EDITORIAL BOARD:
Publisher: Arthur M. Horwitz
Chief Operating Officer: F. Kevin Browett
Contributing Editor: Robert Sklar
>> Send letters to: letters©thejewishnews.com
Guest Column
Yes To Israel's Scientific Vim
Detroit Moishe House
H
resident Danniell Nadiv
and area resident Scott
Jankowski say the bless
ing over the Shabbat
candles,
1.
Community Builder
Moishe House engages Jewish Detroit's
young adults in active urban living.
B
etween graduating from
college, where Hillel
and Jewish life on cam-
pus likely exist, and joining a
synagogue, which generally takes
place after marriage and having
children, there is a void in Jewish
programming focusing specifically
on the 22- to 30-year-old popula-
tion — a distinct
life stage being
referred to by many
as "emerging adult-
hood."
Enter Moishe
House.
Moishe House,
founded in 2006,
has the ability to
transform communi-
ties (in particular,
Midwestern ones) by
empowering young
adult leaders to cre-
ate their ideal Jewish communi-
ties.
The model is both simple and
scalable: Put together a residential
house or apartment with a group
of three to six Jewish young adults
to live together under one roof,
provide them with staff support
and a programming budget, and
have them host a predetermined
number of programs each month
(about six on average), open to the
Jewish young adult population in
their community.
For less than the salary of a
single full-time staff person,
each Moishe House hosts about
70 programs annually. Programs
range from Shabbat dinners to
community service projects, from
Jewish learning to sporting events,
and anything and everything in
between. The result is resi-
dents who are developing
their skills as Jewish corn-
munal leaders, a vibrant
and active Jewish social
calendar for the young
adult population, and a
broad sense of commu-
nity. There are currently
40 Moishe Houses (nine in
the Midwestern Region) in
14 countries, with another
six set to open in the next
few months.
The Backdrop
The Midwest has been hit harder
than other regions because of the
economy's shift from being manu-
facturing based to information
based as well as the prolonged
recession. There are many young
college graduates who were lead-
ers on their college campuses and
have the skills to build their ideal
Jewish communities — commu-
nities focused on being warm and
welcoming to all, that are not yet
affiliated with mainstream institu-
tions and that speak to their peers.
At the moment, many are living
in their parents' basements or in
an apartment too small to host 20
friends for a Shabbat meal — thus
without an attractive outlet for
their creative energies and efforts.
This presents an incredible oppor-
tunity for many Midwest cities.
While in the past, many young
adults flocked to the major
metropolis in their region — for
example, Chicago in the Midwest,
New York in the Northeast, Atlanta
in the South — the economic
climate has resulted in many of
these aspiring young professionals
moving home after college or after
losing a job.
Providing A Spur
Midwest cities should strive to
keep their young adults at home.
Having a strong, active, vibrant
Jewish young adult community,
with Moishe House as the central
hub, can be the catalyst.
Moishe House can play a central
role in helping cities with great
histories — from Detroit to St.
Louis to Milwaukee — keep their
college-educated young adults in
their communities, infusing those
communities with newfound and
Moishe House on page 36
ow do Israelis earn so many Nobel Prizes?
Academic excellence, intellectual curiosity,
scientific acumen – plus outstanding Israeli uni-
versities – play an important part. But an entrepreneurial
spirit in the nation of 7.8 million also is significant.
This year's winner, Dan Shechtman, a Technion-lsrael
Institute of Technology chemistry professor, is the 10th
Israeli to win a Nobel since S.Y. Agnon set the international
standard for literature in 1966. Shechtman was honored for
his work in quasicrystals.
Jews have taken 20 percent of the 840 Nobels. Since
2002, Israeli scientists have garnered six prizes: two in
economics and four in chemistry. Science remains impor-
tant and competitive in Israel. Gidi Greenstein, director
of the Reut Institute think tank in Tel Aviv, told JTA: "For
thousands of years, Jews have been brought up to ques-
tion and to try to bridge the gap between existing knowl-
edge and the prevailing reality. You have the Torah and
the Talmud, and then you have the reality, which keeps
changing. The tension between what we know and what
we experience is the secret of creativity."
Because Israelis by necessity embrace the nuances of
engineering, technology and national security, they routine-
ly and expertly toe the frontiers of scientific innovation.
Shalom Foundation President Daniel Gordis of Jerusalem
told JTA: "Open societies that are self-critical can foster
courage and an appreciation for the pursuit of truth."
With scientific research essential to Israel's survival
and as Israeli scientists worry about who will succeed
them, it's clear Israel's government must commit the
financial resources to assure high-yielding science educa-
tion. I I
Building A Better BBYO
R
eaching 70,000 Jewish teens over the next five
years is the aim of the new strategic plan of
BBYO, a popular, pluralistic Jewish teen move-
ment striving to engage more Jewish teens in four divi-
dend-paying Jewish experiences: youth group programming,
summer camp, Israel travel and service opportunities.
To attain this lofty goal, the leadership-building orga-
nization will engage sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders
with older BBYO teens serving as mentors. New staff pro-
fessionals will be hired to direct the ambitious endeavor.
The plan and accompanying spruced-up logo is intend-
ed to create fun, meaningful and affordable experiences
that connect Jewish teens to the Jewish community.
Estee Portnoy, Michael Jordan's business manager and
new chair of the BBYO board, is right: It's important for
teens to find ways to feel good about being Jewish that
doesn't just come from a rabbi or school.
BBYO has seen participation rise 11 percent from six
years ago, but isn't satisfied in striving to reverse the
trend of Jewish teens dropping out of Jewish life after
their bar or bat mitzvah.
Locally, BBYO touched almost 1,500 Jewish teens last
year, up 20 percent from two years ago.
The Oklahoma-based Charles & Lynn Schusterman Family
Foundation's just-released impact study reveals what BBYO
knew anecdotally. Indeed, BBYO makes a difference in the
lives of teens that Jewish communal leaders care about:
Israel, intermarriage, Jewish identity, leadership. I 1
•:;)veil- 1:3&i 3 2011
35