points of view SALLY'S Commentary DESIGN BOUTIQUE Responsibility Presents: R ZQI DA 2014 Spring 2014 Trunk Show March 13, 14, 15 Thursday, Friday And Saturday Come in for Special Occasion and Relaxed Sportswear. Inside Orchard Mall Maple and Orchard Lake Rd. West Bloomfield, MI 48322 248-626-0886 crt)NIE DAlcD ANISH HUNGER 03.297.149 @ 7PM Royal Oak Music Theatre 318 W 4th St, Royal Oak, Michigan 48067 ning for Matisyahu KOL HAKAVOD [U OF M'S PREMIERE JEWISH A CAPELLA GROUP] CASH BAR RAFFLE LIGHT SNACKS TICKETS S36 www.yadezra.orgivanishhunger School Aged children welcome flUSL WIRIER= :o-Chairs Nancy Kleinfeldt and Ari Dolgin Nancy Baron Lauren Slutsky and Jeb Belchinsky Elena Berlin Jason Brown Marci Frank Yehudit Jubas Hannah Katz Jason Katz Elena Lofman Alan Reiter Michelle Rubin Amy Schlussel Richard Simtob Karee Strome Bubba Urdan Sherri Well Barbara Zaltz 0 C/3 0 Ct, EVENT ROCK STAR SPONSOR Applebaum Family Compass Fund William Davidson Foundation Lisa and Scott Stern REGGAE SPONSOR Charlotte and Gary Gilbert Aimee and Richard Simtob MUSICAL SPONSOR Dusya's Philanthropic Fund Joel E. Jacob Family Star Trax Event Productions ACOUSTIC SPONSOR Anonymous Elaine Beresh Elena and Max Berlin Susan and David Feber If you can't attend, we hope you'll JOIN US IN HELPING VANISH HUNGER WITH A DONATION at www.yadezra.org . Allyson and Darren Findling and family Mille and Jonny Kest Nancy and Nossonal Kleinfeldt Sarah and Martin Kornblum MachineTools.com Mango Languages Jack and Miriam Shenkman Debbie and Jeffrey Supowit *Yad Ezra Feetlno .ungry Jewish Families 248.548.3663 189 0 30 March 6 • 2014 esponsibility. It's a funny thing, respon- sibility. You're not always sure when you have it, you can't always measure it, and you're almost never sure when it's completely fulfilled. From space shuttle disasters to failed governments, from corpo- rate meltdowns to community agency troubles, one thing is for certain about responsibil- ity. From 0-rings to oh no's, the one common word in the rear view mirror of all such matters regarding responsibility can be plainly seen: SHARED. As we face another crisis in our own community, this time involving our beloved Jewish Community Center, the same questions asked about all the previous mat- ters of this type are being asked again regarding responsibil- ity. Who had it? Who should have seen it coming? Who should have done something sooner? Who is to blame? The answer: Too many people to count, and most importantly, not any single person. Lay and professional lead- ership have stepped up and leaned in over the past 20 years to try to create a sustain- able operation and business model for the complicated busi- ness that is our JCC. The plain and simple fact is, we are still working on it. What we need now is hon- est and open communication, critical and crisp decision mak- ing, and a sense of empathy. The problem we now face at the JCC is the cumulative and compounded impact of years of legacy issues and the perpetual struggle of mission vs. margin. We now have an opportunity to resolve this struggle in favor of our community. However, beyond settling the debts and creating yet another plan, we need to adopt two essential pillars to guide this moment: First, we need to dig deep and grab the learning. Let's under- stand the true anatomy of this "[The ICC] crisis was not born yesterday, and it has many parents." crisis and invest in a fresh look at how management and gover- nance, and how Federation and its agencies work together. As a community, we have evolved over the past 100-plus years a pretty enviable model that most times gets us to the right answer. However, like most systems, our system of management and governance can some- times go stale; and until we can be truly introspective about what works and what is broken, we risk other failures. Secondly, while we are paying the bills, setting the JCC on a new course and working not to leave the learning behind, we need to be respectful. The lay and pro- fessional leaders of the Jewish Federation, the United Jewish Foundation and our agencies do what they do because they are passionate about our cause. Their commitment is boundless and deeply rooted. Sometimes when we are deal- ing with "bet the house" issues, the search for solving the responsibility equation causes us to want to point fingers or make assumptions without all the facts. Let's not make this personal and chase ghosts that are not there. The reported financial man- agement issues at the JCC are not the root cause of what will now be required to resolve the open issues. This crisis was not born yesterday, and it has many parents. So let's stay on the high ground that is the Detroit Jewish community and channel our energy to resolving, learning and looking to a brighter future. Mark Davidoff is the managing partner of the Michigan practice of Deloitte LLP and a past president of the JCC.