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Part Of The Family
Melitz provides Israeli and diaspora Jews
with tools to make Judaism their own.
Don Cohen
Special to the Jewish News
A
sk an Israeli who the central
figure of Jewish history is and
most likely the response will
be King David, the warrior/poet who
established Jerusalem as the capital of a
Jewish nation.
Ask an American Jew the same ques-
tion and the answer will probably be
Moses who led the Israelites out of
Egypt and received the Torah — Jewish
law — from God at Mt. Sinai.
Michael Weiger,
executive direc-
tor of Melitz,
doesn't have a
problem with
either answer, but
in addition, he
would like Jews to
relate to Judaism
and each other,
not simply in
Melitz' Michael
national or reli-
Weiger
gious terms, but
as they would to other family members.
"We are centrally involved in say-
ing Judaism doesn't belong to just one
group," Weiger says. "We want to broad-
en the categories of thinking."
An English Jew, Weiger worked at
Melitz for seven years during the 1990s
with its founder and longtime head
Avraham Infeld, before returning to
become its executive director four years
ago. He calls the Israeli organization,
founded in 1973,"an educational labo-
ratory" to inspire Jews to recognize and
NCJW Youth Awards
Entries Due March 18
National Council of Jewish Women/
Greater Detroit Section once again is
offering its Jewish Youth Awards to
exceptional high school seniors who
demonstrate leadership within the
Jewish community.
Awards totaling $6,500 will be dis-
tributed to the finalists at a ceremony
at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 3, at the NCJW/
GDS office. First place earns $2,500;
second place, $1,500; third and fourth
places, $500; and five honorable men-
tions, $250.
The application form and all sup-
self-define their role as part of a Jewish
family — sharing customs, memories
and a destination.
Melitz is a new provider of Birthright
trips to Israel for young adults, and
Weiger was in Metro Detroit earlier this
week to seek partners.
"We both develop, and then test/
implement, educational programs that
connect young Israelis to the beauty, the
power, of being Jewish in a pluralistic
sense," he says. "We also try to connect
diaspora Jews to a vision of a Jewish
and democratic Israel — a vision
seriously committed to Israel, but not
blinded to its challenges."
Melitz works to inspire Jews through
delivering high-impact, short-term
informal education. Educators might
have just a few hours or days to spark
discussion and thought that will con-
tinue long after the program has ended.
"The best way to inspire;' Weiger says,
"is through creative, inspiring educators.
"They must be able to walk into a
room and wow the audience. They have
to be able to blow the room apart.
"We can't counter years of bad Jewish
education if that's what they have had,"
he says, describing the experiences of
Israeli as well as diaspora Jews. "But we
can show them Jewish education can be
vibrant, inspiring, enthusiastic and pas-
sionate."
Ninety percent of Melitz's programs
are conducted in Israel, with others in
North America, England and Russia.
Melitz is an approved education pro-
vider for the Israel Defense Forces, con-
ducting two-day Jewish identity semi-
porting documentation must be
received at the NCJW/GDS office,
26400 Lahser Road, Suite 306,
Southfield MI 48033-2675 no later
than 4:30 p.m. March 18.
Funds for the awards come from
the Dina and (the late) Herman
Brodsky Jewish Youth Awards Fund,
Esther and Nathan Katz Jewish Youth
Awards Fund and the Narens Youth
Endowment Fund. Co-chairs this year
are Leslie Moskowitz and Julie Silberg.
To be eligible for consideration, an
applicant must submit a one-page
essay on the following topic: The
Jewish community, locally and nation-
nars for on-duty and reserve soldiers
that use Jewish texts, Jewish history and
Jewish learning to engage participants.
"We're not trying to make them any-
thing," he says, noting he has a range of
Jewish educators who can elicit "wows."
"We tell them that Judaism is in their
hands. It's not the property of the rabbis
or the property of the state. We tell them
about their heritage; that they have a
responsibility to engage with it and that
it can enrich their life."
One of the changes during Weiger's
tenure is a shift from a longtime focus
on high school students to young pro-
fessionals, soldiers and college students.
He says this frees the program from
having to deal with the complex and
politicized Ministry of Education and,
that today, most people make "decisions
of who they want to be later in life."
Bloomfield Hills resident Sally Krugel,
who used to work for Melitz when it
delivered programs here, was taking
Weiger around Metro Detroit.
"We really believe in the value system
of what Melitz is based on, and the hard
work they are doing to build a Jewish
future based on the mishpachah [fam-
ily] concept of Judaism," she says.
Her husband, Richard, is also sold on
the idea of informal experiences, not-
ing the importance of Birthright, the
free, 10-day trips for diaspora Jews who
never have visited the Jewish state with
their peers.
"Jews both here and in Israel need
to strengthen Jewish values and Jewish
education," he says. "Melitz is an organi-
zation that can do it." I I
ally, has experienced a loss in its num-
bers and commitment. Describe how
your Jewish experiences (community
service/leadership, education, cultural,
religious) will help you contribute to
the Jewish community in the future.
Applicants must also submit a letter
from a religious institution document-
ing they had a formal Jewish educa-
tion, a list of leadership positions and
involvement in the Jewish or secular
community, a current photograph and
an application form found at www.
ncjwgds.org .
Full instructions can be found on
the website or call (248) 355-3300. Li
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Marc 3 2011
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