Please join us as a taster at
Temple Shir Shalom’s
views
Eighth Annual
Chicken Soup Cook-Off
F OR
ADVANCED
T ICKET
P URCHASE
P LEASE C ALL
248-737-8700
T ICKETS
$3/ CHILD
$5/ ADULT
$15/F AMILY
Taste 20+
Soups!
S PONSORS & P ROFESSIONAL E NTRANTS *
Art Fishman, Best Homes Title Agency, Brilliant Detroit,
Burning Bush Fund, Detroit Jewish News,
Fran Bell Grossman, Franklin Village Boutique,
Harris Altman Injury Lawyers, Henry Ford WB Hospital,
IAMBK Shelter, Jeff & Matt Barker Homes,
Jennifer’s Cafe, Lev b’Lev, LuLu’s of Commerce,
Miller Vein, Mojito Rio Grande, Panera Bread,
Pegasus Entertainment, Inc., Pickle’s & Rye Deli,
Platinum Dish Catering, Sallyjo & Barry Levine,
Schneiderman & Sherman, Souper Bowl, Steve's Deli,
Sunny’s Cafe, Shir Shalom Brotherhood,
The Learning Center Preschool, The Sherbin Family,
Tony's Deli, Shir Shalom Young Adult Group,
Village Palace
*A S OF 1-22-18
Sunday, January 28
from 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM
At The Corners, 2075 Walnut Lake Road, WB
Co-Chairs: Amy Liefer & Jan Pederson
Proudly supporting the efforts of:
I Am My Brother’s Keeper Ministries: Detroit Homeless Shelter,
Young Adult Group of Temple Shir Shalom,
Shir Shalom Religious School Scholarships,
Lev b’Lev (Heart to Heart) Women’s Group,
Brilliant Detroit: Creating Kid Success Neighborhoods
May the Best Soup Win...
edson Design
8
January 25 • 2018
jn
letters
A Thoughtful
Response From
Federation?
Maybe Not.
Was “Saving the Oak Park JCC”
a setup destined for failure? The
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit and JCC of Metropolitan
Detroit (“JPM: A Letter To The
Community From The Jewish
Federation,” Dec. 21, 2017, page
6) said that after more than 100
meetings, they couldn’t find even
one donor to help keep the Jimmy
Prentis Morris JCC in Oak Park
open and self-sustaining.
They told our community the
grassroots group was not “permit-
ted” to approach any major donors
of the West Bloomfield JCC or
Federation.
When they finally found one
anonymous, generous donor
— to whom we are deeply grate-
ful — Federation could easily
have launched a matching drive
with these funds beginning with
their own support and expertise.
The philanthropic community in
Southeast Michigan would have
eagerly chipped in millions, and
likely the Kresge Foundation or sim-
ilar friend might have matched it
again. Alas, we would have our new
and improved JPM JCC facility back.
JPM JCC had served the needs
of diverse Jews: Orthodox,
Conservative, Reform, unaffiliated,
seniors, Russians, Generation X
and Y Jewry living in the epicen-
ter of Michigan’s largest and fast-
growing Jewish community, serving
Oak Park, Southfield, Royal Oak,
Huntington Woods, Ferndale, new
Detroit and many other cities far
from the West Bloomfield JCC.
We recognize and appreciate
that our Federation does a vast
amount of good in support of Jews
throughout Southeast Michigan and
beyond. But I believe, in this case,
the demise of this vital facility was
an “inside job” of indifference and
misdirected decision-making.
The greater JPM JCC community
— including the grassroots group,
myself and others — were set up to
fail based on a short-sighted goal of
excising one-third of the Southeast
Michigan Jewish population and a
fraudulent premise of easing the
temporary financial burden by con-
sidering that one-third as simply
“collateral damage.”
Finally, what in the world is
Jewish Federation thinking when it
keeps repeating its decision that,
once launched, “A new Oak Park
facility would need to be financially
self-sustaining?”
Please tell us what other agency
of Federation or recipient of
Federation funds is required to meet
such a requisite: Jewish Vocational
Services? Jewish Family Service?
The West Bloomfield JCC? What an
insult and embarrassment from our
community’s primary funding orga-
nization, with $50 million in yearly
allocations and nearly half a billion
dollars in current assets. Please, for-
get the unreasonable and unrealistic
“self-sustaining” ultimatum.
Yes, though generally less affluent,
the one-third Jewish population that
comprises the southern and eastern
portions of Metropolitan Detroit
certainly needs to contribute capi-
tal, leadership and sustaining sup-
port to this vital endeavor. But so
does Federation, and if they are to
be involved, JCC West Bloomfield.
Hopefully, so will concerned and
generous citizens and philanthro-
pists who believe in the continuity
and vitality of all Jews in our com-
munities. Especially now, with the
stock market at record highs.
In the entrance sitting area of our
Federation offices, is a 20-foot-long
quote from the late community
leader and philanthropist Max M.
Fisher, who stated the solution
clearly: “We are all trustees of our
Jewish heritage … with an obliga-
tion to cherish it, improve it and
guard its future.”
An apology, redress and remedy
need to be made to this one-third of
Jews in Metropolitan Detroit — to
allocate the funds and leadership
necessary to rebuild, re-energize,
maintain and sustain the Jimmy
Prentiss Morris JCC in Oak Park —
and without further excuses,
obfuscations or delays.
Steven Zimberg
Huntington Woods
CLARIFICATION
In “The Power of Story,” (Dec. 21,
2017, page 22), we covered recent
Stanford-grad Sawyer Altman’s non-
profit that teaches storytelling to
kids in developing countries. Some
had trouble with the link included
in that article. To correct for this, we
urge you to consider supporting his
efforts at tinyurl.com/rakontosponsor.