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Jewish Life Unmasked
n a remarkable display of scope, substance and enter-
prise, a coalition of history-minded organizations,
including the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan,
brought to the Detroit Historical Museum the most
stunning exhibit of Jewish America ever.
With plenty of local support, the American Jewish
Historical Society hosted "From Haven to Home: 350
Years of Jewish life in America" from May 6-Aug. 31 just
outside the museum's gift shop. The breadth and bounty
of the 16-week exhibit will long echo through the cor-
ridors of Metro Detroit. The panels gave definition to the
blurry or disjointed images that we Jews tend to have of
American Jewish life.
More than 4,000 visitors, including many non-Jews,
took the time to visit the array of panels. Requests for
docent-led tours topped 50.
The timeline went back to 1654, when 23 Jewish adults
and kids arrived in the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam:
"They were seeking a safe haven after being expelled by
the Portuguese conquerors of Brazil, where they previ-
ously had been living under Dutch protection. This group
of 23 evolved into the first permanent settlement of
Jews in North America."
The exhibition' s final installment, "At Home in
Michigan," told how "the Jews of Michigan have been pio-
neers and patriots, producers and providers, philanthro-
pists and political leaders.
"In the 1760s, Jewish fur traders Ezekiel Solomon and
Chapman Abraham helped open the northern frontier for
settlement. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Jewish
immigrants helped build community in cities, towns and
villages across the entire state.
I
"Michigan's Jews have served in the nation's wars,
battled for social justice, established businesses and
secured labor unions and workers' rights. Their participa-
tion in charity and civic affairs reflects the commitment
to social responsibility at the core of Jewish ethics."
Exhibit sponsors included the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit, the Detroit Jewish News and Detroit
Public Television. Honorary chairs were Marcia and Eugene
Applebaum and A. Alfred Taubman. Chairs were Lisa and
Hannan Lis. Fittingly, the exhibit was dedicated to the
loving memory of local benefactor William Davidson, who
understood that history is a treasure, not a dustbin.
Local historian Judith Levin Cantor was instrumental
in bringing the exhibition here to help celebrate the 50th
anniversary of the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan.
She developed the Michigan portions of the exhibit with
Federation archivist Sharon Alterman.
Cantor is the granddaughter Rabbi Judah Levin,
who had come to Detroit in 1899. In 1912, he and other
Orthodox rabbis marched along Hastings Street with
signs declaring: "Buy a brick to save the sick." Their cam-
paign planted the seed for a Jewish hospital, which, after
years of tumultuous debate, sprouted first in 1922 as the
North End Clinic and resprouted in 1951 as Sinai Hospital
of Detroit.
"From Haven to Home" was a landmark exhibit in the
annals of local Jewish history. The Michigan panel will
adorn the main lobby of the Jewish Community Center
in West Bloomfield as part of the 2009 Stephen Gottlieb
Festival of the Arts through Sept. 14. Take advantage of
this radiant blend of culture and history. ❑
THIS YEAR JARC CELEBRATES
40 YEARS AS A NATIONAL
LEADER in providing the highest
quality services for people with
developmental disabilities.
Working together, JARC will
remain strong for another 40 years!
— Robert Sklar, editor
J Street's Winding Way
he founder of J Street says this new political voice
"for pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans" is a timely
alternative to "eight years of failed policy" by "neo-
conservatives, Christian Zionists and right-wing American
Jews." On JStreet.org , Executive Director Jeremy Ben-
Ami says the J Street family, 100,000 strong, "recog-
nized that the majority of Americans support a two-state
solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and realize that
Israel's survival as a democratic state and home for the
Jewish people depends on establishing peace with its
neighbors in the region."
Ben-Ami says the J Street-Political
Action Committee endorsed 41 congres-
sional candidates, mostly Democrats,
and raised $575,000 for their 2008
campaigns. "We have spoken out," he
says, "against fear-mongering and race-
baiting in the guise of supporting Israel."
He adds, "We're creating the politi-
Jeremy
cal space for American policy makers
Ben-Ami
and politicians to say publicly what they
acknowledge privately: the interests of
the United States, Israel and the Middle East as a whole
are best served when the United States plays an active
leadership role in Middle East diplomacy aimed at achiev-
T
ing peace and security."
J Street supporters are entitled to their beliefs.
But I wish they not only were more vocal in condemn-
ing Hamas, but also open to challenging the Fatah-led
Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank.
Like J Street, I ultimately favor a Palestinian state
alongside Israel. But I don't see that happening given that
Fatah and the party's untrustworthy leader, P.A. President
Mahmoud Abbas, preach Zionist and Jewish hate beneath
the veneer of angling for peace.
Consider: One of the few unanimous decisions at
Fatah's Sixth General Conference in August resolved that
Israel murdered the Palestine Liberation Organization's
Yasser Arafat.
Heed the Palestinian Media Watch, Israel's relentless
watchdog: "P.A. libels claim that Israel conspires to infect
Palestinians with AIDS, spread a drug addiction, corrupt
youth with aphrodisiac chewing gum and destroy the Al
Aqsa Mosque, among other nefarious deeds. The goal is
to inculcate hatred to the degree that fighting and mur-
dering Jews and Israelis will be glorified as heroic self-
defense" — as suicide bombers for Allah.
J Street has a right to posture for Middle East peace.
Just beware.
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— Robert Sklar, editor
September 10 - 2009 5