jews d

in
the

Pittsburgh native’s time and resources.
In the ensuing years, Detroit Jewry would
become inextricably linked to Fisher and his legacy
of leadership, mentorship and devotion to Israel
and Jewish peoplehood. His reach and impact —
characterized by modesty, savvy and grace — con-
tinue to resonate locally, nationally and especially
in Israel. He, more than anyone, helped cultivate
the way for the enduring bonds linking American
Jewry with the U.S. and Israeli governments.

MISSION NUGGETS

It was on the UJA mission to Israel that Fisher met
Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, agriculturalist
Giora Josephthal, Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek
and Labor Minister Golda Meir. He met Iranian
and Iraqi Jews who had made aliyah. And he visited
a Yemenite camp. He also heard prayer chants in
wailing unique to the ancestral Jewish homeland.
At the time of Fisher’s death in 2005 at age 96,
Fisher biographer Peter Golden wrote in a JN remi-
niscence about an informal UJA mission photo of
five men and one woman standing on an Israeli hill
overgrown with scrubland. “Fisher,’’ Golden wrote,
“is standing to the side, his eyes narrowed against
the sun, a tall man dressed in a suit and tie whose
broad shoulders recalled his service on the gridiron
at Ohio State University in the 1920s. Along the

continued on page 56

COURTESY MAX M. & MARJORIE S. FISHER FOUNDATION

continued from page 52

In the White House Oval Office, Max Fisher and President Richard Nixon flank Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yitzhak Rabin.

Max Fisher’s eldest daughter, Jane Sherman of Bloomfield Hills, elo-
quently described how her father, as Jewish Agency for Israel chair,
would hold forth with Jews of all persuasions from Suite 329 of the
King David Hotel in Jerusalem, working to secure a Zionist founda-
tion in an embattled region.
Sherman discovered what it
meant to be a Zionist after her
father sent her and her husband,
Larry, on a United Jewish Appeal
young leadership mission to
Israel in 1962, when she was
21. She quickly bonded with the
young country. On merit, she
rose through the Jewish advo-
cacy and leadership ranks to
become a long-serving member
of the Jewish Agency for Israel
executive as well as of the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit
governing board. She’s past chair
of United Israel Appeal.
In 1998, Fisher presented to his
daughter the Detroit Federation’s
prestigious Butzel Award.
In recent times, Sherman has
visited Israel not only in support
of Federation’s emerging leaders
and philanthropists young couples
mission, but also on behalf of
the Jewish Agency for Israel and
the Max M. & Marjorie S. Fisher
Foundation and their joint early-
childhood mentorship initiative.
Today, Sherman chairs the
Ethiopian National Project’s SPACE initiative in Israel. SPACE seeks
to better integrate Ethiopian Israeli youth into society and advance
their quality of life. About 2 percent of Israel’s population is of
Ethiopian descent. Sherman aims to raise $18 million over four
years in the Jewish diaspora to approximately match the Israeli

JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL

Her Father Inspired Her,
But Jane Sherman Earned
Her Zionist Spurs

Jane Sherman with Mayor Nir
Barkat in 2009 at the new Max
M. Fisher Square in Jerusalem

54

July 18 • 2017

jn

government’s SPACE funding commitment. The SPACE initiative’s
cost per child per year is about $1,100.
Yearly since 2006, the Shermans have taken select couples to
Israel to showcase the value of giving to Jewish and Israel philan-
thropy first. The couples are in their 40s and 50s and possess high
net worth; they come from around the country. The weeklong trips
themselves aren’t fundraisers; the giving begins after. The program,
dubbed Fisher FLIGHT, is a joint project of the Fisher Foundation
and Jewish Federations of North America. Since 2006, Fisher
FLIGHT has taken 100 young people to Israel and has generated
$14 million for Jewish causes. Graduates include leaders in their
Federations and other Jewish communal organizations.
A longstanding interest of Sherman is the fate of Israeli immi-
grants. “I feel our most important role as American Jews,” she said
in a JN interview, “is to make sure the immigrants we’ve brought to
the State of Israel become viable, productive citizens.”
Another core interest of hers is the fate of Israeli youth, especially
immigrants.
Bent on making it on her own, Sherman spent the first 20 years
of her Jewish public life not telling anyone who her father was. Later,
her familial connection did open some doors (because of her father,
she was invited to a dinner hosted by U.S. business baron Les Wexner
where she met Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbechav). But she’s proud she
gained her standing in the Jewish world on her own accord.
That doesn’t mean she diminished her iconic father. In eulogizing
him in 2005, Sherman said: “We have a better and stronger Jewish
world than we had 30 years ago because of him.”
His ideals continue to inspire her as well as her four siblings and
the younger generations of Fishers.
Like her father, Sherman wants Jewish Detroit to maintain its
significant support of Israel, not just in the Central Galilee, our part-
nership region, but also via Federation’s Annual Campaign.
“For this to happen,” she said, “our younger generations must
understand Israel must be an important part of our community’s
future. They must understand Israel is an important part of our
Jewish identity, our Jewish life and our Jewish community.
“Our stature as the Detroit Jewish community is because of our
undeniable connection to the State of Israel.” •

— Interview by Robert Sklar