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Editorial

Our Promising Jewish Future

Building a vibrant, engaging corps
of young and energizing leaders.

T

he future of Jewish Detroit lies in its
young professionals rising to the chal-
lenge of becoming forward-thinking,
even daring, communal leaders. There's no deny-
ing that. A smooth transition from our largely age
60-plus leadership to the next generation hinges
on active, engaged, thoughtful 30- and 40-some-
things.
That's why it's heartening to see the seeds of
a productive future handoff being sown in the
communal fields sprouting across the Detroit
Jewish community.
The number of young people between ages
18 and 49 is 30 percent of our Jewish commu-
nity's total population of 67,000, according to
the 2010 update to the Detroit Jewish Population
Study commissioned by the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit. Clearly, we have
the raw numbers to keep the commu-
nity on an upbeat trajectory.
The right future leadership, of
course, is critical, not only in address-
ing pressing local concerns and
challenges, but also in formulating a
resonant voice in support of Israel,
our beloved and embattled ancestral
homeland.
The new direction for our young
adults falls under the purview of
NEXTGen Detroit, a new division of
Federation's Annual Campaign department. It
incorporates three previously separate Federation
young adult agencies, CommunityNEXT, the
Young Adult Division (YAD) and Community
Birthright — together, drivers for outreach, lead-
ership development, meet-and-mingle events,
Annual Campaign support and free, peer-orient-
ed Israel trips.

A Stirring Takeoff
NEXTGen Detroit got off to a rousing start on
March 10 at its EPIC Event at the MGM Grand
Detroit. It was a fundraiser for Federation, but
more importantly, the sold-out, 600-person
event created the dynamic for involving our
young adults not only in social events, attractive
as those are for that age group, but also in the
Jewish community and its panoply of needs and
causes under the rubric of the Annual Campaign.
Time will tell if the euphoria of the moment
distills into an aggressive strategy for building a
better Jewish community around the vigor of our
young professionals.
Still, the human force field generated by the
EPIC Event — replete with new faces and ener-
gized attitudes — underscores that our young
professionals are eager to join forces for the good
of the community provided there's the right
spark. I applaud the host committee members,
who included event co-chairs Leah Bold and
Matthew Ran and YAD Campaign co-chairs
Rachel Wright and Steve Migliore. They gave par-

ticipants the epic push from peers so important
to building bonds of promise
among kindred spirits.
In an insightful JN interview
published March 1, Miryam
Rosenzweig said she jumped
at the chance to become
NEXTGen Detroit executive
director in October, when she
discovered that Federation, as
Miryam
a matter of policy, was enlist-
ing Gen Yers (ages 21-32) to be Rosenzweig
thought leaders.
"No one else is doing this',' she said. "I was
blown away. For an old-school Federation model,
one of the best, to open the door and say, We will
try this because we have to' — I want to be part
of that. I think this community will
be a model for the world in how to
engage the next generations in com-
munity and philanthropy — Jewish
and not. We have to reshape commu-
nal giving through their eyes."
The 21- to 45-year-old demograph-
ic responded to the tune of more than
$151,600 raised at the EPIC Event,
including 200 new donors to the
Annual Campaign, the all-important
bridge between all of our Jewish com-
munity's generations.

What A Presence!
In the afterglow of the EPIC Event, Jewish Detroit
sent 88 participants, the largest delegation, to
the second TribeFest in Las Vegas, a Jewish
Federations of North America gathering of 1,500
Jews ages 22-45. The March 25-27 powwow of
largely already-involved participants introduces
them to like-minded peers and reinforces why
their Jewish identity and sense of community
matters.
Rachel Wright, a Birmingham resident, was
national co-chair of TribeFest. "In the nine years
I have been involved in the young-adult Jewish
community, I have never felt more proud to be
from Detroit as I was this year at Tribefest," she
said. "Not only did our community make a pres-
ence with the largest representation in the coun-
try, but also we held the spotlight because of our
energy and excitement."
Scanning the audience from the stage, she
saw a different angle. "When you see nearly 90
Detroiters looking back at you:' she told the IN,
"you realize this community has your back. We
are all here to support each other — and that
is what causes everyone on the outside to want to
be a part of it."
Last summer, I asked the then-incoming YAD
president, Josh Levine, to describe his vision ("to
be the hub of a vibrant, young Jewish Detroit")
and mission ("to connect young Jewish adults, to
embrace Jewish identity and to develop the next

