Publisher's Notebook
take
your
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Bridging Detroit And Ann Arbor
W
ith two children at school in Ann Arbor and a
third joining them in September, I will be no
stranger to the 45-minute drive between our West
Bloomfield residence and the University of Michigan campus.
I joke with friends that M-14 is our family's dirty laundry
chute. Soiled items come home. Clean,
folded pristine ones go back.
On many days, I make a similar 45-
minute ride from home to meetings
or events in downtown Detroit. Same
travel time. No dirty laundry. But Ann
Arbor and Detroit are worlds apart
between our ears.
There are no security checkpoints
or passport control booths along the
Lodge Freeway once you cross Eight
Mile Road, just a sign that informs
drivers they are now within Detroit's
geographic limits. Heading west on
M-14, there are signs informing drivers they are entering
Washtenaw County and, for a very brief period, Superior
Charter Township. No tolls or checkpoints. No signs saying
, "you are now leaving Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit service area;
still time to turn back:'
As a Jewish community, while we
are geographically concentrated in
Southeastern Oakland County, we are
psychologically tied to Detroit and have
been for generations. And that's OK.
But as the world changes at warp speed
and we strategize about our survival
as a Jewish community, it is essential
that we strengthen our psychological
and personal ties to Jewish Ann Arbor,
too. Just to clarify, this is not some Maize and Blue scheme to
further align our community with the University of Michigan.
Rather, the psychological connection many have with the
institution must extend beyond the campus boundaries.
Why is Aim Arbor so important? Because without including
it in our narrative, our thirst for 20-somethings and families
with children to stay or to relocate from Chicago, Los Angeles,
New York and other "cooler" places will remain unquenched
and our efforts at revitalization will fall short. The surest way
to guarantee the Detroit Jewish community remains the oldest
outside of Florida, and continues to decline in numbers and
vitality, is to ignore what Ann Arbor has to offer.
Blending Ann Arbor into our narrative doesn't require
bricks and mortar projects, the merging of the Detroit and
Ann Arbor Federations and competition for donors. (And by
the way, there are influential voices in the Ann Arbor Jewish
community who understand the value the Detroit Jewish
community can provide for their enhancement and are not
threatened by it.) This is about Jews connecting with Jews
— a Southeastern Michigan "Partnership 2000',' if you will
— to build relationships, trust and paint a much more attrac-
tive picture of our region.
How to get started? Following a series of meetings with
Jewish communal leaders from Ann Arbor and Detroit, here
are some ideas:
• Sharing of job opportunities and linking independent
contractors (1099's) with each other;
• Customizing the Model D Media/Ann Arbor's Tweet Web
sites to inform and link Ann Arbor and Detroit Jewish young
adults;
• Identifying and cultivating Ann Arbor Jewish residents
who are interested in social justice/civil rights to expand
and enhance the Michigan Chapter of the American Jewish
Committee;
• "Torah and Tailgate" events at Beth Israel Congregation in
Ann Arbor for all of those Shaarey Zedek and Adat Shalom con-
gregants in Metro Detroit who skip Saturday services, or leave
early, in order to attend Michigan home football games (!)
• Creating a "chesed" committee of Ann Arbor volunteers to
spend quality time with the dozens of Detroit-area Jews and
their family members who go to the University of Michigan
Hospitals for out-patient treatments;
• Building on existing programs or entities, such as
Michigan Jewry's Partnership 2000 ties with Israel's Central
Galilee, the Michigan-Israel Business Bridge, Michigan Jewish
Conference, Oakland County-based Tamarack Camps, United
Jewish Communities' Young Leadership Cabinets, Jewish
Community Center book fairs and film festivals — all of
which already bring Ann Arbor and Detroit
Jews together;
• Extending JARC and Kadima services,
currently centered in Oakland County, to
Ann Arbor Jewish residents who have devel-
opmental and/or mental disabilities;
• Creating and enhancing teen youth
group relationships via BBYO and NFTY;
• Don't forget nearby Ypsilanti! With a
Jewish population of approximately 1,000,
Eastern Michigan University must be
brought into the communal regional picture,
too;
• Expanding the Detroit Federation's young leadership pro-
gram initiatives to include broader Ann Arbor participation.
These interrelationships can create the connective tissue
that leads to more substantive and enduring initiatives. As
one communal leader quipped," The Detroit Jewish com-
munity has money and infrastructure, but lacks young Jews.
The Ann Arbor Jewish community has young Jews, but lacks
money and infrastructure. What a strategic opportunity for
both!"
The Detroit Jewish community offers a breadth and depth
of living and learning opportunities that rank with the best
America has to offer. The Ann Arbor Jewish community has
helped build that city into one of America's finest for 20-
somethings and families with children.
Opportunity and necessity require we overcome the psy-
chological barriers that separate us. We are already next-door
neighbors in Southeastern Michigan. There's not a physical
roadblock in sight along M-14.
Opportunity and
necessity require
we overcome the
psychological walls
that separate us.
❑
O •
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1- 0
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What are the richest connections
between the Detroit and Ann Arbor
Jewish communities?
Should the two communities strive to do
more together?
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