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Metro Detroit's

Best Kept
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continued from page 58

The Detroit Federation offices in
Bloomfield Township are named the
Max M. Fisher Federation Building
in deference to the man whose sage
advice adorns the wall there: “We
are all trustees of our Jewish heritage
… with an obligation to cherish it,
improve it and guard its future.”

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Fisher’s indelible imprint is per-
sonified by Penny Blumenstein,
American Jewish
Joint Distribution
Committee (JDC)
board chair and
former Detroit
Federation presi-
dent. The 2005
Butzel Award win-
ner told the JN,
Penny
“Max was an exam-
Blumenstein
ple of someone to
look up to.’’
“Consider the expanse of his
involvement in organizations that
work to improve the lives of Jewish
communities both at home and
abroad,” said Blumenstein.
“My international work grew from
my work at our Federation in annual
fundraising and aliyah campaigns
like Operation Solomon and Exodus.
Max put his stamp on our special
campaigns. His love of Israel was

foremost in his thinking.”
Fisher’s legacy drives Blumenstein’s
JDC vision. “Israel has made progress
economically, but there are still areas
of need where the JDC has expertise
to innovate solutions for the elderly,
in education and for children in
need,’’ the Bloomfield Hills resident
said. “Having partners can only
strengthen Israel in the long term.”
In serving Jewish diaspora com-
munities, the JDC makes it a point to
tout Israel. Says Blumenstein: “A part
of what we can do is to give to them
a love of Zionism.”

TUG OF WAR

The respect Fisher had earned in
Israel played out prominently in
1967 as Arab forces, led by Egypt
and Syria, amassed at the tiny state’s
borders. Fisher was vacationing in
the Greek Isles with friends, includ-
ing Henry Ford II, when Levi Eshkol,
now Israel’s prime minister, called for
advice; Fisher didn’t hesitate to fly to
Israel.
There, Fisher sat next to Lt Gen.
Yitzhak Rabin, then commander-
in-chief of Israeli forces, who antici-
pated war. Rabin tapped into Fisher’s
fundraising prowess and sought
up to $1 billion in Jewish diaspora
support for the war effort. Fisher
promptly convinced Henry Ford II,

Fisher Family’s
Extended Activism

Max Fisher had five children: Jane
with his first wife, Sylvia Krell, who
died in 1952; Julie and Marjorie with
his second wife, Marjorie Switow; and
Phillip and Mary, Marjorie’s children
whom he adopted. Marjorie died in
2016, 11 years after her husband.
To varying degrees, the children
have been supportive of Jewish and
secular causes. Their father’s love of
Israel remains important to the Fisher
family.
The Southfield-
based Fisher Group
handles the fam-
ily’s asset manage-
ment.
Son Phillip
William Fisher is
chair of the Max M.
Phillip William
& Marjorie S. Fisher
Fisher
Foundation, based
in Southfield. He formerly served
on the United Jewish Foundation of

Photo courtesy of Rachel McCarthy

60

July 18 • 2017

jn

Metropolitan Detroit board. He found-
ed Mission Throttle,
a social impact
strategy firm
seeking acceler-
ated philanthropic
innovation at the
community level.
His wife is Lauren
Fisher, president of
Jane Sherman
A Touch of Lace,
Bloomfield Hills.
Jane Fisher
Sherman is a vice
chair of the Fisher
Foundation (related
story, page 54). Her
husband is retired
local retailer Larry
Sherman.
Julie Fisher
Daughter Julie
Cummings
Fisher Cummings is
a vice chair of the
Fisher Foundation. She holds a mas-