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EDITORIAL BOARD:
Publisher: Arthur M. Horwitz
Chief Operating Officer: F. Kevin Browett
Contributing Editor: Robert Sklar

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Editorial

The Power Of Learning
Enriches Us As Jews

I

We are all God's creations ...
Let's get to know each other better!

A

teacher at Hillel Day School of Metropolitan
Detroit taught my child and me, "We are
all God's creations!' She said "not only are
we all created by God, but also it is God that made
us all different. Some of God's children have dark
hair while some have light hair. Some have blue
eyes and others have brown eyes." And some have
darker skin than others.
We are all different from each other — in how we
look and act, in how we learn and in what we do. And
yet for some of us, it is our differences that keep us
apart.
Bankole Thompson, senior editor of the Michigan
Chronicle, an African American, and Arthur Horwitz,
publisher of the Detroit Jewish News, a Jewish
American, see differences, yet respect and celebrate
those differences because they have taken the time
to better understand each other and each
other's culture. Both are co-founders of a
young organization of editors and pub-
lishers of Detroit's ethnic media called the
New Michigan Media. Both got together
to host an event to raise awareness and
create a better understanding between
our communities on Oct. 25 at Temple
Beth El in Bloomfield Township.
At 38, I was not around during the Civil
Rights Movement or the urban riots in
the late 1960s. In fact, the closest I ever
got was being born on Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr.'s birthday (Jan. 15). During the
1994 gubernatorial campaign, I worked for U.S. Rep.
Howard Wolpe and had the opportunity to drive
Congressman John Lewis, D-Ga., to various cam-
paign events in Michigan. Lewis was president of the
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
in the 1960s, led people across the Edmund Pettus
Bridge in Selma, Ala., and stood alongside Dr. King on

Guests listen at

the Oct. 25 forum.

the steps of the Lincoln Memorial when he delivered
his historic "I Have A Dream" speech. The congress-
man's district stretched from the inner city of Atlanta
to its "Jewish" suburbs, similar to what the new 14th
Congressional District looks like now here in Metro
Detroit. He saw an issue between blacks and Jews
then, got the younger generation from each group
together, ushered them into a hotel ballroom, said
settle your differences" and locked the ballroom door.

"

Coming Together
Despite being the children of God, Jewish Americans
and African Americans are rooted in different and
distinct cultures. There will, however, always be a
need to understand each other better. Since the 1967
Detroit riots, our communities have been trying to
build a bridge. Perhaps for the past 40 years, we have
been going at it all wrong.
I grew up in an age when cultural
diversity, awareness and sensitivity
were each just becoming in vogue. My
children are from a generation where
the differences become irrelevant or lie
just in the background. The first presi-
dent of the United States that they will
remember is black. I hosted a fundraiser
for the mayor of Detroit in our home; I
happened to work for him, and he just
happened to be black.
Although my children attend Hillel
Day School, a Jewish day school, they
have friends, classmates and teachers who also
happen to be black. At Congregation Beth Shalom
in Oak Park, we pray alongside people who just
happen to be black. It is today what they know,
just as I don't remember the separate restrooms or

Black-Jewish on page 32

t's the pathway to building Jewish identity, appre-
ciation and engagement. But Jewish learning
doesn't come cheaply. Still, a quality Jewish edu-
cation yields a quality payoff. So prudent spending in
this discipline is invaluable over the long haul.
The key to enduring knowledge is lifelong learn-
ing. The center of the learning universe, of course, is
the home, where the way parents and grandparents
practice Judaism leaves a lasting imprint on kids. But
day schools, synagogues, JCCs, camps, youth groups
and other institutions oriented to Jewish life also
help shape young Jewish lives. Later, campus Hillels,
Federations and communal organizations enhance the
learning experience.
In the assimilated world in which we live, secular
influences, stereotypes and pressures pulsate – shad-
ing the lens through which we view being Jewish. There
is much to know historically, culturally, ethically and
religiously – and much to process to find context and
meaning. We don't learn by osmosis; we need to make
a real commitment. That's why it's easier to stay in the
game of learning if you start playing at a young age.
But make no mistake: You are never too old to start.
Within the framework of this educational chalkboard,
the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit is com-
mitted to funding Jewish education even as resources
become harder to come by in the wake of Michigan's
staggered economy. Our day schools and synagogue
schools depend on Federation support to help cover
operations as well as to help extend scholarships.
Federation's Alliance for Jewish Education provides
essential planning, strategizing and evaluating.
For the 2011-2012 Campaign year, Federation has
allocated $3.83 million for the Alliance, our six day
schools as well as supplemental-school student
scholarships. It has allocated another $3.13 million
for Jewish identity-building programs such as BBYO,
Tamarack Camps, our Hillels, the JCC, Birthright Israel
and Israel mission subsidies. Together, that $6.96
million is almost 25 percent of the 2011 Campaign
achievement of $31.88 million, a significant percent-
age underscoring the national model that Detroit
Jewry's Jewish education program is thanks to
Federation and our amazing community.
Overall support of Jewish education flows in many
ways: Campaign allocations to our day and synagogue
schools; the Shiffman Tuition Assistance Fund, admin-
istered through Federation, for our day schools; and
an anonymous donor who assists many day schools to
keep their tuition affordable for families facing finan-
cial difficulties. The Alliance provides support services
for Jewish educators and schools, and partners with
other communal organizations to enrich programming
for preschoolers through seniors.
Meanwhile, other communities – Cleveland and
Boston, for instance – have taken a more holistic and
strategic look at Jewish education and ways to sup-
port and endow it. So, while we continue to provide
important support for learning, it would behoove us to
scrupulously look at examples set by other communi-
ties that would further strengthen our ongoing invest-
ment in Detroit's Jewish future – the core of which is
Jewish education.

iN

November 10

2011

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