Publisher's Notebook
Spreading Our Story
L
ast month's "A Fair to Remember"
at the Michigan State Fairgrounds
in Detroit was a remarkable feat
of planning and logistics in celebration
of Israel's 60th anniversary as a modern
state. What other
American Jewish
community could
muster 16,000
participants, more
than 20 percent
of its population,
on a weeknight to
an urban location
most had fled 40
years ago?
The fair under-
scored the Detroit
Jewish community's most vital, attractive
and underappreciated attribute ... Detroit
is still a community. In an era of decentral-
ization, fragmentation and online micro-
communities, Detroit's Jewish community
is large enough to provide an impressive
array of services to its residents while
still retaining a small-town feel ... where
everyone thinks they know, or ought to
know, everyone else. In many ways, it
wasn't a fair but a massive family reunion,
sans T-shirts.
By now, we are aware of the demograph-
ic trends that continue to show outward
migration, especially among our 20-
somethings. The Federation's 2005 demo-
graphic study projected 6.3 percent of the
Detroit Jewish community is in the 20-29
age cohort; any smaller and it would fall in
the study's sampling error margin. While
we have been thinking of ways to bring
our kids back from Chicago, Los Angeles,
New York and Washington, D.C. — a natu-
ral and understandable reflex — we will
not revive and rejuvenate ourselves, and
the region, until we look to recruit Jews
from other parts of the country to the joys
and pleasures of Michigan, the Detroit
area and our Jewish community.
We can learn more from those who are
already targeting us.
Power Of Advertising
In recent weeks, Jewish Community
Services of Dothan, Ala., (population
60,000) has purchased advertising space
in the Detroit Jewish News, advocating that
area's quality of life, employment opportu-
nities and offering up to $50,000 in inter-
est-free grants to assist Jews interested
in relocating there. The advertisements
are attractive, and include family-friendly
By getting the word out (and securing endowment
dollars to offer our version of family relocation grants),
we can do our part, one family at a time, to rejuvenate
our Detroit community and region.
scenes at the beach and in the classroom.
Of course, the closest beach is 82 miles
away in Panama City, Fla., and of the 18
religious denominations listed for Dothan,
none is Jewish.
Dothan, Ala., is not alone in its strategy
to educate and lure Jews from Detroit and
other "Rust Belt" cities to the hospitable
South and Mid-Atlantic regions. The
Jewish community of Savannah, Ga., has
advertised its antebellum history, charm
and location (though astutely avoids list-
ing July temperatures and humidity) in
several Jewish publications. And Norfolk,
Va., advertises itself nationally as a warm
and caring community "steeped in Torah
values where one can raise a family in an
upscale, healthy and nurturing environ-
ment."
Our Communal Lures
To educate and attract Jews to immigrate
to the Detroit metropolitan area, we need
to shed our defeatism and negativity We
need to think like the Detroit Red Wings,
not the Detroit Lions. We need to change
the conversation to "everyone should want
to move here" from "who would want to
move here:'
I offer one imperfect case study ... my
parents. They moved to the Detroit area
31/2 years ago from New Haven, Conn., a
community of about 25,000 Jews. Though
located close to the New York metropolitan
area, New Haven has struggling Jewish
communal institutions and an annual
Federation campaign that barely exceeds
$3 million. They have been astounded by
the scope, depth, breadth, cohesiveness
and generosity of our Jewish community.
While my parents are hardly the prime
target group for reinvigorating Jewish
Detroit, their points are well taken. The
Detroit Jewish community is big enough
and intimate enough to meet almost
anyone's wants and needs.
Awash In Anchors
Let's remember and extol our special attri-
butes:
•A Jewish community that possesses a
U.S. (also known as Michigan);
• Surrounded by one of the world's
scarcest resources — fresh water.
Telling Others
In a report issued last month by the think
tank Michigan Future, Inc., the region is
in tremendous need of a highly educated
workforce to fill positions that are being,
and will be created, in the years ahead.
This is a natural fit for a Jewish commu-
nity that is significantly above the national
average in educational achievement.
So, how might an advertisement
underscoring the virtues of Detroit's
Jewish community and the region look
if it were placed in Jewish publications
in Cincinnati, New Haven, Kansas City,
Louisville and Indianapolis; wherever
Jews who are serious about wanting a
vibrant Jewish community reside? I asked
JNArt Director Debbie Schultz to give it a
shot (see sample advertisement on facing
page).
Looks like an attractive place! By getting
the word out (and securing endowment
dollars to offer our version of family relo-
cation grants), we can do our part, one
family at a time, to rejuvenate our Detroit
community and region.
May the New Year 5769 bring you peace,
health and prosperity. May we never take
for granted our remarkable Jewish com-
munity as we make revitalization our No.
1 priority.
Lshanah tovah. ❑
shared sense of responsibility, regardless
of where its members fall on the religious
or demographic spectrum;
• Quality Jewish day schools supported
by generous scholarship endowments;
•Nationally envied overnight Jewish
camping programs that draw rave reviews
from Ortonville to Alaska;
• A Jewish Community Center in West
Bloomfield that is staggering in its size,
scope and programmatic offerings, with
an Oak Park facility geared toward its dis-
tinctive constituency;
•An expanding social service safety net
that supports and assists varied people
— the elderly, the special needs child, the
unemployed, the developmentally disabled
and their families;
• A rainbow of synagogues, from among
the largest in America to basement min-
yans;
• Dynamic and expanding Hillels on
campuses throughout the state, including
the University of Michigan and Michigan
State, fed by one of the largest BBYO teen
youth regions in the country;
• Financial resources, through the annu-
al Jewish Federation campaign
and its Jewish community
YOU DESERVE A BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE
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September 25 • 2008
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