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Editorial
Be Informed In Sizing Up
14th District Candidates
A
ugust primaries do mat-
ter. They choose major
party candidates for the
November general election and direct
public attention to pressing issues of
the season. Such is the case in the
14th Congressional District, a new, piv-
otal district that crosses Oakland and
Wayne counties. It's a true regional dis-
trict that links our urban core in Detroit
to suburbia as it wends it way from
southwest Detroit, Downtown Detroit,
the Grosse Pointes and Harper Woods
to Southfield, Farmington Hills, West
Bloomfield, Keego Harbor and Pontiac.
On Aug. 7, district voters will whittle
to one candidate the five Democrats
running: U.S. Reps. Gary Peters and
Hansen Clarke, Southfield Mayor
Brenda Lawrence, former state Rep.
Mary Waters and attorney Bob Costello.
Both Peters and Clarke are incumbent
representatives, but not in the new
14th, jaggedly drawn by the Michigan
Republican Party and signed into law
by Gov. Rick Snyder. There's no district
incumbent, yet several high-profile
candidates, making the primary critical.
Government contractor John Hauler is
the only Republican. Attorney Leonard
Schwartz is the Libertarian candidate.
Diverse and opinionated as we are,
Jews still have a political agenda that
echoes in areas that embrace equal
rights and social justice, not just for-
eign policy:
• Religious issues — such as church-
and-state separation, autopsy limits
and kosher food fraud;
• Senior issues — such as select-
ing and funding services (the Jewish
community has a higher percentage of
elderly than the population as a whole);
• Labor issues — such as workplace
discrimination because of ethnicity or
gender;
• Human rights issues — such as
European anti-Semitism, sub-Saharan
Africa genocide and Third World
hunger;
• Education issues — such as tuition-
funded school vouchers and support
for public education to fight illiterate,
troubled teens.
• Other homefront issues — such
as immigration-related profiling and
healthcare costs.
Vulnerable Jews are at risk locally
— older adults who are frail, have a
disability or have a fixed income; our
special needs community; breadwinners
who have lost their job or their home;
young families turning to Federation
and its stressed agencies for help.
Jewish voters must look for candi-
dates who grasp how Jewish communal
services blend with public and private
funds as well as volunteer efforts.
Foremost on the Jewish agenda is
congressional support for the U.S.-
The Civic Engagement Coalition, including the Jewish Community Relations
Council, hosted a July 1 forum, moderated by Detroit Free Press Editorial Page
Editor Stephen Henderson, foreground, at Congregation Shaarey Zedek, Southfield.
Featured were 14th District contenders Bob Costello, John Hauler, Brenda Lawrence,
Gary Peters and Mary Waters. Candidate Hansen Clarke did not attend.
Israel relationship, notably continued
security assistance as Israel confronts
a nuclear arms-minded Iran, a Muslim
Brotherhood regime in Egypt, and the
rearming of Hamas and Hezbollah.
America also is integral in striving
to restart talks between Israel and
the Palestinians as well as striving to
mitigate the United Nations and other
international efforts tilted against
Israeli interests.
Congressional issues with a Michigan
bent are plentiful: spurring business
growth; retraining displaced workers;
monitoring the fragile auto industry;
providing federal support for regional
initiatives such as an Ann Arbor-Metro
Airport-Detroit rail line or a form of
mass transit to create the climate
for generating more jobs in the city;
developing the aerotropolis concept to
transform the Metro-Willow Run airport
corridor into an economic powerhouse;
building stronger ties with Canada as
we grapple with the need for both a
new bridge and rail tunnel.
Meanwhile, we in Southeast Michigan
particularly are pushing to attract more
young professionals, who we desper-
ately need more of. The Jewish commu-
nity has been especially hard hit by the
flight of young adults to trendy urban
hotspots.
Further, Congress must be resolute
in fighting Islamist extremism and
deceptive mosques that endanger the
West, Israel and Jews everywhere; in
upholding such arrowheads of liberty
as religious freedom, civil rights, a free
press and free speech; in joining with
others in the nonprofit sector to retain
the charitable gift tax deduction incen-
tive; and in strengthening Medicare,
Medicaid and Social Security, namely
government aid for long-term care,
prescription drug coverage and aging-
in-place. Supreme Court nominees are
always a high priority. So is tax reform.
More than ever, we need congres-
sional representatives who not only
comprehend the high stakes of foreign
affairs, but also the pulsating local con-
cerns of their constituents. D'
The JN's 14th District endorsement
appears next week.
Commentary
Taglit Birthright: A Big Success At 13
W
e recently were privileged
to lead the first Birthright
Donor Fundraising
Mission to Israel. What follows is our
description of our trip and the Taglit
Birthright Israel experience.
This fundraising mission was clearly
different from many. Certainly, there
were the usual site visits, but what
set this trip apart from all the others
was the opportunity to connect with
the Taglit Birthright Israel partici-
pants. Our group encountered them
on a daily basis, experiencing Israel
through their eyes, feelings and per-
sonal stories.
These young adults eagerly talked
about the meaning of this trip for
them. While many feelings were dis-
cussed, the one word repeatedly used
24
July 12 • 2012
was the word
"transformative."
Each participant,
diaspora Jew and
Israeli, believed
their lives and
connection to one
another and Israel
had been posi-
tively changed
forever.
The history of
Taglit Birthright
Israel is now fairly well known.
Thirteen years ago, philanthropists
Charles Bronfman and Michael
Steinhardt shared a dream. Their
dream was the controversial thought
that 10 days in Israel for Jewish
young people between the ages of
18 and 26 would
actually have a
lasting impact on
the participants
and the Jewish
world.
In this, the bar
mitzvah year of
Taglit Birthright
Israel, no one can
possibly chal-
lenge the wisdom
of their plan.
Thirteen years later, 300,000 dias-
pora Jews and 60,000 Israel Defense
Forces members have experienced
this transformational journey. Clearly,
lives have been changed both here
and in Israel. Moreover, as a result of
a 10-year longitudinal study, we have
clear scientific documentation of its
positive impact.
Not only has this dream become a
reality, but also the Jewish world has
more than just anecdotes to justify
the need for continuing widespread
support of this program. Leonard
Saxe and Barry Chazen of Brandeis
University in Waltham, Mass., have
provided us with a detailed study of
the first decade of Taglit Birthright
Israel. Their results show increased
and continuing commitment to
Judaism, decreased intermarriage
rates and positive feelings about the
centrality of Israel in the participants
surveyed.
However, science and dream
fulfillment are not enough. Because
of a funding shortfall, less than half