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The children present their mural about tikkun olam to the
grown-ups. Ginny Cymbalist is leading.

The group on a tour of Drummond Island

‘Frozen Chosen’

Consortium helps keep Michigan’s northern Jewish communities united.

L

eading a Jewish life and raising a
Jewish family in a remote area with-
out the support of a larger Jewish
community presents challenges. The L’Dor
V’Dor Consortium has created a sup-
port system for Jewish life in its region in
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Northern
Lower Michigan.
By organizing peer-centered networks of
congregational presidents, religious school
educators, and teens and their parents,
L’Dor V’Dor builds a sense of community.
Participants learn together, developing
resources to support Jewish cultural and
communal life in a remote region. This
model increases collective power to foster
Jewish identity in rural communities and
mentors the next generation of congrega-
tional leadership.
More than 60 people, ages 5 to 80,
from the region gathered on Drummond
Island in mid-September for the eighth
L’Dor V’Dor Intergenerational Retreat.
The theme was tikkun olam. The program
included an erev Shabbat service, Torah
study, roundtable meetings, Havdalah,
children’s programming, a tour of
Drummond Island, singing around the

campfire and time for socializing. Rebecca
Starr, who grew up in the Upper Peninsula
and is a Jewish educator in Metro Detroit,
led study sessions.
Burton Shifman, president of the Ravitz
Foundation, which has been funding the
consortium as part of its outreach effort,
attended. “I was inspired and thrilled by
how my Frozen Chosen brothers and sis-
ters work to keep their Jewishness alive.
It’s an example for each of us in keeping
bright our ‘Light unto the Nations.’”
David Contorer, director of Hebrew Free
Loan in Detroit, who presented his pro-
gram to the group, said, “I enjoyed meet-
ing wonderful families and learning about
their lives. I felt so welcomed in this warm
and friendly group of people.”
Susan Burack of Temple Jacob said, “We
believe we have created something unique.
Our Jewish community has grown and
become so much richer as a result of these
connections.”
The consortium brings together Jews
from Temple Jacob in Hancock, Temple
Beth Sholom in Ishpeming/Marquette,
Congregation Beth Jacob in Sault Ste.
Marie, Ontario, Temple Bnai Israel in

Petoskey and Temple Beth Shalom, the
merged congregation in Traverse City. All
of the congregations are small, without
staff or a full-time rabbinic presence.
Locations of the twice-annual intergenera-
tional retreats move around the region to
accommodate driving distances. Hancock
is an eight-hour drive from Traverse City.

PROGRAMMING NEEDS
L’Dor V’Dor Consortium began with
a Women’s Retreat in Saint Ignace in
November 2012. At the time, all the con-
gregations had women presidents. It was
initially funded by a one-year grant from
the Jewish Women’s Foundation (JWF) of
Metropolitan Detroit. Subsequent Women’s
Retreats and the Intergenerational Retreats
have been funded by Ravitz Foundation
grants and a three-year (2013-2016) JWF
Impact Grant. Support from both has
been crucial to the consortium. Slingshot,
a Resource Guide for Jewish Innovation,
included the consortium in its 2014/15
and 2016 guides.
Although the consortium began with
a part-time staffer, the group soon deter-
mined that funds were better used for pro-

gramming. A leadership team of represen-
tatives from each congregation meets by
phone monthly. Along with planning four
retreats each year, they facilitate block-
booking events that provide outreach and
visibility in their communities.
The internationally known Klezmer
group, Hot Pstromi, founded by former
Detroiter Yale Strom, toured three com-
munities in 2014 and five in 2015. Due
to its popularity, the band is expected to
return in fall 2017. This past spring, the
music of Holocaust-era composer and
Maestro Richard Stohr was performed by
Stefan Koch (cello) and Robert Conway
(piano) in Calumet, Marquette and
Petoskey. The communities have also
shared Jewish-themed movies and educa-
tional resources.
The next Women’s Retreat will be Nov.
11-13 in Munising. The date and location
of the next Intergenerational Retreat is to
be determined.

*

For more information, contact Susan Burack at
sburack@pasty.net or (906) 482-3270 or Carol (Krugel)
Ellstein at cgellstein@gmail.com or (517) 881-0668.

“On Fleek”

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October 27 • 2016

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