metro
Interfaith Effort
Local leaders gather at U.S. Capitol
to unite in support of Detroit.
Rabbi Joseph Krakoff, Bishop Edgar Vann Jr., Andy Levin and Rabbi Steve
Gutow on Capitol Hill for a briefing on the role of the interfaith community in
protecting Detroit's most vulnerable and helping to restore the city
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14
November 28 • 2013
he Detroit interfaith commu-
nity and the Jewish Council
for Public Affairs, a national
leader in interfaith work, came together
Oct. 30 at the U.S. Capitol to focus on
the potential human costs and the city's
future in light of Detroit's bankruptcy.
The panel discussion and briefing,
"A City on the Edge: Repairing and
Rebuilding Detroit," hosted by the
Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA)
and the Jewish Community Relations
Council (JCRC) of Metropolitan Detroit,
brought together religious leaders
of many faiths and underscored the
unique role the faith community can
play in supporting and revitalizing
Detroit.
Detroit leaders included Bishop
Edgar Vann Jr. of Second Ebenezer
Church in Detroit, Andy Levin of
Project Micah and Rabbi Joseph
Krakoff of Congregation Shaarey
Zedek in Southfield.
"The faith community has a long-
standing tradition of social justice
and standing up for people who are
not being heard:' said JCPA President
Rabbi Steve Gutow. "We have gathered
on Capitol Hill today to raise our voic-
es for residents of Detroit and remind
our nation about the human toll of
municipal bankruptcy.
"Dramatically slashing pensions
would not save Detroit but would sow
the seeds of deeper, long-term eco-
nomic problems for the city and its
residents. This isn't about pensions or
politics; it's about people:'
Vann said, "In over 37 years as an
urban pastor in Detroit, I have seen
various cycles, and Detroit is cur-
rently a poster child for every urban ill
imaginable. It is an economic Katrina.
Through interfaith work, I have always
tried to build bridges to unite people,
not walls that divide. We came togeth-
er today to seek collaborative solutions
to Detroit's problems, and I am hon-
ored to speak at the U.S. Capitol about
the need for national attention:'
Levin said, "The question of the
hour is not whether Detroit may
legally declare Chapter 9 bankruptcy,
but whether our nation can avoid
moral bankruptcy. The question of the
hour is whether people of all faiths
and backgrounds can come together
and agree on the moral imperative of
rebuilding cities whose people have
been left behind by economic change
beyond their control.
"When I see Detroit, I see people
working together to plant seeds of
redemption and change, at both the
macro, systemic level and at the micro
level — one block, one new business,
one new nonprofit at a time. We start-
ed Project Micah precisely to enlist
many more Jews in interfaith efforts
to build a just new Detroit of broadly
shared prosperity:' he said.
Krakoff said, "The moral, ethical
voice ushering from the mouths of
Detroit's religious leaders is compel-
ling and must resound from the city
to the suburbs.
"I am talking about a unified voice
that is most powerful when it brings
together multiple religious traditions
across denominational lines. Working
with our politicians and the citizenry
as a whole, we are poised to make
a lasting impact on the landscape
of Detroit as we work together for
a vibrant present and an exciting
future. We are truly better
together."
❑