJE done in the area of
teacher education and how do you see
this area changing?
One of the critical needs we have in
Detroit — and Detroit is not unique —
is a shortage of teachers with the qualifi-
cations and skills to teach our children
and meet our growing needs.
That doesn't mean the current crop of
teachers we have isn't excellent. They are.
But the need for teachers in this com-
munity is significant, and the agency
must continue to play an important role
in their constant re-educating, retraining
and development as well as a role in
general recruitment and retention.
One of the areas that has been partic-
ularly important and valuable for the
Agency has been the NIRIM program [a
series of short-term teacher-education
courses]. Wendy Sadler, who runs the
program, and the people who work with
Wendy have done an excellent job.
The feedback we get is we need to be
even more creative and innovative in
expanding the knowledge base of our
teachers.

Is there anything else you would like
to say about your goals as the new
president of the AJE?
I think we have a really unique
opportunity. The Jewish community
has placed Jewish education at the top
of its local needs list. Federation's
Alliance has gone through an assess-
ment of needs and is moving through
those of the highest priority.
And the Agency for Jewish
Education is well positioned to be the
creator, the implementer, the out-of-
the-box thinker. We're the ones who,
when the rubber hits the road, will be
able to bring to life the many ideas
that may otherwise be nothing other
than ideas. El

ut

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