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Contributing Editor
Editorial
Freeing Israel's Shalit
Is Elusive, Frustrating
I
Young adult leader plots-a rigor
agenda against backdrop of planned
YAD-CommunitAEXtoerger.
G
rowing up in Atlanta, Josh
Levine was a champion high
school wrestler who was
named 1996 Georgia State Wrestler
of the Year. Today, as president of the
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit's Young Adult Division, he's
wrestling with a different and cagier
kind of opponent: declining popula-
tion numbers in the YAD target age
range of 21 to 41.
When I con-
tacted Levine,
32, after he
presided
over his first
annual meet-
ing of YAD, he
was under-
standably
preoccupied
with family
life: His wife
was about
to deliver twin girls who have since
joined two other kids, ages 31/2 and 2,
at home in Huntington Woods. Shayna
and Josh met while studying abroad
at Tel Aviv University in 1999. They've
been married eight years and moved
from Atlanta to Michigan in 2005.
Levine quipped in his June 2 annual
meeting remarks at the Franklin home
of Marcie and Rob Orley that he might
just be the first YAD president to pre-
side with four kids under age 4.
It's a watershed period for YAD as
it seeks to apply a new strategic plan
while Federation leaders contemplate
how to merge YAD, CommunityNEXT
and other young adult programs.
YAD has three essential layers:
soliciting for Federation's Annual
Campaign, developing young com-
munal leadership and providing
outreach and education to enhance
Jewish identity.
I like the clarity of the strategic
plan's vision ("to be the hub of a
vibrant, young Jewish Detroit") and
mission ("to connect young, Jewish
adults, embrace Jewish identity and
develop the next generation of com-
munity leaders").
Time will tell how well YAD, under
Levine, realizes this vision and mis-
sion. The effort won't be easy; YAD has
an impressive and growing database of
7,863 names, but only a fraction of the
young adults listed regularly partici-
pate beyond the well-attended Lathe
Vodka mixer held around Chanukah.
Getting Involved
YAD should focus hard on its 2011-
2012 theme: elevating participation
at all levels of YAD leadership and
throughout the YAD community. In
his annual meeting remarks, Levine
declared: "My charge to everyone
is to find your niche in YAD and
the Federation and be a part of this
experience."
Opportunities range from get-
togethers for moms with babies and
liaison roles with Federation agency
boards for young professionals to
Jewish learning via Torah on Tap,
social events such as Lathe Vodka
and discovering Israel through a
YAD mission. "If you're just too busy
to do anything," Levine says, "see
how good it feels to donate to our
Annual Campaign."
Last year, YAD raised about
$700,000 as its contribution to
Federation's Annual Campaign —
the yield from 900 donors. You can't
compare the yield from year to year
because the oldest YAD givers are
transitioning to Federation's general
campaign or women's campaign while
the younger YAD givers are typically
beginning at a lower gift level. Gifts
of at least $3,600 are recognized at the
Heritage level, but smaller gifts all the
way down to $18 (chaff) are welcomed
and also recognized.
The 2010 Latke Vodka at Via
Nove in Ferndale drew 500 people
under YAD event chairs Jared
Goldman and Rachel Lachover.
Josh Levine
leads YAD
at a pivotal
moment for
our young
adults.
"Our goal is really for every Jewish
young adult to be a part of YAD and
make some type of meaningful gift
each year to help further our mis-
sion," Levine says. "We set a goal at
the beginning of the year for the
entire campaign, but nothing specific
for each individual."
Yes, YAD helps connect Jewish
young adults and further Jewish iden-
tity building. But the primary role of
YAD is to nurture the next generation
of community leaders for Federation
and other communal organizations.
As Levine, YAD Director Jessica
Goodwin and their eager board begin
to work together, Federation would be
forward-thinking to evaluate its lead-
ership model to open more doors for
younger higher-level leaders within
the main Federation framework.
Well-Honed Track
Levine is a graduate of the University
of Texas at Austin and earned a
MBA from Emory University in his
hometown. He's well acclimated to the
world of leadership. He's director and
wealth adviser for Southfield-based
Telemus Capital Partners, a five-year
veteran of the YAD board, a mem-
ber of Federation's National Young
Leadership Cabinet and a member of
Federation's general finance commit-
tee. A board member of Temple Israel
in West Bloomfield, he's the son-
in-law of Susan and Rabbi Harold
srael isn't standing on the
sidelines in seeking the
release of captive soldier
Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped
inside Israel on June 25, 2006, in
a Hamas cross-border raid near
the Gaza Strip. The Jewish state
accepted the terms of a German-
Gilad Shalit
mediated deal. Not surprisingly,
Hamas hasn't responded.
Is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doing
enough to win freedom for Shalit without compro-
mising Israel? That's the burning question as the
brazen and illegal capture drones into its sixth year.
In a June 26 public statement released after
his weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said: "The
State of Israel is ready to go far, more than any
other country, in order to secure Gilad's release.
But it is my responsibility, and the responsibility of
those who are sitting here, to see to the security
and lives of the Israeli people."
Netanyahu did not specify terms of the German
proposal aimed at freeing Shalit, who was captured
11 months after entering the Israeli army after
turning 18. Past proposals have sought the release
of hundreds of Palestinians held by Israel, many
known terrorists, in exchange for Shalit.
Meanwhile, the soldier's father, Noam, declared,
in a redoubled family effort to rouse increased
public fervor, that Netanyahu has "no mandate to
sentence Gilad to death" by not working harder to
bring his release.
The Obama administration gave the "Free Gilad"
campaign a boost this summer by calling for the
now 24-year-old's immediate release. The U.S. not
only has condemned Hamas' mindless detention
of Shalit, but also, as the leader of the free world,
has rallied other governments and international
organizations to also commit to the soldier's
immediate release. In this emboldened pursuit,
France stands strong with America, as well it
should; Shalit is a citizen of both Israel and France.
Contrary to international law, the Red Cross has
been denied access to Shalit, and U.N. officials in
Gaza have not been allowed to see him. His family
has been unable to communicate with him since his
capture, according to the website meetgilad.com .
Hamas' refusal to allow the International
Committee of the Red Cross to see Shalit, abhor-
rent as that is, underscores that the terrorist
organization is an unabashed proxy for Iran and its
terror-inciting regime. The committee's demand
for proof that Shalit is alive resonates. But let's be
frank: Hamas can't think like decent-minded peo-
ple do. That's what makes the chances of Shalit's
release seem so confounding; Israel is dealing with
a group that rules by mayhem and murder, not
humanitarianism.
The Jewish and larger civilized world owe it to
Gilad Shalit and his family to never stop trying to
find common negotiating ground that ends the
captivity but doesn't imperil Israel's security or
Israeli lives. II
Josh's Challenge on page 44
July 4 2011
43