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Publisher's Notebook

Editorial

Rosh Hashanah Reflections

The JN - enhancing your Jewish world every week of the year.

T

he days prior to Rosh Hashanah
are infused with introspection as
we review a year about to con-
clude and anticipate a year of possibilities
and opportunities. Our world
is complicated and dangerous,
awesome and inspiring, within
our grasp to understand —
and beyond it.
With or without divine
intervention, our deeds and
words have the power to
destroy and create.
Rockets designed to maim
and terrorize innocents are
launched — cheerfully and
haphazardly — from crowded
schoolyards and hospitals.
Centrifuges are spinning —
for peaceful purposes only, of course
— while much of the world's popula-
tion struggles daily for a few ounces of
drinkable water. Media talking heads and
political hacks are gleefully and ruthlessly
trashing the rich and the poor, the immi-
grant and the Native American, the Jew
and the Muslim.
Rockets designed to explore the outer
reaches of our solar system are transmit-
ting breathtaking images of the small-
est of planets. Drip irrigation, filtered
wastewater and desalinated seawater
are providing life and hope to millions.
Social media platforms are giving voice
to the previously silent, overlooked and
oppressed.
Regardless of the year, the Jewish News
straddles numerous intersections — past,
present and future; local, national and
international; print and digital — to
provide you, our valued readers, with
unique, useful information and insights.
We reflect upon the Year 5775 and
take pride in the awards for excellence
earned by our staff from the Michigan
Press Association and the Society of
Professional Journalists. We were blessed
to engage in myriad partnerships and
sponsorships for the betterment of our
Jewish and secular communities. And,
unlike most media outlets serving other
American Jewish communities, the Jewish
News maintained its editorial indepen-
dence and operated its business in a pru-
dent manner.
Did we make errors in news judg-
ment? Yes. Did we embarrass ourselves
with occasional typographical errors?
Yes. Did we strive to provide balanced
reporting and different perspectives on
difficult subjects, such as the Iran nuclear
deal, and myriad challenges at the Jewish

50

September 10 • 2015

jh

Community Center of Metropolitan
Detroit? Yes. Did we stick our necks out
editorially in an attempt to provide lead-
ership? Often.
For the Jewish News, the
challenge remains reflecting
the realities of our Jewish
community. While we occa-
sionally engage in cheerlead-
ing — especially when it
relates to making our commu-
nity more attractive to young
Jewish adults and their chil-
dren — we recognize that our
credibility and believability
derive from portraying reality.
Yes, we have good Jewish
schools and a tradition of
philanthropic generosity. We
have remarkably talented teachers, rab-
bis, medical researchers and community
professionals. And, we have drug dealers,
spouse and child abusers, slumlords and
prostitutes.
So, what can you expect from the
Jewish News in the Year 5776?
• A commitment to providing a publi-
cation you look forward to receiving —
and are proud to share with others;
• An editorial staff quarterbacked
weekly by Managing Editor Jackie
Headapohl and enhanced by the pro-
fessionalism and wisdom of Story
Development Editor Keri Guten Cohen,
Senior Copy Editor David Sachs, Arts
& Life Editor Lynne Konstantin and
Editorial Assistant Sy Manello, that cares
about the community, is respectful of its
history and recognizes that it is writing
new chapters of that history;
• Advertisers who appreciate and
value your patronage and are well served
through the efforts of Chief Operating
Officer Kevin Browett, Sales Director
Keith Farber, Senior Account Executive
Melissa Litvin and Account Executives
Kathryn Andros, Wendy Flusty, Annette
Kizy and Paige Lustig;
• A courteous and conscientious office
staff comprised of Controller Craig
Phipps, Customer Service Manager Zena
Hosley, Billing Coordinator Pamela
Turner, Collections Analyst Hazel Bender
and Sales Manager Assistant Lisa Wren;
• Visually alluring products imagined
by Creative Director Deborah Schultz and
brought to life by the production staff at
Farago & Associates comprising Manager
Scott Drzewiecki and Designers Michelle
Sheridan, Amy Pollard, Pam Sherevan
and Susan Walker;
• Initiatives that further provide you

with the information you desire on the
media platforms of your choice.
In March of 1942, Philip Slomovitz
launched the Jewish News with a vision
for uniting, educating and informing the
Detroit Jewish community during one
of the bleakest times in world history.
Zionism — the need for a nation-state of
the Jewish people — is irrevocably baked
into the DNA of the Jewish News. Former
Editor Robert Sklar infuses Slomovitz's
passion for Israel in the opinions and
analyses he still contributes periodically
to our editorial pages.
As it approaches its 75th anniversary in
March of 2017, the Jewish News has much
to celebrate. With its focus on serving
Detroit's Jewish community, it has sur-
vived, adapted and prospered. And it still
has Danny Raskin. To put Danny Raskin
in perspective, he is the Cal Ripken Jr.
AND Lou Gehrig of column writing.
He has written a weekly column for the
Jewish News since its first issue — that's
more than 73 years and 3,800 consecutive
weeks! And for several years, he wrote
two weekly columns.
The independent, nonprofit Detroit
Jewish News Foundation's William
Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish
Detroit History captures virtually every-
thing ever printed in the Jewish News,
including all of Danny Raskin's columns.
The archive is free, available 24 hours a
day from anywhere in the world at www.
djnfoundation.org, and its Google-style
capabilities provide a fast and satisfying
search. (The archive will be significantly
expanded in late October with the addi-
tion of digitized content from the Jewish
Chronicle, which served the Detroit
Jewish community weekly from 1916
until it was purchased and absorbed by
the Jewish News in 1951.)
As always, we appreciate your continu-
ing readership and comments. We will
never take for granted the trust you place
in the Jewish News. I join with my busi-
ness partners Michael Steinhardt, Donald
Lifton and Kevin Browett in wishing you
and your families a New Year filled with
sweetness, good health, fresh possibilities
and continuing hope for a better tomor-
row.

L'shanah tovah,

Arthur Horwitz
Publisher &
Executive Editor

JET Is Taking
Flight To
Grow Audience

T

o stay relevant, sol-
vent and engaging,
the Jewish Ensemble
Theatre is charting a new the-
atrical landscape. It's not risk-
ing the end to a long run as a
professional theater company
dedicated to spotlighting a range
of subjects scripted with Jewish
context.
The JET board is doing what it
must to battle limited resources
while maintaining its Actors'
Equity affiliation. It's cutting back
the number of main stage plays
and expanding youth outreach
to schools and elsewhere in the
region, all under the watchful eye
of President Jim August, who
held the presidency when JET
was founded 27 seasons ago.
The oldest continuously
operating professional Jewish
theater in North America, JET
has staged a variety of produc-
tions, with some richly edgy. The
occasional weak review never
deterred it.
Moving forward, JET knows
business as usual won't work.
To introduce more students to
its anti-bullying plays, JET is tap-
ping into the social justice con-
tacts available through the local
Jewish Community Relations
Council – a great example of
Jewish organizational teamwork.
Not one to mess with success,
JET will continue performances
of The Diary of Anne Frank
for student groups. To reach a
broader audience beyond its
home at the 176-seat Aaron
DeRoy Theatre in the Jewish
Community Center in West
Bloomfield, JET will offer staged
readings as well as dinner the-
ater events at different venues
around town.
Founding artistic director
Evelyn Orbach, who so lovingly
nurtured the enterprise, can be
proud of how JET has weath-
ered financial, organizational
and artistic challenges to recast
itself.
JET is primed to enter a new
season of curtain calls with a
burst of renewed imagination,
energy and, perhaps most impor-
tantly, confidence.

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