MIRIAM LIEBMAN:
Helping Detroit Turn The Corner

NOAM KIMELMAN:
A Healthier Detroit

Keri Guten Cohen
Story Development Editor

Shelli Liebman Dorfman
Contributing Writer

M

iriam Liebman grew up in Farmington Hills, but her interests
and passion for social activism have taken her around the
world — and home again.
Liebman, 25, graduated from the University of Michigan, where she
earned a degree in Middle East and North African Studies. She spent a
semester abroad at the American University in Cairo and also studied in
the Balkans as an Abraham's Vision fellow.
Earlier, at age 16, she attended Seeds of Peace International Camp in
Maine, which brings together kids from dif-
ferent areas of conflict, the main focus being
Israelis and Arabs.
In 2009, she moved to New Orleans as an
AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps member.
AVODAH's mission is to cultivate Jewish com-
munity through communal living and fight
urban poverty while addressing issues of race
and class. In New Orleans, Miriam worked as an
outreach assistant at the Greater New Orleans
Fair Housing Action Center fighting housing
discrimination. Her experience in New Orleans,
through both the Jewish and justice communi-
ties, allowed her to realize she wanted to move to Detroit, a city experienc-
ing many of the same problems for many of the same reasons — and yet
only 20 miles from where she grew up.
"I wanted to learn more about Detroit, what happened to the city and
its people, and how to systemically work to make the city a better place
she said.
Now Miriam, the daughter of Judy and Marty Liebman, lives in Detroit,
where she is active with the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue and works
part-time at the Harriet Tubman Center as a community organizer help-
ing low-income tenants and working with faith-based communities.

Miriam's Dream:
Just over two years ago, I moved to New Orleans because, like so many
other young adult Metro Detroiters, I told myself there was nothing here
for me. I wanted to be anywhere but here.
Shortly after moving, I was reading one of Time magazine's pieces
online about Detroit and saw a link that read: "Click here to view the
remains of Detroit:' Growing up, Detroit was a place of memories but
not of remains. We may have suffered a significant loss of population,
but over 700,000 people living their lives does not make a place barren.
As [Northwestern University professor emeritus] John McKnight
argues in his essay, "Why `Servanthood' is Bad:' healthy communities
are built on the capacities of people, not on deficiencies.
I've lived in and traveled to countries where the majority of the
population lives on only $1 a day and, somehow, at times, Detroit feels
like the most destitute place in the universe. In the developing world, it
seemed like extreme poverty and corruption could be expected. Not in
Detroit, where the American Dream should be a reality.
Yet today, Detroit is at a turning point. We can be like no other city
in America. We can bring in business, industry and jobs that take into
account the needs of current communities as well as new ones. We have
the privilege and opportunity of learning about our history as Jewish
Detroiters to ensure that we do not replicate cycles of injustice that have
allowed Detroit to become what it is today.
After Katrina, New Orleans lost approximately half of its Jewish
population. The rabbis I knew there all came after Katrina because
they loved the community, but also because they wanted to be part of
building a community. I feel the same way about Detroit. Through my
involvement in the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue and my work as
a community organizer, I want to be part of building a Jewish commu-
nity that holds itself to high standards of justice and equality. I believe
Detroit can be a place that draws out and highlights the strengths and
capacities of all of its people. II

N

oam Kimelman moved from Boston to go to school at
the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and he became
immersed in the community in ways far beyond college

classes.
Kimelman, who lives in Detroit, is an active member of the Isaac
Agree Downtown Synagogue. He is the congregation's Friday night service leader and a
Shabbat and High Holiday Torah reader.
He recently accepted a position as one of the synagogue's liaisons to the Michigan
Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion's Riverfront East Congregational Initiative, a
Detroit-based, interfaith, inter-congregational effort that works to develop and support
community concerns.
Noam, 25, is also a member of the Detroit Area Community Leadership Initiative, spon-
sored by the Jewish Funds for Justice and Progressive Jewish Alliance.
A graduate of Maimonides, a Jewish day school in Boston, and U-M, he is now studying
toward a master's degree in public health in health management and policy, also from U-M.
The youngest of four brothers, Noam's parents are Rabbi Reuven Kimelman, a professor
of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis University, and Hava Kimelman, a professor
of Hebrew Language at Tufts University.
Professionally, Noam serves as the CEO of Fresh Corner Cafe, which provides healthy
food choices in the city of Detroit's convenience and party stores. He founded the business
along with U-M classmates as an extension of a class assignment to develop a business
solution to a social concern.

Noam's Dream:
Seven years ago, I lived in Boston. Six years ago, I lived in Israel. Five years ago, I lived in
Ann Arbor. Four years ago, I lived in Italy. Now I live in Detroit, and there's no place I'd
rather be.
I moved to Detroit about a year and half ago because of a cause. Like many newcomers,
I had an idea that was rooted in misinformation and ignorance of existing efforts and net-
works. I studied the literature, spoke to leaders on the ground, surveyed community mem-
bers and, subsequently, considered my four-month immersion adequate to assume the role
of resident expert. I then launched an ill-advised business called Get Fresh Detroit, whose
mission was to solve the commonplace urban crisis of fresh food access.
It was simple: Wrap a few vegetables in plastic wrap, convince a few corner stores to sell
them, develop a sustainable business model around fresh produce in small stores, and rep-
licate in the 800-plus corner stores, liquor stores and gas stations throughout the city. Fresh
produce would overflow into the streets, corner stores would become more community-
oriented and obesity would fade into the distant darkness.
Naturally, I was encouraged by my peers and professors, who were similarly misin-
formed, and I proceeded with the gall that often leads to embarrassing (and comical?)
failure.
My only redeeming qualities were the willingness to admit failure and the perseverance
to adapt, reinvent and keep trying. I immersed deeper into the community, developed a
better understanding of the realities, shifted the product focus to prepared healthy foods,
raised $30,000 in funding, purchased a refrigerated truck, changed the company name to
Fresh Corner Cafe, and pushed off the completion of my master's degree so that I could
dive in 100 percent. Fresh Corner Cafe now sells fresh salads and wraps in 15 stores, and
our products are moving off the shelves faster than ever.
The future looks bright, but every step forward has, and will continue to be, a battle. And
I'm OK with that. Because if it were luxury and simplicity I was after, I wouldn't be here.
And as my friends, surroundings and many an inspirational teabag continually remind me,
"If it were easy, it wouldn't be worth doing."
So now I'm here. It's the cause that brought me here, but it's the tight-knit, supportive
and collaborative community that has kept me here. When I envision my ideal Jewish
community, I imagine a diverse gathering of all ages, ideologies and backgrounds united
around the nostalgic desire for a beautiful yet simple home-cooked Shabbat meal. I imag-
ine animated conversations that discuss current affairs, debate social policies, dispute
effective forms of social action, and meditate over the relevance of our ancient texts and
traditions. At the end of it all, unconstrained by the ideological distance or the degree of
conviction on either side, I imagine that disagreements are set aside, common experiences
are recounted, and harmonious melodies carry us back to our shared roots and deep-seat-
ed aspirations. And then I look around, and I realize I have it right here in Detroit. And that
makes me feel like the luckiest person in the world. r7

To The Future on page 14

September 29 2011

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