especially important to me,” says Lasday,
who volunteered for the packing of
books and ritual objects to be given
away. She agreed to look after some 80
cartons of materials and is sending out
notices detailing available items.
“I hope to reach Jewish educators,
especially those in small Michigan com-
munities. Although the materials are
free, recipients will have to pay shipping
costs or make arrangements to transport
what interests them. I’d like to see some
ritual objects reach people who grew up
in the congregation and moved away.”
Lasday’s dedication to passing along
educational resources relates to her
current responsibilities, which include
work as educational consultant and cur-
riculum facilitator for Federation’s Jewish
Education Department and curriculum
writer and trainer for the PJ Library
Parent Project.
Jewish educators will have access to
books Sunday, Aug. 21, at Temple Israel
in West Bloomfield. The texts will be
shown at the Seminar for Educational
Excellence in Detroit (SEED) sponsored
by the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit. Others can contact Lasday at
iwillisrael@gmail.com, the email address
for her new business of conducting tours
of Israel.
Two Torahs were given to University
of Michigan Hillel in Ann Arbor.
“We were honored to receive the
Torahs,” says Rabbi Lisa Stella, senior
Jewish educator. “At Hillel, we often have
between two and four different services
happening simultaneously in order to
accommodate the variety of religious
practices of more than 6,000 Jewish stu-
dents and community members.
“On High Holidays, Reform,
Conservative and Orthodox services are
in multiple locations and, in the past, we
have had to borrow Torahs to accommo-
date all of our services.
“This unique and generous dona-
tion will allow our Hillel to continue to
ensure our pluralistic, vibrant services
will be equipped with everything they
need, including beautiful Torah scrolls.
They will be used well!”
Meizlish, a member of Beth Israel for
more than 50 years, feels a bit nostalgic
at this time of change.
“The building we sold was the third
building the congregation had,” Meizlish
says. “I was part of the last two buildings,
married in the second and watching my
kids grow up while attending the third.
“Although it’s sad to give up a build-
ing, it became a question of survival. The
money we made from the sale will keep
us going for a while, and I believe the
long-term gain is important.”
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Both organizations have been active in
Detroit’s interfaith and interracial com-
munities and support local educational
and advocacy programs for Israel.
According to Chandler, AJC has
established relationships with the
Michigan Muslim Community Council
and Detroit’s diplomatic corps. AJC
representatives meet
regularly with five
official counsels gen-
eral and many honor-
ary foreign officials in
Detroit to “commu-
nicate the priorities
of the Jewish com-
munity, mainly safety
Alicia Chandler and security of Israel,
and to educate them
about the importance of Israel,” Chandler
says.
For JCRC, Israel advocacy has focused
on developing positive relationships with
the local news media as well as educat-
ing members of the local Jewish commu-
nity to be Israel advocates. JCRC tradi-
tionally provides visiting Israeli officials
and news media representatives with an
opportunity to meet Detroit-area news
editors and update them about Israel.
AJC Detroit also has a young leaders
group — ACCESS — that JCRC|AJC will
continue.
“Bringing together AJC and JCRC is a
wonderful example of synergy and help-
ing our community to thrive,” Chandler
says. “Everyone is focused on what is
best for the Jewish community. It is an
opportunity for AJC to continue to have
a presence in Detroit.”
Scott Kaufman, Federation CEO,
agrees.
“Bringing the JCRC and AJC together
as a joint organization creates a tre-
mendous opportunity to integrate and
strengthen the work of two important
agencies,” he says.
“I believe that joining their Israel
advocacy and community-relations
capabilities is not only efficient, it will
ultimately create an entity that is even
greater than the sum of its parts.”
A nominating committee is review-
ing candidates for a new joint board for
fiscal year 2016-17. Corey Young, AJC’s
staff member, will join the JCRC|AJC
staff, Chandler says, while overall JCRC
staff is under review, according to
Kurzmann.
JCRC’s main funding source has been
an annual Federation allocation, which
is $331,983 for fiscal year 2016. AJC
receives an annual Federation allocation
of $10,875; that will be transferred to
JCRC|AJC. An annual dinner and dona-
tions also supported AJC Detroit.
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July 21 • 2016
17