OTHER VIEWS A Creative Look At Creativity R For this honey of a SIDEWALK Sale Lincoln Center • Greenfield at 10 1 /2 Mile 864966 ••• ■■ •", new balance Farmington Hills • Troy S MMER SALE STARTS FRI. OS 16" ENDS SAT. JUIN 2/g" new balance Farmington Hills 37606 W. 12 Mile Rd. at Halsted Rd. 248.324.0506 blab/Ice Men's Shoes Sizes 6-20,Withs Women's Shoes Sizes 5-13,Withs \ ■ • Kids Shoes Hours Mon-Thu 10 am - 8 pm Fri & Sat 10 am - 6 pm Closed Sun 6E new balance Troy 821 E. Big Beaver Rd. at Rochester Rd. 248.740.9221 6S2760 What Quality Checked Certified Pre-Owned Means to You! • 115-Point Quality Check • 6 Year/75,000 Mile Power Train Limited Warranty • 24 Hour Roadside Assistance • Vehicle History Report Located in the of Southfield for over 40 years 7/23 2004 34 ecent editions of the Jewish News have been filled with the stories, lists and proud congratulations about graduates of Jewish educational programs ranging from pre- JAMES school to high school AUGUST Cominunity to yeshivot to adult learning institutes. The Perspective accomplishments of these students and their supportive families, their teachers and the communal organizations that raise and allocate the millions of dollars required to sustain these programs are encouraging for the future health of the Jewish community. But, alas, knowledge is just a part of what's needed. The National Foundation for Jewish Culture recently published its study on "The Future of Jewish Culture in America." The study was based on interviews with 40 scholars, rabbis, communal leaders, and artists across the geography of Jewish life, from Yitz Greenberg and Ismar Schorch to Allegra Goodman and Tony Kushner. One of the most interesting findings related to whether we are experiencing a Jewish cultural renaissance or decline in America. Almost everyone said, "Both. There is evidence of both decline and renais- sance at the same time." The litany of decline was familiar: intermarriage, late marriage, - low birth rates, Jewish illiteracy, emotional dis- tancing from Israel, generational dis- tance from the immigrant. experience, ‘low affiliation rates, low synagogue attendance, low contribution rates to federations. The evidence for renaissance, howev- er, was quite diverse and surprising: new Jewish music, Jewish literature, Jewish film festivals, new-age Judaism, Jewish feminism, Jewish education both formal and informal, Jewish James August of Bloomfield Hills is a veteran advertising agency executive and consultant. He chairs the National Foundation for Jewish Culture, is a member of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit board of governors and serves on the ArtServe Michigan executive committee. He was the found- ing president of JET (Jewish,Ensemble Theatre) and has been president of Detroit Men's ORT and the Michigan Jewish Conference. museums, Jewish studies on campus, Jewish presence in film and television, Jewish political and philanthropic cul- ture, Jewish publishing. Supporting Revival As Jonathan Sarna, professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass., put it, We have both of these scenarios going on simultaneously, and this, in fact, reflects the great cultural battle of our day. We are fighting about something real. 'Continuity' is really an effort to ensure that the revival wins out and that the other is an epi-phenomenon." The question comes down to the strength of the competing trends. In this regard, two different, but comple-, mentary, values were asserted for "tip- ping the balance towards renaissance. One was to increase the level of Jewish knowledge, primarily through educa- tional initiatives. The other was to nur- ture Jewish wisdom, primarily by sup- porting creative artists and intellectuals who bring fresh perspectives on the consciously lived life — to help people nurture and express their Jewish identi- ties fueled by the increased knowledge. The report concludes with a chal- lenge to the leadership of the organized Jewish community to devote more resources to the cultivation of artists and intellectuals. If we let them, empower them, support them, tolerate them and pay attention to them, our artists and intellectuals can help insure that the American Jewish community is stronger, more vibrant and more cre- ative than any in the 4,000-year history of the Jewish people. Unfortunately, our organized com- munity's support of building knowl- edge through education overwhelms its support of developing a contemporary American Jewish identity through artis- tic and creative enterprise. Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit allocations for education are in the mil- lions of dollars. Endowment funds, developed through Federation and its allied United Jewish Foundation, pro- vide significant additional dollars. Large gifts by community leaders to educa- tional institutions total many, many millions more. Yet community allocations or compa- rable endowments to a parallel Jewish cultural enterprise are virtually non- existent. This should not suggest th.t no such Jewish cultural enterprise exists. The JCCIewish Book Fair reaches 20,000