Publisher's Notebook take your 114-21 4 eyewear a to 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 • w 1- 0 z z a 0 a. 0 - What are the richest connections between the Detroit and Ann Arbor Jewish communities? Should the two communities strive to do more together? 0 new heights PRADA CHROME HEARTS FREUDENHAUS MYKITA RSOL Y BAN UNOR* • EAUSOLEIL _ (ORIGINAL VINTAGE AND CONTEMPORARY EYEWEAR AND ACCESSORIES ice . FEATURING CHARLEY HARPER PRINTS, AND RARE, VINTAGE JEWELRY FROM THE COLLECTION OF JOANN GOLDBERG EYE EXAMS BY DR. JOE ALES 5 WEST MARL UST EAST F BATES, OWNTOWN IRMINGHA 48-646-669 www.optikbirminghom.com e • MOST OPTICA INSURANCE ACCEPTED, INCLUDING VSP. EXCLUSIVELY IN MICHIGAN AT OPTIK BIRMINGHAM April 16 2009 A5