Publisher's Notebook WOMEN'S EUROPEAN & AMERICAN DESIGNER CLOTHING COLLECTIONS ACCESSORIES iNDtPUIDI HANDBAGS SHOES Women's choir at the 1949 Michigan State Fairgrounds celebration honoring Israel's first anniversary of statehood. SALE Come Celebrate Israel! w e're back at the Michigan State Fairgrounds in Detroit, with plenty of reasons to celebrate. If there is ever an opportunity to "live the moment:' Thursday, Aug. 21, 3-10 p.m. is it. The community-wide celebration of Israel's 60th anniver- sary provides a nostalgic link to Jewish Detroit's past, a joyous present-day extravaganza and a sobering peek at the Detroit Jewish community's future — if we do nothing to change its trajectory. First, let's remember and enjoy some of the reasons to celebrate Israel's 60th anniversary: The rebirth of the State of Israel happened in our lifetimes. Today, "next year in Jerusalem" means buying an airline ticket. We continue as Israel's partner in a remarkable ingathering and absorp- tion of Jews, many of them refugees from distressed communities around the world. In a dangerous region of autocrats and absolutists, Israel possesses a vibrant, noisy, dog-kiss sloppy democracy that aligns with many deeply held American values. Israel's high concentration of engineers, physicians, techni- cians and researchers, trained at some of the finest institu- tions of learning in the world, are finding cures and discover- ing techniques that save lives, feed multitudes, quench thirsts and generate energy without fossil fuels. Israel has morphed into one of the world's most vibrant job-creating economies. As a Detroit Jewish community, we are returning to the Michigan State Fairgrounds. We are walking in the footsteps of where our parents and grandparents rallied in celebration of Israel's first anniversary. In our current era of digits and micro-communities, we can do something the good old-fashioned way — en masse, with more than 10,000 in attendance ... young and aged, reli- gious and secular, school teacher, physician, industrialist and Internet technician, all as one. We are coming together in celebration, not to seek collective solace after a terrorist attack, a war or kidnapping. We are sharing Israel and its accomplishments with the entire Detroit metropolitan area. Almost 3,000 teen athletes and their parents from around the country, in the Detroit area for the JCC Maccabi Youth Games, will be joining the festivities. It's a great opportunity to showcase the uniqueness of the Detroit Jewish community. Let's look into our collective crystal ball. Envision Israel on its 75th anniversary. What do you see? Peaceful neighbors? The epicenter of the world's water and solar research indus- tries? A population firmly rooted in democratic ideals while preserving the state's Jewishness? The hub of our Jewish exis- tence? What else do you see? There are many questions about Israel's future. However, even in the face of current and anticipated threats, there will be a strong, dynamic Israel to celebrate in 2023. Now, what about us? What will our Detroit Jewish commu- nity look like in 2023? From the 2005 Federation demographic study, we know that outside of Florida, Detroit has the highest concentration of Jewish elderly of any city in the country. We also know from the study that Detroit's out migration rate is approximately three times higher than its in-migration rate. If we do nothing more than ride the existing trend lines, Detroit's Jewish community is likely to shrink to less than 40,000, with 40 percent of the population over the age of 65. Imagine if we threw a 75th anniversary party for Israel in 2023 and there wasn't a large enough, or ambulatory enough, Detroit Jewish community to show up? Against dramatic odds - Publisher Note on page A6 TENDER 271 WEST MAPLE DOWNTOWN BIRMINGHAM 248.258.0212 MONDAY–SATURDAY 10-6 THURSDAY 10-8 CLOSED SUNDAYS 'TIL SEPTEMBER tenderbirmingham.com iN August 7 • 2008 A5