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JTOT DETROIT
In an effort to support Jewish families that
have chosen to live in the city, Silverman
started JTot Detroit with Kate Bush and
Erin Einhorn, who also are Jewish parents
in Detroit.
The group’s Facebook page description:
“JTot Detroit is a group of Jewish families
raising Jewish kids in Detroit. We’re look-
ing for ways to create fun Jewish cultural
activities, celebrate holidays and connect
Jewishly in the city.”
The group receives funding from the
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit,
and it has met three times — an organiza-
tional meeting in November, a Chanukah
party in December and a Tu b’Shevat event
in January. Members have indicated they
would like to gather about once a month.
“The exciting thing about the November
event was that people wanted to have
more,” Silverman said. “And we had a whole
conversation about ‘We’re Jewish parents
in Detroit and do we want to do anything
together?’ And the answer was ‘Yes!’”
Seventeen families are on the contact list.
Seven families came to the organizational
meeting, and nine families came to the
Chanukah event. The oldest child in the
group is 7, but most of the kids are under
age 4.
Silverman concedes there probably isn’t
going to be a “total explosion” of Jewish
families living in the city. However, the JTot
members could be the next generation of
new Jewish families to live in the city, and
this is cause for optimism.
“There have been scattered Jewish fami-
lies here over the last 15 years, but the last
five years have seen a baby boom. That is
what is exciting to me — there are more
and more Jewish kids who call Detroit
home,” she said. “This is a story that hasn’t
happened in a very long time.”
JTot members live in neighbor-
hoods including Midtown, Lafayette
Park, Woodbridge, Palmer Woods and
Downtown. Silverman estimates two-thirds
are homeowners, and home ownership is
an indicator of a community’s longevity.
If people are renting, it’s easier to leave a
neighborhood. However, if a family owns
their dwelling, they have more at stake and
are more likely to remain long-term.
“There still is an open question of wheth-
er people are going to stay and what people
are going to do about school and what peo-
ple are going to do about neighborhoods,”
Silverman said. “I’m a strange outlier per-
haps because we got married, had a child

SEAN COOK

ber of Jews and Jewish families in Detroit.
His initial approach would be to talk to
demographers or other professionals spe-
cializing in this type of work, determine
how to best gather such data and then ask a
local Jewish organization or foundation to
fund the project.

Daniel Montingelli and Kate Bush with Judy; they live in Palmer Woods.

Detroit families gathered to celebrate Chanukah at a JTot Detroit event.

and intend to stay; but it’s not clear how
many other people are in that cohort.”

KATE BUSH & DANIEL
MONTINGELLI
“I encourage anyone to live in the city —
Jewish or not,” said Kate Bush.
“It’s like living in any city center; diversity
is being part of a rich and truly dynamic
history and a great sense of community.”
Bush lives in Palmer Woods with her
husband, Daniel Montingelli, a Montreal
native, and their 3-year-old daughter, Judy.
Bush and Montingelli rent the home where
they have lived for the past 7½ years.
“I love everything about Palmer Woods,”
Bush said. “I love the beautiful homes and
the families living here. We walk the neigh-
borhood quite often, and I’m always discov-
ering a hidden gem.”
She said her neighbors are “fantastic,”
and they are a variety of ages. There are
older families that have lived there for gen-
erations and middle-aged folks with kids in
high school or college. She’s also starting to

see more young families in the neighbor-
hood. “It’s quickly changing,” she said.
A benefit of living in Palmer Woods is
that it’s an “extremely convenient neighbor-
hood” located along the Woodward cor-
ridor north of Seven Mile. Montingelli is a
math teacher at University of Detroit Jesuit
High School and Academy, and his job is
just a 1-mile bike ride away.
Bush especially appreciates nearby
Palmer Park. She refers to it as a “rising
star” in the city. The park’s offerings include
a garden, an apple orchard, yoga classes,
and hiking and walking trails.
She has spent much of her life in the city.
She has fond memories of growing up in
the University District near the University
of Detroit Mercy. She lived in a “beautiful”
home in a “very diverse” neighborhood,
and she still drives by the house regularly.
She attended Golightly, a Detroit public
school, for her elementary education. She
went to Friends School for middle school,
a Quaker school that closed this year, and
the Roeper School in Birmingham for high

school.
However, living in Detroit as an adult
wasn’t initially her plan. Bush left the area
after college, attending McGill University
in Montreal. She lived in Canada for four
years and then moved with Daniel, then her
boyfriend, to Australia. They lived there for
just three months when her father suffered
a stroke and she returned to Detroit.
“We found a community here — a new
community — because so many of my
friends that I grew up with had moved away
for college and didn’t return afterward,” she
said.
Bush is a current member and for-
mer board member of the Isaac Agree
Downtown Synagogue in Detroit. She
remains a “proud supporter,” having recent-
ly planned a “tot Shabbat” led by Rabbi Dan
Horwitz. A dozen families attended, and
there are plans to have another one in the
spring.
“I thought, ‘How can I be involved in the
synagogue at this stage in my life?’ and cre-
ating some toddler programming seemed
like a good fit,” she said.
Bush is also an organizer of JTot Detroit.
She has found the group to be a good
opportunity to connect with other Jewish
families living in the city, and she’s “excited
to see how it unfolds.” Going in, she thought
she would know all the families, but she has
since met several folks.
“A lot of families are facing similar issues
that we are as far as things we want our kids
to have and that’s having access to Jewish
experiences that we don’t necessarily have
to shlep for,” she said.
Judy had been attending a preschool
in the Cass Corridor, but she switched to
Temple Emanu-El in Oak Park to be closer
to the digital advertising agency where
Bush works. It is still undecided where Judy
will go for her elementary education, but at
this point it likely won’t be Detroit Public
Schools.
“My hope is that in the future it’s a viable
option, but the quality of education is just
not the same right now,” she said.
When asked if Detroit is experiencing a
“resurgence” — Jewish and otherwise —
Bush offers these thoughts: “It’s attracting a
lot of great media, and if that’s going to help
illustrate all the things the city has to offer
to those who might not feel comfortable
coming in, then that’s a great thing. I just
think words like ‘resurgence’ and ‘reinven-
tion’ do an injustice to the rich history that
the city has.”

DAN & REBECCA YOWELL
“There are so many unique experiences,”
said Dan Yowell, describing living in Brush
Park with his wife, Rebecca, and their
3-year-old son, Alexander.
“I always wanted to give Alex a broader
and just more diverse experience,” Rebecca
added. “I love how he gets to interact with

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12 February 11 • 2016