Our Jewish Future page 29

28 April 19 2012

Detroit - A Bulwark
Of Technion Support

I

t's Israel's biggest scien-
tific technological univer-
sity, one of the largest
Israel Institute
centers of applied research
of Technology
in the world and awash with
examples of the Detroit
Jewish community's interest and support. As a three-time Nobel
Prize winner in science, the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology
helps shape the global future. The 12,500-student campus in Haifa
has come a long way since its 1924 beginnings on the dusty, hope-
filled slopes of Mount Carmel.
Today, the Technion offers 53 undergraduate and 67 graduate
programs in engineering, science, medicine, architecture, educa-
tion and management. There are 600 faculty members. The uni-
versity is a leader in nanotechnology, medicine, life sciences and
engineering.
Against this backdrop, it's exciting to see 14 families with
Detroit roots represented in the 2011 President's Report as
Technion Guardians, a legacy achievement marking the highest
level of commitment during their lives: Steven and Emily Bellock,
Harold and Penny Blumenstein, Richard and Carol Blumenstein,
William Davidson, Dr. Joseph and Beatrice Epel, Alex and Toby
Etkin, Joseph and Sharon Freed, Salman, Evelyn, Stephen and
Nancy Grand, Joseph and Edythe Jackier, Lawrence and Eleanor
Jackier, D. Dan and Betty Kahn, Jay M. Kogan Foundation, Benard
L. Maas Foundation and Morris and Renee Rochlin.
Jewish Detroit's impact comes to mind on the heels of the
American Technion Society (ATS) Detroit Chapter hosting two stu-
dents and a professor to showcase the intellect, entrepreneurship
and opportunities of the Technion as a high-level contributor to
Israel's status as a high-tech powerhouse.
The Technion's Stephen & Nancy Grand Water Research
Institute illustrates how Detroit is bettering the Jewish state.
Israel depends on desalination, wastewater recovery and water
purification to yield usable, clean sources of water in the arid
region. Israel is a vital source of potable water to some of its Arab
neighbors.
A 1989 history of the ATS Detroit Chapter pulsates with names
of early activists who made the Technion matter here: Rabbi Leo
Franklin, Fred Butzel, Samuel Heyman, Leo Friedlaender, Alex
Taub. Butzel, dean of Detroit Jewry at the time, was honorary
president of the newly formed chapter in 1941. Other pioneer
officers were Harvey Goldman, Peter Altman, Leon Kay and Karl
Segall. Later leaders included Louis Redstone, Louis Gelfand,
David Segal, Harold Goodman, Samuel Brody, Max Kogan, Harry
Davidson, I.E. Goodman, Phil Ash, Hy Nathan, Jack Schreier,
Morris Schaver, David Safran, Hyman Safran, Irwin Green, Ed Levy
Sr., Ben Wilk and Phil Slomovitz.
As the years passed, the list of local Technion activists grew
with gusto. The Brody Building of the Lowdermilk Department
of Agricultural Engineering, the Ben Wilk Scholarship Fund, the
Maas-Michigan Dormitory and the Mechanical-Aeronautical
Engineering Laboratories (under the push of Sam Rich and
Sigmund Rohlik) became trailblazing major campus projects driv-
en by Detroiters.
Other projects with Detroit connections came incrementally
– endowed chairs; academic lectureships; funds for research,
scholarships, fellowships, buildings and facilities. In 1999, William
Davidson gave $20 million to create the Davidson Institute of
Science Education.
Lawrence Jackier of Bloomfield Hills is international chair of
the Technion Board of Governors. Scott Leemaster of Franklin is in
line to become ATS national president.
Detroit Jewry can be proud of its time-honored Technion ties. EJ

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Technion