in the education and community
service divisions, has been chair
of the Planning and Allocations
Steering Committee and a board
member of Jewish Senior Life. He
currently serves on the board of the
Jewish Fund. He also has served on
the boards of JVS, the Neighborhood
Project and the Jewish Community
Center Association.
The IN editorial team met recently
with Bloom to discuss his plans,
challenges and hopes for his term as
Federation president.
What was your reaction to being
nominated Federation president?
I was surprised I became president
because a number of capable people
were officers of the board. I have
been a Campaign chair, an agency
chair, and I do have well-rounded
experience in Federation life. And I
have lots of time. I don't know how
I'd do it if I weren't retired. Also,
there's a remarkable staff of people at
Federation.
What are some priorities and chal-
lenges for Federation?
I believe the Campaign should be
of primary concern to every Jew
living in the Detroit Metropolitan
area. I believe we need to reach out
to younger people, ages 20-35, to
connect them to our community. If
we can grow the Campaign and the
number of donors, that will cure
a lot of what's wrong with Detroit.
Detroit is Jewishly a remarkable com-
munity because we take care of so
many people with such a small base
of support. Our main challenge is to
grow the base. When I first got active
in Campaign, we had 18,000 donors.
Now we're celebrating we've gone over
10,000.
Is the NextGen effort (combina-
tion of CommunityNext and Young
Adult Division) making a differ-
ence?
NextGen is making a difference and
will make a much bigger difference in
the future. The Federation has spent
huge amounts of resources to try to
engage young people and have them
think positively about the Jewish
community. I want to strengthen
their feeling of Jewishness. I want
them to think about being Jewish and
about repairing the world — and
know that what they do does make a
difference, whether it's an $18 gift, a
$180 gift or an $1,800 gift. If I can do
something positive about attracting
young people and keeping them here
and growing the giving base, I would
be very, very happy.
Do you think Federation does a
good job of getting the word out
about itself?
We talked about Federation at the
dinner table when I was growing up.
I knew about Federation, National
Council of Jewish Women, ORT and
Hadassah.
... Barbara and I were bus captains
on an Israel mission. They were all
first-time visitors to Israel. We had a
40-minute drive [to the next destina-
tion] and I asked Bob Aronson [pre-
vious CEO of Detroit's Federation]
to talk about Federation. He was elo-
quent, and I was proud. We got off the
bus and someone asked him, "You're
stationed in New York?" They totally
missed it.
If we stand on our heads and tell
what Federation is, people won't
get it unless they want to get into
Fleischman or Teitel Apartments or
need a service like Project Chessed
[that serves the Jewish uninsured].
Until people actually need a service,
they have no idea.
Why is it important to give to the
Campaign?
Federation doesn't print money.
I've looked for the printing press.
Federation gives money that has been
given to them. There are all kinds of
needs for that money ... We can't do
programs without someone giving
money first.
The Federation comprises 18 agen-
cies, all of which are scrambling to
stay alive. They're getting cut by the
state, they're getting cut by the United
Way, they're getting cut by the federal
government ... and the need for their
services keeps growing.
When I was Campaign chair, the
intifada (Palestinian uprising) was
going on at the time. At Prentis
Apartments, residents gave me an
envelope filled with fives, ones and
tens. They had collected $1,050. That
gift meant more to me than a $1 mil-
lion gift. They spent their limited
income to help people in Israel.
The economic crisis may be over,
but the real needs aren't over, especially
with our older population, who saw the
value of their homes — their life sav-
ings — disappear and are now forced
to lower their standard of living.
Supporting Jewish education
remains a priority as well. The schol-
arship money we provide to families
is very significant.
What do you hope for your presi-
dency?
At the end of the day, I want to think
that I've done a good job and kept
moving in a number of positive
directions. I know there are people
who aren't going to like what I do.
This job will never please everybody.
I want to attract young people who
want to be Jewish and increase the
money we bring in. All the rest are
issues, commentary.
Hevruta Inspires
EMU Students to
Learn Deeper
Russ Olwell
Students enter the classroom. They sit in
pairs and receive a packet of documents from
their professor. They open it up, and find
speeches and articles about the filibuster. Some
begin reading aloud, others read in silence.
Then they start to discuss the issue, in their
pairs. Their professor circulates, helping groups
that have questions. When is the lecture going
to start?
Hevruta, the paired reading of religious
texts, has a long history as a means of studying
Professor Jeffrey Bernstein
in the Jewish tradition. It is an ancient method
being put to a new purpose at Eastern Michigan University, where political
science professor Jeffrey Bernstein uses it with his classes in American
government to help students engage deeper with the material.
Bernstein uses hevruta in his introduction to American government
classes, a general education offering at EMU. He applied this method to his
class because he was worried that students were not studying the material
in enough depth to really understand it. And, in some cases, students were
looking for one right answer to put on their exam, rather than recognizing
the complexity of the problems being studied. "I thought the hevruta
discussions would give them a chance to have me toss them into a controversy,
into an ill-structured problem and just say to them, 'You figure it out:"
Bernstein said.
Students and their partners read an article together about a controversy
that involves government — whether it is free speech, criminal justice or
voting. Bernstein believes this method helps students more than lecture
or his calling on students with a question because they get to struggle for
an answer first. "You don't have to figure the problem out on your own
because you've got someone sitting there next to you who is also puzzling
and figuring it out," he said.
Bernstein asks students to first write a short ungraded pre-paper about
the issue before class. He reads these and uses them to decide how to present
the issue to them. In class, after his opening remarks, students are put in
pairs and the real work of the class begins. Bernstein likes that this method
get students to think on their own, rather than relying on his lecture for the
answers. "I figured that giving them time to really puzzle over material, to
really try to figure out for themselves how to go through the material, to
handle and make sense of the contradictions, and then to be able to lead
them in a discussion afterward is the key to a good hevruta class," he said.
Bernstein has tried the method with EMU's honors and non-honors
students. He has found both groups have risen to the challenge. Since
Bernstein's classes all range from 20 to 50 students, he has time to work with
pairs or individuals who are struggling with the method or the material.
By the end of the class, Bernstein hopes his students leave with the
realization there is no simple answer to problems in American democracy.
"Most of the time there's not a simple answer:' he said. "Understanding this
fact makes them better government students, makes them better citizens,
and that's what I'm trying to get."
Bernstein has evaluated the class using surveys. Students report greater
understanding of government, and report they will be more likely to
participate in the democratic process. Students also gain a deeper interest
in learning more about pressing political issues.
If you are interested in learning more about Jewish life and Jewish
Studies at EMU, contact jewish.studies@emich.edu .
Russ Olwell is an Eastern Michigan University professor of History
and Philosophy and director of its Gear Up program.
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