Special Report

ON THE COVER

Lost To L.A.?

Young ex-Detroiters reunite and reconnect with hometown folk.

Guest speaker Mike Binder (second from left) is flanked by event co-chairs Max Aronson, Eli Sussman and Aaron Kaczander.

Robin Schwartz

Special to the Jewish News

I is a Thursday night and the Los
Angeles party scene is in full swing.
Among the countless clubs, shindigs
and other happenings in one of the hip-
pest cities in the country, more than 250
young people in their 20s and 30s are mix-
ing and mingling at the posh Stone Rose
Lounge, relaxing on couches around a fire
pit and chatting in the candle-lit atmo-
sphere of an outdoor patio at the trendy
Hotel Sofitel.
The moment partygoers arrive, it's
a blast from the past. Suddenly, they're
bumping into old friends, schoolmates
and camp buddies they haven't seen in
years — and they all have one thing in
common: They're young Jewish Detroiters
now settled on the West Coast.
"It was touching to look around and see
all these people with such a unique bond;

that being from Detroit meant so much
to them;' said Max Aronson, son of Bob
Aronson, CEO of the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit.
Max, 23, formerly of Franklin, moved
to L.A. to pursue his passion for writing
and currently works as an assistant to
two Sony Television executives. He helped
organize the July 31 bash billed as "Young
Detroit in Hollywood" with two friends, Eli
Sussman, 23, originally from Huntington
Woods, and Aaron Kaczander, 24, who
grew up in West Bloomfield. They sent
out e-mails, posted an ad on the popular
social networking Web site Facebook, and
handed out business cards. Federation
employees here in Michigan even called
local parents to give their West Coast chil-
dren an extra push to attend.
"Essentially, we started a massive snow-
ball effect;',Kaczander said. "It culminated
with us loefking out at a sea of young
Detroit JeWs who were so eager to catch up.

I think the most overheard phrase of the
night was, `I didn't know you lived here!"'
The first-of-its kind Federation spon-
sored event, funded by private contribu-
tors, was part of an aggressive new out-
reach campaign aimed at capturing the
attention of young Detroit Jews, even thou-
sands of miles away. The elder Aronson
and several Federation staff members flew
to L.A. to deliver the message personally.
"We want them to continue to feel con-
nected to Detroit just as we feel connected
to them," Aronson said. "We want them to
know we're still here and to remember their
Jewish roots. Is it possible that any of them
will move back to Detroit? I don't know
— but it's better than doing nothing."

Detroit Diaspora
The unprecedented decision to throw a
local party clear across the country grew
out of a concern about what some are call-
ing the "Detroit Diaspora" — young Jews

leaving Metro Detroit at an alarming rate.
In 2005, Federation's highly publicized
Detroit Jewish Population Study found
only 2.1 percent of the local Jewish corn- ,
munity is made up of people aged 24-34.
Ever since, community leaders have been
putting their heads together to try and fig-
ure out how to reverse the trend.
A newly formed Young Leadership
Community Council made up of various
synagogues, universities and other Jewish
organizations is among the groups tack-
ling the issue.
"I moved away [from Detroit] because
I wanted a new adventure said Jordan
Glass, 32, of West Bloomfield. He spent six
years in California (including two years in
L.A.), moved back, got married last year
and is expecting his first child with wife,
Jennifer, in November.
"I wanted to go out into the world and

Hollywood Invasion on page A14

!L.

September 4 • 2008

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