Comm
Force
Chaldean-Jewish initiative eyes
strengthened relationships and
expanded ethnic horizons.
Robert Sklar
I
This photo of Martin Manna and Arthur Horwitz,
taken at Wayne State University's Old Main in
Detroit, appeared with the original story in the
Jewish News and the Chaldean News announcing
the Building Community Initiative.
The ultimate strength of the
The backbone of the initiative continues to be
dynamic initiative binding
people-to-people engagement and interaction.
Chaldeans and Jews in Metro
— Arthur Horwitz, Jewish News
Detroit will be the long-term
relationships that are devel-
oped and nurtured, be they
friend-to-friend, business-to-
business, agency-to-agency or
charity-to-charity.
While aiming to bring together
two significant ethnic communities
— Metro Detroit is home to 121,000
Chaldeans and 67,000 Jews — the
Building Community Initiative (BCI)
also spotlights a model collaborative
behavior for Southeast Michigan.
Beyond survey research by the
University of Michigan-Dearborn that
shows BCI is truly changing attitudes
and perceptions of Chaldeans toward
Jews and Jews toward Chaldeans, the
yardstick for success will be the close-
ness between the communities that
endures long after the formal bridging
36
May 3 • 2012
process concludes. This fragile experi-
ment, building on the hope of improv-
ing the world together, has appealed
to all age groups, from preteens to
seniors.
"The backbone of the initiative con-
tinues to be people-to-people engage-
ment and interaction:' said Arthur
Horwitz, Detroit - Jewish News publisher
and BCI co-host along with Martin
Manna, Chaldean News co-publisher.
A peek into the future reveals that
planning will begin soon for a joint
Jewish-Chaldean sojourn to Israel and
the Holy Land in 2013. Co-hosts will
be the local Jewish and Chaldean com-
munities.
Shifting Sands
BCI and its emerging structure
represent an organizational umbrella
that provides a conceptual vision as
well as a strategic direction and access
to resources, while also maintaining
an educational narrative in the co-
sponsor publications. The Jewish
News is a weekly, while the Chaldean
News publishes monthly. They are
situated about a half-mile apart along
Northwestern Highway in Southfield.
Yes, local Jews and Chaldeans are
mingling and engaging more. We're
building cultural bridges that could
serve as a national model.
But moving forward, the big test
for the publications not only will be
furnishing sustained leadership and
encouragement, but also having the
confidence to rely on BCI workgroup
co-chairs and their able team members
to turn engagement ideas into
interactive successes.
"We'll continue to build broader
and deeper relationships among
individuals and organizations in the
Chaldean and Jewish communities,"
When Arthur and I launched the Building Community
Initiative, we never would've imagined the impact it has
had on this region and our communities.
— Martin Manna, Chaldean News