do we have to change to move
forward?"
In a phone interview about the
study, Aronson said two issues
need special attention -- the
first is services for the elderly.
"Our efforts have been focused
on building housing and on
people who need economic help,
and that's not going to be enough
in the future he said. "We should
be aggressively getting into the
business of providing at-home
services to keep all our elderly as
socially interactive as possible,
but not just our poor elderly. As
•the community ages ; this is going
to be an issue for affluent elderly?'
He's putting together a
task force to study a wellness
approach, developing a wellness
center or some kind of central
system for the community.
"This just can't be a question
in the future of caring for those
who need assistance and who
can't afford it, or who need hous-

Detroit Jews
At A Glance

• 72,000 Jews in 30,000 house-
holds; 2 percent of the Metro
Detroit area population

• Average household size,
2.6 persons

• 58 percent locally born

• 17,000 Jewish children 17 or
younger

• 18,500 adults older than 65

• 58,700 persons of voting age

• Median age: 47

• 63 percent of Jews 25 or older
have at least a four-year
college degree

• Median housing value: $300,000

• Median household income:
$85,000

• 11 percent Orthodox

• 28 percent Conservative

• 36 percent Reform

• 18 percent "Just Jewish"

ing," he said. "It has to be a com-
prehensive health care approach,
where anyone who's over a cer-
tain age — who has the funds
or if they don't — can get these
kinds of services?'
Jewish education is the other
task at hand, he said.
"We have to have the most
excellent Jewish educational
system in the country, and both
for the experiential education
— informal — as well as the
synagogues, but with special
emphasis on our day schools
to create a long-term funding
mechanism so we are not always
looking for the last dollar to pro-
vide scholarships."
Peter Alter, Federation presi-
dent, was "extremely pleased"
with the study itself. Israel was
just one factor of Detroit Jewry's
commitment.
"You can't take the information
on Israel in a vacuum:' he said.
"When you look at a lot of the
other critical data about how this
community operates — the low
intermarriage rate, the unusu-
ally high observance of certain
Jewish traditions and rituals, and
our major support with trips to
Israel — it all has to be looked at
together and it all is playing from
the same record:' he said.
"This is a very stable, sup-
portive community that values
and respects Israel and Jewish
traditions, and it says that this is
a fantastic community to raise a
family, especially Jewishly."

Agencies React
Federation officials, agency
heads and lay leaders applied the
numbers to their specialties and
felt the study validated what they
knew all along.
Barbara Nuremberg, president
and CEO of JVS, a social service
agency, said the study found 6
percent of the Jewish popula-
tion or 4,000 people used JVS,
"which very much jibes with our
figures."
The aging of the community
also struck a chord with her.

She suggested comprehensive
pre-retirement planning, "not
just financial, but life planning:'
for people who are not quite at
retirement age.
Alter
Marsha Goldsmith Kamin,
- executive director of Jewish
Apartments & Services, said the
study comes at a perfect time.
"We're smack in the middle of
strategic planning right now," she
said. "The thing that shocked us
was that we are No. 1 for elderly
except for Florida. Sixty-seven
percent of elderly had families
who were close by. We're out of
Kamin
land, and we need to find out
where the adult child is living,
and where the elderly person is
wanting to live:'
Judah Isaacs, director of
Federation's Alliance for Jewish
Education, was satisfied with
the results in Jewish education.
He cited the popular Florence
Melton Adult Mini-School for the
high rating in adult learning.
Neistein
"I'm also very excited with
Jews who really want to affiliate
he said. "And its a question of
finding the right tools that they
need. I'm very pleased with the
commitment of the community?'
JCC membership numbers in
Detroit are slightly lower than
the national average and may be
due to program fees that allow
non-members to attend most
programs, except sports and fit-
ness, said Irwin Alterman, JCC
president.
"The Center is always look-
ing to provide services that the
Jewish community needs:' he
said. "We're going to take these •
statistics and carefully analyze
our business plan:'
Dr. Lynda Giles of Bloomfield
Hills, co-chair of the demograph-
ic study, said she is concerned
with the out-migration of young
people from the Detroit area.
"Michigan's depressed econo-
my and lack of job opportunities
has created an out-migration of

Naftaly

Nureniberg

Isaacs •

Giles

Alterman

The Core Area and
the Study Area 2005

Hand in Hand on page 18

June 8 • 2006

17