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Federation Responds
To Anti-Semitism
Looking For A Few
Good Men(tshen)
W
JOHN HARDWICK
e have all heard the dis-
turbing news.
Since January, there
have been well over 100 threats
made against Jewish institutions in
33 states through anonymous emails
and telephone calls. Two historic
Jewish cemeteries were maliciously
desecrated over the past few weeks.
Millions of anti-Semitic posts and
tweets have been aimed at
Jewish journalists and pub-
lic figures. Swastikas have
appeared on buildings,
sidewalks and cars across
the nation.
Our own community has
not been immune. Both
the JCC and Hillel Day
Wolfe
School were targeted with
bomb threats. Our neigh-
bors in Ann Arbor received
their second bomb scare
last week.
Authorities are not yet
certain if the ongoing
threats have been coordi-
nated or who is respon-
sible. We can be sure,
Rosenthal
however, that their intent
is to sow fear throughout
the Jewish community and
to undermine our institu-
tions using terror and
intimidation. While there
has been no actual danger,
the threats constitute a
serious and deeply con-
Kaufman
cerning assault on Jewish
society and people across
America.
The Federation’s first responsibil-
ity is for the safety of our children
and other vulnerable individuals. We
are very fortunate to have one of the
most capable and robust Federation
Community Security Departments in
the nation. This team is working in a
close and ongoing partnership with
local and national law enforcement,
including the FBI and Department
of Homeland Security, and together
they are diligently ensuring the pro-
tection of our schools and campuses.
Our response to the recent bomb
scares was orderly and thorough, and
only enhanced our confidence in our
security measures. We want to assure
the community that there is no rea-
son to feel unsafe.
Beyond this, how should we
respond to these despicable and cow-
ardly actions? The answer is simple.
8
March 9 • 2017
jn
Collectively, the most important
thing we can do is to maintain the life
of our vibrant community. We must
continue to support and cherish our
congregations and day schools, our
JCC and all the other institutions that
sustain Jewish life in Metro Detroit.
We will not be discouraged or intimi-
dated, and together we will confront
hatred and anti-Semitism with our
indomitable passion for our
unique heritage, culture and
community.
In the coming months, the
Jewish Federation and other
organizations will be hosting
a variety of programs that
address the issue of anti-
Semitism. Topics will cover
both local and overseas trends,
and range from the recent
threats in our community to
the enduring legacy of the
Holocaust. Please look for
these upcoming events in your
inbox and join us in exploring
these critical and important
challenges.
We would also like to
gratefully acknowledge the
Federation Community
Security Department, as well
as the administrative and
security teams at our schools
and organizations that per-
form daily with extraordinary
commitment and profession-
alism. In particular, we would
like to recognize the staffs of
the JCC and Hillel Day School
who handled difficult situa-
tions in an exemplary manner, mak-
ing us all proud.
As we have seen during difficult
times in the past, those events that
challenge us also serve to remind
us that we have an extraordinarily
strong and cohesive community.
The Jewish Federation and its local
and overseas partner agencies will
continue to serve and support our
Jewish community, whether we are
confronting threats and difficulties or
celebrating our many blessings and
successes.
Sincerely,
Lawrence A. Wolfe, president of the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit;
Benjamin F. Rosenthal,
president of the United Jewish
Foundation of Metropolitan Detroit; and
Scott Kaufman, CEO of Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit
J
ewish Family Service’s 100
and Jewish values was not one she
Mensches program is a men’s
had previously contemplated.
initiative established to raise
“Before I participated, I had
awareness of a topic often ignored
thought about ways to prevent
within the Jewish community
domestic violence in the community,
— domestic abuse. Through JFS
but not in connection with any spe-
social workers and its
cific Jewish values,” Hannah
legal assistance pro-
says today. “Applying the Jewish
gram, the agency is very
values to my preexisting ideas
aware that domestic
about preventing domestic vio-
abuse — whether physi-
lence was an enriching experi-
cal violence, harassment,
ence that helped strengthen
intimidation or financial
the ideas I already had.
threats — is sadly a fact
“I think it’s especially
of life within the Jewish
important to emphasize the
community, no different Mark Jacobs
prevalence of domestic and
than among the general
intimate partner violence
population.
in communities such as our
Experts estimate that
local Jewish community,
one in three women
as people often do not talk
have been victimized in some
about it, assuming domestic vio-
way by their domestic partner. In
lence only happens in lower-class
the Jewish community, the issue
or urban communities.”
affects all social and economic seg-
This spring, 100 Mensches is once
ments, from professionals to blue-
again conducting the scholarship
collar workers. Oftentimes, Jewish
program. JFS urges all Jewish high
victims of domestic abuse remain
school seniors to visit our website
silent and fail to seek assistance
at www.100mensches.org and learn
out of a deep sense of shame and a more about entering the contest.
misperception that their story is an
We also encourage Jewish men to
anomaly within the community.
join the ranks of 100 Mensches and
Last year, 100 Mensches con-
help define the standards by which
ducted an essay contest and
our community, and particularly
awarded partial scholarships to
our younger folks, need to emulate.
three local high school seniors.
A central tenet of Jewish values
The 800- to 1,000-word essay was
is shalom bayit or “harmony in the
a response to a simple question:
home.” Given the sad prevalence of
How can Jewish values help create
domestic abuse within our com-
a future free of domestic abuse?
munity — a topic often brushed
All of the essays were thought-
under the rug — we at JFS feel it is
ful, well-researched and education- incumbent on us all to tackle this
al. Last year’s winner was Hannah
difficult issue head-on and to do
Katz, currently a freshman at the
our share to be part of the solution. •
University of Michigan. In Hannah’s
Mark Jacobs is chairman of 100 Mensches.
case, the topic of domestic abuse
CORRECTIONS:
• The photo credit for the Looking
Back photo Feb. 23 should have read:
Photo, circa 1905, from the 1996
Detroit Historical Museum exhibition,
“Becoming American Women: Clothing
and the Jewish Experience in Michigan,”
curated by Judith Levin Cantor. Image
submitted by Joseph Colten, son of Ida
Buchhalter Colten.
• In the March 2 Faces & Places on page 56 about United Hatzalah, one of two
national emergency medical-response organizations in Israel, the phone num-
ber for Midwest/Central regional director Cari Margulis Immerman should
have been listed as (216) 544-3010. Call that number to donate money toward
the purchase of emergency vehicles, medical equipment and supplies.