Letters

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PRESENTS

PROFESSOR
JONATHAN SARNA
"WELCOME TO THE FUTURE:

THE SURPRISING CHANGES IN STORE FOR
AMERICAN JEWRY IN THE 21ST CENTURY"

AMERICAN JEWISH LIFE is experiencing incredible changes. The economic
downturn, perspectives on religious practice and evolving attitudes toward Israel all
are having an extraordinary affect on the Jewish world.

In "Welcome to the Puturepreeminent historian and Brandeis University Professor
Jonathan D. Sarna considers developments that will shape Jewish life over the next
generation and beyond.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2010 7:30 P.M.

JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF METROPOLITAN DETROIT
WEST BLOOMFIELD

PLEASE JOIN US FORA DESSERT RECEPTION,
BOOK SALE AND SIGNING FOLLOWING THE LECTURE.

Advance tickets: $8 Center members / $10 non-members / All tickets at the door: $15
Advance registration requested by Monday, December 6 to 248.432.5692

WE is made possible, in part, thanks to the generous support of Sheri & David Jaffa, through the
Center's Pillars of Light program. WE is endowed fry a generous giftfrom Cis Maisel Kellman.

THE CENTER

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pJewish

Federation

of Metropolitan

Detroit

ALLIANCE FOR
JEWISH EDUCATION

Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit • D. Dan & Betty Kahn Building
Eugene & Marcia Applebaum Jewish Community Campus • 6600 W. Maple Road • West Bloomfield • www.jccdet.org

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We prefer letters relating to JN articles. We reserve the right to edit or reject letters. Letters of
225 words or less are considered first. Longer ones will be subject to trimming. Letter writers
are limited in frequency of publication. Letters must be original and contain the name, address
and title of the writer and a day phone number. Non-electronic copies must be hand signed.
Send letters to the JN: 29200 Northwestern Highway, Suite 110, Southfield, MI 48034; fax (248)
304 - 8885; e-mail, letters@the jewishnews.com . We prefer e-mail.

Creating Jobs
On Nov. 11 at our annual Metropolitan
Detroit Executive Director Association
retreat, we had the pleasure of welcom-
ing JN Publisher Arthur Horwitz as guest
speaker. We asked him to educate the
40-plus clergy, lay leaders and adminis-
trators of various synagogues about our
shrinking Jewish demographic.
Mr. Horwitz's insightful article "The
Elephant in the Room: Our Dwindling
Demographics" back in July got us think-
ing: While we all realize that the Jewish
population is shrinking, and unfortu-
nately will continue to shrink over time,
we wanted to put a positive spin on
that disconcerting reality.
Mr. Horwitz posits that our Jewish com-
munity may shrink to 40,000-45,000 by
the year 2020 with more than half older
than 65. Among the synagogues that we
represent, there currently are approxi-
mately 10,000 Jewish households affili-
ated within our community. In 2020, that
would be about a 23 percent affiliation
rate, leaving 77 percent of the remaining
Jews prospects for membership at any
of the Jewish institutions. Our thinking
was (and is): How do we attract new
members, keep the current members we
have and think of ways to keep (and bring
back) young Jews to Michigan?
Mr. Horwitz shared his ideas on how to
attract and recruit (and keep) Jewish tal-
ent to Southeastern Michigan, including
the idea of a job czar. These ideas were
captured succinctly in the Publisher's
Notebook "Capturing A 'Spark' for Jewish
Detroit's Future" (Nov. 18, page 5).
We support his concepts, spe-
cifically (and wholeheartedly) an
everyday Jewish community job czar.
The notion of matching current and
anticipated employer needs with talent
is not new; but it is a concept that needs
to be made a reality in our community.
Mr. Horwitz spoke with passion and
intensity about the urgency for someone
who eats, sleeps and breathes jobs and
job creation every day. We thank him for
championing this cause; we, as a group,
are willing to help in any way we can.

Steven Weiss, Congregation Beth Shalom

Ruth Moss-Katsnelson

Alan Yost, Adat Shalom Synagogue

West Bloomfield

Shaarey Zedek

Cheryl Chaben, Temple Kol Ami

Andre Douville, Temple Shir Shalom

Ann-Marie Fisher, Birmingham Temple

Tessa Goldberg, Temple Beth El

David Goodman,Congregation Beth Ahm

Linda Jacobson, Congregation B'nai Israel

Susan Kirschner, Temple Emanu-EI

Ronnie Simon, Temple Beth Emeth

Elliot Sorkin, Beth Israel Congregation

Jeffrey Stewart, Congregation

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Oak Park

David Tisdale, Temple Israel

Lori-Blumenstien-Bott, Congregation

8 December 2 2010

Jennifer Johnson

Why We Celebrate
What is the point of celebrating Jewish
holidays for Jewish people in America
or elsewhere in the world outside of
the state of Israel? Why do we bother?
One reason is because by celebrat-
ing the same holidays that our ances-
tors did, we relive their lifestyle (to
some extent) and by doing so are not
"exiles" from the land of our forefa-
thers and foremothers. We are still
connected to them even though the
Temple is gone and we have no actual
physical connection to the land that,
according to the Torah, God gave to us
to live in for all generations. By ritual,
by doing, we remember and we under-
stand.
For example, during the holiday of
Sukkot, we are supposed to build huts,
eat and sleep in them, just like our
forefathers/mothers did when they
wandered in the Sinai desert for 40
years, before finding the Land of Israel.
Thanksgiving is a uniquely
American holiday. But what if our
great-great-great-grandchildren spend
every third Thursday in November
giving thanks and eating turkey, and
recalling the first Thanksgiving? Isn't
that a way of passing on wisdom and
remembering us, too? Isn't that what
makes our lives worth living?

Chuck Berris, Congregation B'nai Moshe

Improving Members' Financial Lives

Clean Up Elections
What a joy it was to read the introspec-
tive assessment of the recent midterm
campaign elections and political
advertisements by six students from
the 2012 class of Hillel Day School
of Metropolitan Detroit ("Clean Up
Elections," Nov. 18, page 8). Watching
any political campaign process in
action provides several invaluable les-
sons for members of our young Jewish
community specifically and for young
adults in society as a whole.
As Sam, Emily, Isabel, Samuel,
Jonathan and Jillian so eloquently
stated, "While some of these ads were
clever and positive, we found that
many, specifically ones that put down
opposing candidates, were rude and
immature."
What an accurate assessment!
I admonish the individuals, groups
and organizations who took part in,
and those who condone, such nega-
tivity to take a lesson from these six
young people and respect others and
remember and/or develop good mor-
als. It is perfectly fine to "agree to
disagree"; however, in doing so, be
respectful and less immature.

Shir

Tikvah

