>> ... Next Generation ...

- City, Many Voices

Growing In Eden Gardens: How food, Judaism and place bring us together.

W

hen I returned to Detroit
demographic shifts and consequent
'tke-sc,
from Adamah, the Jewish
racial tension. Also, most Jewish
Environmental Fellowship in
communities I've known in my life
2008, I had only two things on
have been defined by insularity
my mind: food and Jews.
and exceptionalism, which led to
Having grown up in the Detroit
my belief that, because
suburbs, I had never before grown my
the city of Detroit is 85
own food. Coming of age in a secular
percent black, any Jewish
family that belonged to a large
renaissance within its
Reform congregation, I had never
borders was more likely
sung Jewish songs and had never
to result in gentrification
celebrated Shabbat.
than integration.
At Adamah, we sang at every
Then, I met Chava.
opportunity and felt the meaning of
Born Karen Knox, Chava
Shabbat through the grateful rest
grew up in Detroit with
of our aching muscles. From the
Blair Nosan
the knowledge that
moment I returned to Detroit, this
her great-grandmother
time to the urban center instead of
was a Russian Jew who
the third-ring suburb of my youth, I wondered if
married an African American in the
IADS member Ginger Hopkins teaches young attendees
there would be some way to lead a Jewish life as
South in the late 1800s. I met Chava
from
the neighborhood and the shul how to plant garlic at
rich and grounded as life at Adamah had been.
in 2009, around the time when
our
Sukkot
in Eden Gardens event.
There were a few realities that allowed me to
she was about a year into a ritual
excuse this as an impossible dream.
conversion process. By 2012, she was
First, most of Detroit's Jewish population
celebrating her bat mitzvah amidst whoops and
few years, I have become one of those people.
exited the city for the suburbs over the course
hollers like nothing you can imagine, because,
Also in Chava's court are her neighbors, with
of the 1950s and '60s. Much of this exit was
you see, Chava is the kind of person a whole lot
whom she founded a block club in 2009.
motivated by post-WWII upward mobility,
of people can fall in love with. And over the last
Chava told me from the earliest days of our

Innovative

At

•

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ofra

Chava

And Noticed!

CommunityNEXT named one of North America's most innovative Jewish nonprofits.

C

ommunityNEXT (CNXT),
a program of the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit's NEXTGen Detroit
Department, has been named one of
the nation's 50 most innovative Jewish
nonprofits in Slingshot '12-'13, a resource
guide for Jewish innovation.
"Every federation
shares CNXT's needs
and goals, but CNXT is
successful by breaking
the old mold of
federation outreach to
young people by asking
questions, by providing
participant-motivated
programming and by
striking a chord with
(its) target audience," said one Slingshot
evaluator.
CNXT has been attracting and engaging
thousands of young Jews across Metro
Detroit and beyond since its inception in
January 2010. Created with the mission
of providing young Jewish adults avenues
for achieving a dynamic lifestyle in Metro
Detroit, CNXT offers a wide range of

social, cultural and professional events and
programs.
Inspired by the success of CNXT, last
spring, Federation expanded its young
adult outreach and launched NEXTGen
Detroit, a division that brings together
existing Federation programs focused on
attracting, engaging and retaining the next
generation of Jewish
Detroiters. CNXT is a
key program within the
division, along with
Community Birthright
and Federation's Young
Leadership group.
"CommunityNEXT
burst onto the scene
as the vanguard
in outreach and
engagement for Jews in their 20s and
early 30s," said NEXTGen Detroit Director
Miryam Rosenzweig. "Now, as a part of
the broader NEXTGen Detroit division, it
still carries the critical charge of reaching
and connecting with that audience. Across
all of Federation, the entry of young people
into our community remains a top priority,
and CommunityNEXT continues to lead the

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November 22 • 2012

way."
Rachel Lachover, associate director of
CommunityNEXT and the current leader
of the organization within Federation, has
been with CNXT since the beginning. "The
approach we took was very different than
anything Federation had ever tried, and
in many ways our leadership took a risk
in supporting us," she said. "They truly
handed over the reins and let us develop
this in a way that would be relevant to our
audience, and because of that we've been
able to successfully redefine outreach for
young Jews in Detroit."
CommunityNEXT was created by
Federation CEO Scott Kaufman and Jordan
Wolfe, who served as the first director of
the program. The current chairs are Matt
Ran and Sara Bloomberg.
"There was an opportunity to rethink a
federation's role around engaging the next
generation and it has nothing to do with
fundraising," said Wolfe. "It is all about
building community in a holistic way that is
relevant to the next generation."
Kaufman added, "The key measure of
success for CNXT is in in the young Jewish
people who decide to stay in Detroit and

Rachel Lachover Scott Kaufman

Miryam
Rosenzweig

Jordan Wolfe

put down roots here or who come back
home from other cities. The fact that it's
really happening means that our efforts
have been worthwhile."
Slingshot's organizations grapple with
concerns in Jewish life such as identity,
community, social justice and tradition,
each with different missions, perspectives
and strategies. The Slingshot resource
guide is distributed to 7,500 funders,

