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Dry Bones Hil l ffr

Opinion

Editorials are posted and archived on JNonline.us .

THE INTERNATIONAL 14 AND ALL IT TOOK
WAS 57 YEARS 0;
RED CROSS HAS
BEGGING, AGREEING TO
AGREED TO ACCEPT
PUT THE STAR INSIDE
ISRAEL AS A MEMBER.
A DIAMOND, ALLOWING
THE PALESTINIANS IN
GREAT!
AS THE ONLY NON-
STATE TO BELONG,

Editorial

Gifts Of Learning

I

t was a night of celebra-

tion, not only for the Jewish
Academy of Metropolitan
Detroit, but also the future of our
Jewish community. At its annual
commencement exercises on
June 15, the high school became
the Jean and Samuel Frankel
Jewish Academy of Metropolitan
Detroit.
"There are no more fitting
names than Jean and Sam
Frankel to be connected in
perpetuity with the Academy,
an institution of excellence and
Jewish continuity for our entire
community," said Lawrence
Jackier, chairman of the Jewish
Federation's executive com-
mittee. He aptly captured the
essence of the momentous
evening.
The naming culminated the
raising of $9.2 million by the
Academy toward construc-
tion of its new home inside the
JCC on the Eugene and Marcia
Applebaum Jewish Community
Campus in West Bloomfield. The
Academy is now housed in tem-
porary quarters on the campus.
The Frankels spurred the

fundraising campaign with
a $2 million challenge grant
extracted from their 2002 gift
to the Academy: a $20 million
Endowment Challenge Fund
for operations, which included
a $500,000 Tuition Assistance
Challenge Fund. That gave the
Academy instant credibility and
fortified financial standing.
Challenging a school to raise
a given amount of money before
awarding a significant gift is
a proven way to elicit support
on the part of stakeholders. It
requires that they engage the
cause before others are asked to
do so. It means the community is
involved; parents, philanthropists
and Federation won't have to
bear the funding burden alone.
Federation has invested $1.72
million in the school since its
start — by all signs, a sound
investment.
In just six years, the Academy
has become a model for Jewish
day high-school education. Its
reputation is firmly rooted.
Enrollment is projected to climb
in September to 206 students;
graduates compete for entry at

top U.S. universities.
Tuition is $15,200 — up
$5,200 from the first year. The
goal is to cover up to 80 percent
of operating costs with tuition.
The tuition assistance fund will
join with scholarship money
available through Federation
and other donors to put a mul-
tistream day-school education
within reach of more students
from families with fixed or lim-
ited incomes. At least 35 percent
of Academy families draw finan-
cial aid.
The Frankel gifts weren't sup-
posed to be used for construc-
tion, but the magnitude of the
Academy's move to the JCC
precipitated a change. Federation
and private gifts have been there
for previous building additions
and improvements but height-
ened demands and Michigan's
economic downturn have helped
tighten the donation spigot.
The Frankel gifts and match-
ing dollars placed on the table
to ensure the long-term viability
of the Academy are remarkable
given the smaller number of
students who will comprise the

AND THE AMERICAN
REP CROSS'S WITH-
HOLDING OF FUNDS
SINCE 2000f

NOT SO
GREAT!

drybonesblog.com

future applicant pools based on
data from the 2005 Federation
population study of Jewish
Detroit. Our community is get-
ting smaller and aging. The
number of school-age kids will
continue to decline, unless gifts
like the Frankels' help reverse the
situation.
How wonderful that the Jean
and Samuel Frankel Jewish
Academy of Metropolitan
Detroit is minting leaders for the

Detroit and American Jewish
communities. Graduates return
dividends to both the Jewish and
general communities. That's the
best validation of what we as
a community have invested in
making learning resonate at the
Academy. FT

our entire mar-
ried life, saw their
daughter Melanie
repeat her vows.
The bridal couple
is traditional and
the celebration was
filled with the sort
of touches that
reminded me of a
wedding my grand-
parents might have
gone to when they

Jewish population study for this
area. It made me feel diminished
somehow, a part of a community
that was slowly ebbing away.
Only one of these three
couples will live here. Maybe the
others will some day. But it was
taking part in these rituals, feel-
ing connected to our still-vibrant
community, that was important.
To be with the people we hold
most dear, to measure our joys
and sadness together. What more
is there to life?
I can imagine myself being
many things. But never can I
imagine myself not being Jewish.
This weekend showed me again
why that is. 7

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words to:

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Reality Check

Three Nights In June

I t. was a. remarkable
weekend.
An aufruf, two weddings
and the Tigers took three straight
from the Cardinals. Now there's
a combination that doesn't come
along every year.
I'd almost forgotten how much
fun it is to be in a pennant race.
It's been a long, long time and
there are too many Detroit kids
walking around in Red Sox and
Yankees caps. That has to be
stopped.
I only got to watch bits and
pieces of the ballgames, though,
and at other times that would
have made me pretty ornery.
But now there was too much to
celebrate.
The aufruf came on the first
outdoor Shabbat service of the
season at Temple Israel in West
Bloomfield. It was a sparkling,
clear night, with the traditional

26

July 6 • 2006

prayers sung to new music and
rhythms. Ordinarily, I am not
a big fan of that sort of thing.
Don't mess with tradition, I say,
especially when I don't know the
tune to the new version. But on
this evening it all worked and
it was splendid. More than that,
uplifting.
The aufruf was for my son-in-
law's brother, Josh Ben, and his
lovely Meredith. It was also my
dad's yahrtzeit, and it was good
to hear his name called from
the bimah on this soft summer
night, the kind he always loved.
All things considered, however, I
think he'd have preferred to be at
the ballgame.
The next night, the first of
my daughter Courtney's close
friends, Dana Kukes, became a
bride. It was a beautiful setting,
a good-looking couple, and only
a tinge of sadness for Sherry and

me.
The father of the
bride, Tom Kukes, is a
guitar aficionado, and
he took the oppor-
tunity to cut loose
with the band. He did
"Satisfaction" and "I Saw
Her Standing There,' the
good stuff from when
we also were young, and
we sang loudly to egg
him on.
The best part of the evening,
however, came when I reconciled
with a m n to whom I had done a
wrong several years. ago. It was a
legal matter and I was told it was
necessary, but it has bothered me
for a long time. When we shook
hands and agreed to move on, the
evening was complete.
And then another wedding.
Our friends Sue and Sandy
Birnholtz, whom we have known

a

were young.
Our friends have also experi- •
enced the worst thing that can
happen to a family and I think it
has made us even closer. When
Sandy said that he was not much
of a dancer but tonight he would
be dancing for his son, Kenny, I
cried. We all did.
Why do I bring this social cal-
endar up? Because, like most of
you, I was disturbed by the last

George Cantor's e-mail address is

gcantor614@aol.com .

