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Editorial
Know Your Congressional Candidates
V
oting is not a privilege; it's a
responsibility. Voting rights
are precious, but voting
knowledgeably is more valuable to our
nation's wellbeing. Informed votes arise
from considered thought, not by whim.
This election season boasts an array
of important and tangled issues con-
fronting candidates for the U.S. Senate
and U.S. House. Do your homework.
The General Election is Nov. 4. Check
with your local clerk for availability of
absentee ballots.
There's no denying that Jews rally
around a pepper pot when it comes to
political discourse. Foremost, we want
Congress to stand strong with Israel,
the Jewish state. We want leaders that
defend the unique relationship between
the U.S. and Israel, a beacon of democ-
racy and hope in a region roiling amid
Islamist extremism, Palestinian terror,
Iran's pursuit of nuclear arms and wide-
spread Jew-hatred. Israel's security
must never become a political pawn.
What Matters
American Jews have a collective agen-
da that also features echoes of social
justice and equal rights we at the JN
repeat every national election cycle:
• Religious issues – such as church-
and-state separation; deceptive
mosques with alleged terrorist ties;
autopsy limits; and kosher food fraud.
• Labor issues – such as workplace
discrimination because of ethnicity or
gender.
• Human rights issues – such as civil
rights, free speech, a free press and
religious freedom in America; anti-
Semitism in Europe; genocide attempts
in sub-Saharan Africa; and Third World
hunger.
• Education issues – such as support
for court-approved special services for
private and parochial schools as well as
support for public education to fight illit-
erate teens and failing urban districts.
• Healthcare issues – getting the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Act, dubbed "Obamacare," to work
more beneficially on behalf of users.
With many Jews in the ranks of health-
care providers, the PPACA doubly
affects the Jewish community.
• Eldercare issues – such as the vari-
ety and funding of senior services, like
income and health security, to promote
aging-in-place. Notably, the Jewish
community has a higher percentage of
seniors than the population as a whole.
Detroit Jewry cares deeply about
its seniors but can't possibly meet
all of their needs; federal grants and
programs are essential supplemental
sources of support.
• Immigration issues – As Jews, our
heritage gives us a particular under-
standing of what it means to be a
stranger in a strange land. Most of our
refugee forbears arrived with nothing;
many achieved success in seeking the
American Dream. Fair and reasonable
immigration reform should be a hall-
mark of Jewish community activism.
Jews typically look toward candidates
who share an affinity for people who
are vulnerable or at risk – for example,
anyone who is frail, has a disability,
has a special need or is economically
stressed because of sincere factors.
Still, Jewish communal services and
their niche audience – like other ethnic
arrangements – thrive only through a
blend of public and private funding and
volunteer support. Tax support is not
bottomless.
Michigan Jews want Washington rep-
resentatives who buy into Detroit's
rise from bankruptcy. A vibrant Detroit
would help create the job prospects
and urban buzz to draw young profes-
sionals living elsewhere and keep them
here. Federal programs and grants are
central to revitalizing Detroit, certainly
its schools, police and mass transit, but
also its social services and infrastruc-
ture.
In deciding who should represent
the Great Lake State on Capitol Hill,
Michigan voters further should con-
sider who would best help:
• Grow Michigan's high-tech startup
sector and improve the economic cli-
mate for the state's defense contrac-
tors and auto companies.
• Expand our state's inpatient medi-
cal tourism, by which Michigan serves
as a hub for domestic and internation-
al patients seeking specialized medical
care.
• Develop a rail line or another form
of mass transit that links Ann Arbor,
Detroit Metro Airport and Downtown
Detroit to spur a Midwest economic
corridor in Southeast Michigan.
• Resolve the disputes that have
stalemated construction of a new
bridge over, and a new rail tunnel
under, the Detroit River, an interna-
tional crossing.
Vote smart on Nov. 4. Study up
before you line up alongside a candi-
date for Senate and House in the 114th
United States Congress.
❑
Guest Column
Standing Strong As A Jew
W
hen you think of the teenage
generation, who do you see
standing before you: the lead-
ers of tomorrow or those of the future?
Think of yourself as a teenager, a 15-, 16-,
17- or 18-year-old. Did you ever imagine
you would be where you are today?
When you look out into the Jewish
community, what do you see of the youth
standing before you? I bet you see them
taking "selfies," texting their friends or not
eating their food because they need to take
a picture first. You might see them rebel-
ling against Judaism and anything their
parents or the older generations support.
You might not even see anything stand-
ing before you because the teenagers of our
Jewish community dropped out after their
b'nai mitzvah.
I see something different. I see a great
challenge to get my fellow peers and our
communities engaged in their youth. I see
this because standing before this challenge,
I see myself.
As a teenager, I can honestly say I would
not have continued with my Jewish life if
it weren't for youth engagement from my
community. I have had the great blessing
of having a youth organization in my life
called NFTY. North American Federation
62
October 2 • 2014
of Temple Youth has brought many things
into my life. It has brought a meaning-
ful, nurturing community in which I
can explore my Jewish identity. It has
brought healthy, innovative
programming that expands
my views. Most importantly,
it has brought me my future.
NFTY has brought me lifelong
friends, a lifelong connection
to Judaism and lifelong discov-
eries of myself.
When the older genera-
tion sees a teenager standing
before them, they don't always
say they see the future. I have
found NFTY is a community
that builds leaders of tomor-
row — and today. I am proud to say I am a
teen leader in the Jewish world.
Through the lovely community I have
found via NFTY, I have grown into a leader
for my temple, my Federation, my youth
group and now as NFTY-MI regional presi-
dent. I am just one of 20 regional presi-
dents that help lead, along with the North
American NFTY board, 7,000 Reform
Jewish teens in a strong, ever-evolving
movement of youth engagement across
North America.
As a 17-year-old from Waterford, only
a few people care about my voice, my
beliefs, my opinions and my values. As an
NFTYite, along with my 7,000 Reform teen
peers, I have a strong voice for my
social justice opinions, my values
and my beliefs. It is encouraged,
and extremely important, that
through this youth movement a
NFTYite's voice is heard.
A 17-year-old girl from
Michigan can rise in the rankings
of the Reform movement and
change things on a global scale
because it isn't just her standing
before the world; it is the Reform
Jewish youth of North America
standing up collectively. That
makes a difference.
There is a quote from Talmud B'rachot
28b: Da lifnei mi atah omeid. "Know before
whom you stand." I stand before you as
an NFTYite, a Jewish teen who has found
herself through youth engagement. I stand
before you as a leader with a mission to
build a safe, strong Jewish community by
empowering peers through inclusion out-
reach and engagement.
I stand for the leaders that were made
through NFTY. I stand for the Jewish teens
that elected me. I stand for the unengaged,
disengaged and under-engaged teens. I
stand for the leaders of tomorrow who just
need the opportunity to lead.
I stand to provide opportunities to all
Reform Jewish teens to experience the
wonderful community that I have. I stand
to change that face of youth engagement on
all levels. I stand here to serve at the need
of our Jewish community to help it evolve
to new heights.
When an adult looks at a Jewish teenager
standing before them, what do they see:
The future? Who knows, but the selfie-
taking teen only needs to be given the
value to grow.
Da lifnei mi atah omeid. Know before
whom you stand.
You stand before the future of tomorrow.
Who will they be?
❑
Rebecca McDonald, 17, of Waterford is a
Waterford Mott High School senior. She attends
Temple Beth El in Flint.
For more information about NFTY or
youth engagement in general, contact
Becca at mi-president@nfty.org or
visit the website www.nfty.org/mi.