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Detroit Is Bucking The Trend

Editor’s Note: This is the second in our series on engaging millennial Jews, featuring leaders in Detroit’s Jewish community.

T

he Pew Research Center’s A
of Detroit looked much different. And
Portrait of Jewish Americans was
when its pilot program and predecessor
published in 2013, revealing some
CommunityNEXT was introduced in 2010,
eye-opening data that many inter-
there was even more of a contrast.
pret as a bleak future for American
Then college grads were taking off
Jewry. To make a general state-
for greener pastures in Chicago,
ment about the findings: More
New York and LA. Then the city of
and more Jews are becoming less
Detroit was still shrouded in stig-
and less affiliated with their Jewish
mas. Then there was a great need
communities and detaching from
for opportunities that would allow
their Jewish identities.
young Jewish Detroiters to redis-
Now I’m going to make a bold
cover the joy of community, the
Matt Ran
claim: If the Pew Study’s findings
importance of identify. But now …
are accurate for the majority of the
Fast forward to six years later,
country’s Jewish communities, especially
NEXTGen Detroit is no longer a lone wolf
their young adults, than Detroit is a minor- but one of several organizations in the
ity. An exception. An anomaly. And has
city proper and the surrounding suburbs
been for some time.
devoted to serving the young Jewish popu-
As the president of NEXTGen Detroit,
lation of Metro Detroit. Where there was a
the Jewish Federation’s young adult divi-
void, there are now options. Where there
sion, I have inherited an organization with
was once a handful of organized ways to
a reputation — a reputation that follows me embrace one’s Judaism, there are now many.
to the GA, National Cabinet Retreats and
NEXTGen Detroit re-energized the con-
missions to Israel —that our community
cept of community and gave young Jewish
is the greatest young adult community in
adults a place to be Jewish, to be Detroiters
North America.
and to be a part of something bigger than
Over the last four years, NEXTGen
themselves.
Detroit has become a model of young adult
As I begin my term as president, I,
engagement for Federations across the con- along with the NEXTGen Detroit Board of
tinent. And while it’s my opinion that the
Directors and staff, are tasked with a thrill-
Pew’s findings do not accurately describe
ing challenge, a challenge created in large
the young Jews of Detroit, that’s not to say
part by NEXTGen Detroit’s success. How do
it couldn’t if we don’t continue working to
we keep this new level of engagement from
reverse the national trend of disengage-
becoming a fleeting trend?
ment.
In order to continue to be the hub of a
When NEXTGen Detroit was launched
young, vibrant Jewish Detroit, we must con-
in June 2012, the young Jewish community
tinue to move forward. To stand in place is

really taking steps backward.
As the new year gets under way, we are
evaluating everything NEXTGen does and
working to answer some very important
questions that will guide the future of our
organization and no doubt influence the
future of Jewish Detroit. What do we offer
that is still needed and wanted? What is old
news? Where are the voids now? Are we the
right organization to fill them? Who is doing
what, and who is doing what better? Where
can we do the most good?
I cannot answer all of these questions just
yet. But when approached to write this essay,
I was prompted with the following, “How are
you engaging the next generation?” This I
can answer.
One of the first things we recognized and
embraced when establishing NEXTGen
Detroit is that there are many ways to feel
Jewish. For some, it is sitting in a synagogue.
For others, it is playing on a sports league.
The idea was and continues to be that we
meet people where they are. It’s not our job
to tell anyone what it means to be a Jew or
how to be a Jew. It’s our job to make them
feel welcome, to show them a gateway into
the community. You don’t have to be reli-
gious to be engaged.
Looking at our calendar, it’s all about vari-
ety. The person who feels comfortable and
connected playing BINGO with seniors at
JSL may not feel inspired by a Good Shabbos
Detroit dinner. A person moved by Good
Shabbos Detroit may be totally uninterested
in our 1,000+ people Latke Vodka event.
What’s amazing is when someone comes

to, say, a happy hour and then realizes we
offer Birthright trips and signs up and has
the experience of a lifetime. We show them
the door and what we have to offer, and they
pick their own Jewish adventure.
NEXTGen Detroit has cast an ambitiously
wide net, working to serve the 21 to 45-year-
old young adult population. It doesn’t take
an expert to realize that what a 21-year-old
wants is not what a 45-year-old wants. So we
ask, and we listen. And we create programs
accordingly.
So many of our programs have come from
members of our community asking for them.
We’ve created volunteer programs, programs
for young families, professional networking
opportunities, a workout series — because
it’s what people want, and we can make them
Jewish experiences.
People can be a part of Jewish commu-
nity; they can embrace their Jewish identi-
ties while doing what they love — and not
because they should. We live by the motto
that because “you should” isn’t a reason to be
involved.
As we began mapping out this new Jewish
landscape and assessing the current needs of
the community, we became aware of young
Jewish populations that were underserved,
particularly the LGBTQ community and
young interfaith couples. With the support
of our leadership, we’re working to develop
programming for these groups that we hope
to expand.

of its installed centrifuges,
Yom Kippur as an official holiday
shipped out 98 percent of its
and, more broadly, working to
enriched uranium, rendered its
rebuild a sinking economy — so
plutonium reactor core unus-
that we’ve cut the unemployment
able and adopted the most com-
rate by more than half, provided
prehensive nuclear inspection
health care to 20 million people
ever.
who didn’t have it before, ramped
On the global fight against
up our production of clean energy
President
anti-Semitism, we’ve worked
and signed a historic Paris agree-
Barack Obama
in partnership with Israel and
ment that hopefully will curb
other countries to take a lead
the accelerating speed at which
role in organizing the first-ever
our planet is warming and could
U.N. General Assembly meeting to com-
threaten the future of our children and
bat anti-Semitism last year.
our grandchildren.
And so, on these issues and many oth-
Of course, we’ve still got a lot of work
ers, we have worked incredibly closely
to do — on the refugee crisis, on crimi-
with many of you, allocating millions in
nal justice reform, reducing violence and
assistance for Holocaust survivors and
creating a political culture in this country
ensuring that the U.N. finally recognized
that’s a little more functional. But a new

year brings new hope, and the Jewish
community has always known what it
means to stand up for the less fortunate,
the stranger, the immigrant, the refugee.
And so I’m confident that we can stand
together and make sure that as we pass
the baton to the next administration, we’re
going to be able to build on the enormous
progress that we’ve already made.
I just want to re-emphasize how grate-
ful I am to all of you, not just for the
work that the various associations and
assemblies and congregations have had on
policy issues, but just as importantly, or
more importantly, the work that you do in
your respective communities every single
day to help those in need and to help lift
up the values that helped to build this
country.

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Matt Ran is president of NEXTGen Detroit.

commentary

President’s Holiday Greetings

S

hanah Tovah to everybody.
Rosh Hashanah is a time for
reflection, and I’m not exempt
from that. So, looking back on the last
eight years, I’m both proud of what we’ve
accomplished together, but also mindful
of the work we have before us.
When it comes to the unshakeable com-
mitment to Israel’s security, we’ve taken a
clear stand, and the recent signing of the
Memorandum of Understanding consti-
tutes the single largest pledge of military
assistance in U.S. history to any country,
totaling $38 billion over 10 years.
I made a commitment to prevent Iran
from acquiring a nuclear weapon, and
because of our principled diplomacy,
every pathway to a nuclear weapon is now
closed off. Iran has dismantled two-thirds

8 October 6 • 2016

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