metro >> on the cover

A crowd has fun at a Jewlicious event.

Robin Schwartz I Contributing Writer

The founder and director of Jewlicious
Festivals has roots in Metro Detroit.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

each year. One event is held each summer; a
second festival takes place each winter on an
people,' Bookstein says."One of the reasons
old cruise ship.
I got so into creating musical events is that
"It's a mash up of a music festival and a
music was an integral part of my life as a
conference,
and it has about 90 programs
child:'
over
the
course
of three clays' Bookstein
Bookstein's family has deep roots in Metro
explains.
"Everything
from Jewish yoga to
Detroit. His father, grandfather and great-
conversations
with
famous
Jewish actors —
grandfather all owned Ace Furniture Co.;
it's
a
pluralistic
weekend
with
all kinds of
the decades-old family business was sold
offerings:'
in 1979. Bookstein attended high school
Tickets are currently on sale for the third
and graduated from Cranbrook Schools in
annual
SummerFest Music and Summer
Bloomfield Hills. He was active in the Jewish
Camp
Festival
Aug. 16-19 in Brandeis, Calif,
Socialist-Zionist youth movement Habonim
which
has
been
described as "Jewish sum-
Dror and spent summers at its Camp Tavor
mer
camp
for
grownups."
The event includes
near Kalamazoo.
concerts,
speakers,
horseback
riding, rock
Bookstein left town to attend the
climbing,
midnight
hikes,
bonfires,
swim-
University of Oregon and Oxford University,
ming,
yoga,
wine
and
pickle
making,
and
was ordained by Ohr Somayach Yeshiva in
more.
New York and is a former Fulbright Fellow to
"We get people from 20 states and 50 col-
Poland. In the 1990s, he and his wife, Rachel,
leges
and universities' Bookstein says. "Ifs a
worked for the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation
really
amazing pilgrimage'
in Poland. They founded Jewish youth cen-
Tickets
range from $60-$175 for the week-
ters in Krakow and Lodz, revived the Jewish
end.
Participants
can camp out or pay more
Community Center in Warsaw, established
for
a
room
in
a
bunk
or cottage. Right now,
the annual Warsaw Jewish Book Festival and
these
events
only
take
place in California, but
created a center for adult Jewish education.
Bookstein's
goal
is
to
take
the show on the
Since returning to the United States,
road
and
host
Jewlicious
Festivals
across the
Bookstein's focus has been uniting and
country.
He
already
creates
Shabbat
hospital-
inspiring young Jews across the country, first
ity
tents
at
national-music
festivals.
He's
also
as a campus rabbi and now as director of
a
member
of
the
band
Shankbone,
which
Jewlicious. He has four children: Moshe, 13,
performs Jewish and Indie music a few times
Sophia, 11, Shlomo, 9, and Naftali, 5.
"I believe passionately in the Jewish future, a year.
"Young people love festivals, and they love
and young people are the inspiration': he
music,"
he says."We've created this platform,
says."Our overall goal is to increase partici-
and
it
really
could be replicated all over the
pation in Jewish life."
country.
"I know Detroit because I grew up there.
Rockin' Out
The
Jewish community in Detroit has always
The concept of Jewlicious was created in a
been
more cohesive, but in other places
garage in Long Beach, Calif., in 2005. The
there's
a huge amount of assimilation. There's
first festival attracted about 100 people, and
an
unengaged
population of young Jews.
the crowds have grown bigger and bigger

10 July 12 4. 2012

Rabbi Yonah Bookstein, left, sitting on ledge, brought singer Matisyahu,

front center, to Motor City Moishe House last summer.

We're only tipping the scales somewhat; there
are so many people to reach and so many
people to engage. It's a huge undertaking."

Social Media
Bookstein relies heavily on social media to
get his message out. His Jewlicious.com blog
is said to be the Internet's most-read Jewish
blog. He also has podcast classes on Judaism
on iTunes, more than 5,000 "friends" on
Facebook and more than 8,000 followers on
Twitter. In 2009, he was the top vote-getter
in the Jewish Federation of North America's
inaugural Jewish Community Heroes Award,
receiving more than 90,000 online votes.
"I've made it my focus to connect with
young people: Bookstein says."If I want
to be relevant and reach the constituency I
believe is so critical to our future, I need to
be engaged in social media on a daily and
hourly basis:
Rabbi Jason Miller, a local Jewish leader,
entrepreneur and president of Access
Computer Technology in West Bloomfield,
follows Bookstein on the Web. Miller has his
own blog, RabbiJason.com, and thousands of
Facebook and Twitter followers. He believes
the "traditional borders of the global Jewish
community have disappeared through glo-
balization and new technology:' The two rab-
bis are in regular communication online, but
have not yet met in person.
"Yonah is one of these Jewish thought
leaders of the social media age;' Miller says.
"I read his blog regularly, and we mutually
re-post and cretweef each other's content
because we run in the same social media
circles.Yonah has an immense Twitter fol-
lowing and strong social clout, but it's the
way he uses those to push the boundaries
of the 'Jewish establishment' that has really
earned my respect. Not only is he a change
agent helping the Israeli and Diaspora com-
munities to think outside the box, but he also
exudes a contagious form of excitement and
optimism. I hope to meet him IRL (in real
life) soon:'

Rabbi B In The 'D'
Rabbi Bookstein tries to get back to
Michigan at least once a year to visit
friends and family members. Last sum-
mer, he brought his friend, Chasidic reg-
gae singer Matisyahu, to the Motor City
Moishe House in Detroit. The communal
home for young adults offers subsidized
housing and is meant to breathe new
Jewish life into the city. At least 50 people
showed up to meet Matisyahu and share
a kosher meal before his concert at St.
Andrews Hall.
After the visit, Bookstein wrote an article
for the Jewish Journal in Los Angeles. In
part, it reads: "When I was growing up in
Detroit in the 1970s and '80s, the notion
that Jews would return to the city — liter-
ally the areas of old Detroit that housed the
core of the community for a hundred years
— was a remote fantasy. The community
had been moving to the suburbs since the
1950s... However, Detroit's Jewish com-
munity, who live almost entirely in the sub-
urbs, is not ready to give up on a city that
has such a rich and vibrant Jewish past."
Just as Detroit is trying to revitalize and
reinvigorate Jewish life locally, Bookstein
is working to generate excitement and
increase participation among young Jews
nationwide. Jewlicious is attempting to
win a Chase and LivingSocial grant of
$250,000 through an online contest to fur-
ther Bookstein's efforts.
"Like everybody in the nonprofit sector,
it's challenging to fund these programs
and meet the financial demands of creat-
ing these kinds of opportunities for young
adults," he says." [Young Jews] care about
their Jewish future and want to be a part
of it. Business is booming. There's a huge
demand for what we do:'

❑

To learn more about SummerFest,
Aug. 16-19, or to order tickets, go to
www.Jewliciousfestival.com.

