One City, Many Voices
Why Detroit?
n the months following Hur-
talization of Detroit and its _Jewish
ricane Katrina, our country
community. I have been humbled
turned its eyes to New Orleans,
to realize that while much of my
shocked. Questions were asked
motivation for moving was about
about the federal government's ap-
building community, I have little
titude, the Army Corps of
idea about how to best do
Engineers and local Louisi-
so. When I first arrived, I,
ana government. Time and
too, was not aware of the
again the question was
nuances that make up the
raised: Why New Orleans?
way we talk about, interact
Why rebuild a city built
with and build community
on swampland? To many,
in Detroit.
the answer was simple:
The recent shift in the
community, culture and
image of Detroit has been
legacy.
from that of extreme crime
Miria m Liebman
Spending time in New
and poverty to that of a
Spec ial to the
Orleans through AVODAH:
blank slate and a place of
Jew ish News
The _Jewish Service Corps,
opportunity. What I have
I became inspired by what
found is that this language,
it meant to build commu-
although intended to be
nity after unparalleled devastation,
both positive and powerful, excludes
particularly, Jewish community.
all people experiencing high poverty
Having grown up in Farmington
and low opportunity currently living
Hills, I moved to Detroit a year and a
in Detroit.
half ago to participate in the revi-
Best intentions cannot save De-
1
troit or its people. We must begin
with humility and respect. We must
highlight positive efforts of those
engaged in community-based work
currently in the city. We must ac-
knowledge our privilege to love, to
build relationships and to experience
opportunity.
In his 1963 speech "Religion and
Race," Rabbi Abraham Joshua Hes-
chel aptly noted, "... the history of
mankind may be described as the
history of the tension between power
and equality."
I fear that the more the Jewish
community assumes power among
those rebuilding Detroit, the more
we ignore equality in the name of re-
vitalization. We all envision a better,
safer, healthier Detroit and yet, there
is no easy solution nor quick fix. In
1963, Heschel advocated for social
equality. In 2012, our city remains
so unequal that to many, we are
the epitome of American industrial
failure.
This fall, I will leave Detroit to en-
ter my first year of rabbinical school.
After many series of interviews, I was
finally asked, "Why Detroit? Why care
so deeply about a city as depressed
as ours?"
I knew how to answer questions
about my Jewish journey, why the
rabbinate and even my relationship
with the Divine. But "Why Detroit?"
struck me. In the end, the answer
was simple: community, culture and
legacy. E
Miriam Liebman, a proud Detroit resident and
active member of the Isaac Agree Downtown
Synagogue, spent a year in AVODAH: The
Jewish Service Corps, has been an educator
for Bend the Arc domestic service learning
programs, and will soon bring her passion
for learning and social justice to New York,
where she will enter rabbinical school at the
Jewish Theological Seminary.
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May 17 • 2012
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