>> ... Next Generation ...

Meet The Candidate

Republican longshot for the 11th District
state Senate seat lays out his positions.

LOUIS FINKELMAN I SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

T

he Republican-controlled
state legislature designed
our Senate districts to
ensure its party's power.
Many districts have a presumed
Republican majority; a few contain
as many Democrats as possible. The
11th district of the Michigan State
Senate, which includes Farmington,
Farmington Hills, Ferndale, Hazel Park,
Huntington Woods, Oak Park and
Southfield among other communities,
seems to be one of those Democratic
strongholds. Incumbent Vincent
Gregory, who won the Democratic
primary, seems certain to win the
election.
But he does have an opponent. An
adventuresome, ambitious, creative
young man won the Republican
primary unopposed, and Boris Tuman
has every intention of enjoying the
campaign. Tuman has overcome
obstacles to get where he is today,
and he does not seem fazed by future Boris Tuman
challenges or by his underdog status.
Born in Mozyr, Byelorussia, in the
Soviet Union 24 years ago, he arrived
synagogues, most often the Young
in Cleveland as a refugee two years
Israel of Oak Park and Congregation Or
later. He began his undergraduate work
Chadash in Oak Park.
at Yeshiva University in New York and
A computer programmer by
continued with a year and a half of
profession, Tuman has worked at Novi-
studies at a yeshivah, Nativ Aryeh, in
based PuzzleFlow for the past year and
Israel.
half, designing software for automated
In 2012 he moved to Oak Park to
printing. He also taught advanced
marry a local girl, Jamie (nee Rabotnick);
placement computer science at Akiva
Jamie and Boris have a young son,
Hebrew Day School in Southfield. Now
Ovadia Chaim. Tuman is completing
he has cut back on other activities to
his bachelor's degree at Wayne State
concentrate on his campaign for the
University, majoring in computer science, State Senate, though he still volunteers
with a minor in Near East studies.
as a part-time coach with the Berkley
He and his wife attend several local
Panthers, an independent wrestling club,

and helps with the synagogue youth
group NCSY. Since the historic flooding
on Aug. 11, he has helped many
neighbors clean up their contaminated
basements.

His Stand On The Issues
He has marked out clear positions for
his campaign.
Tuman describes himself as "a
moderate Republican, about as far left
as the Michigan Republican party goes."
He supports a woman's right to choose
and marriage equality for gays.
His goal is not smaller government
or larger government, but "elegant
government." Whenever possible, he
wants to see government accomplish
multiple goals with each policy move.
Here are some of his positions:
Our roads need fixing. In the era of
gas efficiency, gasoline taxes will not
generate the funds we need for this
purpose.
Marijuana should not be illegal. He
would like to see marijuana legalized
and taxed ... and the increased
revenue devoted to road repair. That
accomplishes multiple goals with one
elegant policy.
Roads really do need repair. "The law
allows municipalities way too much
time to repair potholes: 30 days," he
said. When someone reports a pothole,
cities need to fix it in a few days, not in
a month.
He favors school vouchers. Vouchers
give parents and children more leverage
in seeking strong schools. School
vouchers could potentially help alleviate
the tuition crisis felt by parents of
children in a yeshivah or day school.

Committed to rationalism, Tuman
would like to see the government take
data-driven action. Online schooling,
for example, seems to have the
potential to save money and provide
quality education for many students.
But it remains experimental, he said,
and "we need to monitor the data
carefully to make sure that this radical
transformation really works. Legislation
should be tied to evidence, not just to
hope."
On second-amendment issues, too, he
would like to see our policy data-driven,
not ideologically pure. Meta-analysis of
crime statistics kept by the Bureau of
Justice shows that few legally purchased
guns get used in committing crimes. Five
times as many crimes get committed by
people carrying guns purchased on the
black market. Limiting the black market
seems a rational strategy, but the states
cannot accomplish this; only the federal
government can do it.
Some people want to take strong
action to curb what Tuman calls
"phantom abuses," like welfare-
cheating and voter fraud, problems
that, according to the data, do not
really exist. He does not oppose voter
identification as long as the laws do not
put financial or other burdens on people
who want to vote. "People should not
have to pay for voter ID," he said.
If elected senator, Tuman would use
his media skills to make himself readily
accessible to his constituents, he said.
Ambitious, adventuresome, data-
driven, non-doctrinaire, Tuman looks
forward to his long-shot campaign
for State Senate in Michigan's District
11. ❑

uoar@Ea @lomn@ WcIang mc)7a npaar@EH ogm76.

new campaign to encourage young American
adults to make aliyah to Israel is using a
comical video to further its cause.
The new ad, put out last week by the Israeli
government's official advertising arm, features a young
man with a dreary future ahead of him — an office job,
a mortgage and love handles all await the subject of the
video.
Unless, of course, he decides to immigrate to Israel.
The video jumps off to showcase some of the more
pleasurable pursuits that greet new olim to the Jewish
state, like beaches, pita bread and fruit juice. Not to
mention "a free degree on Uncle Shmuel's tab."

114 September 18 • 2014

The ad ends with a prompt to click for more
information on making aliyah and, considering how
charming and quirky the video comes off, we're guessing
it gets plenty of hits. View the ad at bit.ly/1 qQDKFO.
In August, more than 100 young Jewish adults from
North America made aliyah to join the Israeli Defense
Forces, the majority of which came from Canada and the
United States.
The IDF made sure to give these new soldiers, who will
enlist in the IDF after a three-month preparatory program,
a warm welcome with a ceremony filled with singing,
dancing and welcome speeches by both older members
of the IDF and members of the Israeli government. ❑