Opinion

A MIX OF IDEAS

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Dry Bones

Editorial

A Critical Campaign

T

hese are difficult times in Jewish
Detroit with people in distress all
around us — relatives, friends
and neighbors as well as others who are
part of our collective mishpachah [family].
Federation's Annual Campaign is our
primary vehicle for raising money to meet
critical needs locally and overseas for vul-
nerable Jews. This is why the 2010 Annual
Campaign, now in full swing, merits our
collective diligence and support.
Michigan's economic duress only adds
to the Campaign's urgency. Israel and
other overseas beneficiaries received 33
percent of our Campaign's 2009 alloca-
tions, a percentage that has fallen over the
past decade. That means more cash for
local services.
There's much to be proud of The Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit is a
national leader in the success of its Annual
Campaign. We are a generous community,
disproportionate to our population. The
2009 Campaign achieved $31.6 million.
That achievement was much greater than
federations in larger service areas and non-
profits in our own community.
Still, the achievement represented a
decrease from the year before. A down-
ward spiral would signal an alarming
trend, although the future may hold a
smaller achievement as our population

settles into the 50,000 to 60,000 range.
A significantly lower 2010 achievement,
however, would bring painful reductions
to local and overseas programs and to
Federation's operations. It would com-
pound a situation where needs already
greatly outstrip resources.
Ours is a Jewish community that isn't
afraid of challenge. To mobilize our leader-
ship, Federation has created a Community
Covenant. Our leaders have been asked
to sign it to symbolize their pledge of
support and to stand together with the
community to assure Jewish Detroit's well
being, vibrancy and security.
But the Annual Campaign's success can't
hinge on a few major contributors and our
cadre of leaders. We must cast the widest
net possible to ignite the broadest level of
Campaign participation.
It is important that the number of con-
tributors to our Campaign continues to
reflect the depth and breadth of Detroit
Jewry. Any gift, large or small, constitutes
a reaffirmation of being part of a com-
munity that shares the responsibility of
serving one another.
Meanwhile, Federation must assure that
its Campaign stays vital. The Campaign
model isn't broken, but even models in
their prime require a tuneup to slow aging.
The time is now to engage in research and

YES
SIR

I'D LIKE
SOME ANTI
JEWISH
POISON.

development to
determine what
the next-genera-
tion Campaign
model might
look like. It
WHAT'S ITS
might be a
hybrid.
SHELF LIFE?
For example,
agencies serv-
ing our seniors,
who are grow-
ing in number,
and serving our
young people,
who we desper-
ately need to
retain and bring
back if we're
going to survive
as a community with any zest, may well
deserve more in Campaign allocations
than they are getting. Federation must
strive to assure budget cuts are in our
best interest, not political.We no longer
can meet every community need via the
Campaign.
So hold Federation accountable for
keeping change central to its Campaign
model. But also support the 2010
Campaign. Pledge $18, $180, $1,800 or
$3,600; your heart will guide you. Your

7

SHOPPING FOR POISON

"GOLDSTONE
REPORT"?
SOUNDS
JEWISH.

OH, IT'S A
CLASSIC 61.000
LIBEL

DryBonesBlog.com

precious gift will be used wisely.
You also can show you care about the
Jewish world by becoming involved in the
community as a volunteer or an ambas-
sador.
Do your part to bring the community
together and make it all that it can be. Our
population is shrinking, but we haven't
lost our will to be compassionate.
We are Jewish Detroit. El

To give: Go to www.jewishdetroit.org or call

(248) 642-4260.

Reality Check

The Day We Misplaced The Baby

T

he call from our daughter came
through on Sherry's cell. "Mom,"
she said in a voice that seemed
to quaver. "I just got a call from Temple
Israel and they said that I may have left
Hannah's stroller behind!'
Jaime had been there for a pre-kinder-
garten program with Caryn, our older
granddaughter. Hannah, the 2-month-
old, took her ease in the babysitting
area. When one of the Temple secretar-
ies walked back there after the program
concluded, she saw Hannah's stroller and
alerted Jaime immediately.
Somehow or other, as Jaime relayed the
message to Sherry, the word "stroller" was
dropped from the cell phone transmission.
With that single omission, every individual
hair on the back of my wife's neck stood up.
There are many colorful phrases I could
use here to describe Sherry's movements
over the next few seconds. "Like a bat out
of hell" is a good one. So is "like a scalded
hound!' There was a comic strip character

18

February 18 2010

called The Flash; Sherry made
him look like the back part of a
dancing horse costume.
I mean she was gone, paus-
ing long enough only to phone
Temple and inform anyone who
answered that our granddaugh-
ter had gone missing.
One of my favorite movies
is The Russians Are Coming! in
which an inconsequential acci-
dent involving a Soviet sub off-
shore is quickly transformed into
an alarm of a full-scale Russian
invasion of Massachusetts.
When Temple received Sherry's call,
that's kind of what happened there.
She pulled up to a scene of chaos.
Everyone in the building had dropped
whatever they were doing and was
engaged in a frantic search for Hannah.
When the phone rang again, it was
Jaime. "Mother," she said, "Have you all
gone crazy over there?"

"We haven't found her yet,
but we're searching every
corner of the building:' said
Sherry. "Have you called the
police?"
"Why should I call the
police? What exactly is hap-
pening over there?"
"Everyone is looking for
Hannah. We'll find her soon."
"Well, that might be diffi-
cult," said Jaime, 'because she's
asleep upstairs in her crib."
"But the stroller ..." began
Sherry.
After everyone calmed down, it was
determined that cell phones have been
known to cut out at the most inopportune
moments, and this was, undoubtedly, one
of them. And Hannah snoozed on. Her
most wide-awake hours are between 2
and 5 a.m. anyhow.
It was the second time our family had
been misled by a cell. Six years ago, as my

dad lay gravely ill in Beaumont Hospital,
my mom called from his room. We had
just entered the hospital valet area and
the reception was kind of crackly.
Jaime answered and thought she heard
her grandmother say, "Well, he's dead."
We were expecting that announcement
at any time, but still we were a somber,
mournful group as we walked into the
room. We stood looking at my dad for a
minute or two ... or until he gave a deep
groan and smacked his lips. I don't know
what the record for the standing high
jump may be, but those of us who had
just entered the room must have shat-
tered it.
What my mom had said, and the cell
phone garbled, was, "Well, he's dying!' Dad
hung on for another day and a half, but
it was just the sort of joke he would have
loved before leaving the stage. 7

George Cantor's e-mail address is

gcantor614@aol.com.

