jews in the d
continued from page 12
Michael and his ability to befriend
just about everyone. She recalled the
time when 17-year-old Michael was in
recovery after having his wisdom teeth
removed and was waking from the
anesthesia only to ask the oral surgeon
how the doctor became interested in
dentistry. “Who else would think to
ask that of someone [post-op]?” Susan
asks, laughing at the memory.
His father, a cardiologist at
Beaumont Hospital, added how much
he admires his son’s intellectual prow-
ess in addition to his kindness.
“He’s thoughtful about his actions
and whether and why he believes what
he does or takes the positions that he
does,” Marc says, citing the reason
Brodsky is a vegetarian and his son’s
concern for animal welfare.
“The reason you do things is some-
times more important than the action
itself. Michael is a very reasoned
person and whether I fully agree with
his politics, for example (he doesn’t
always), I have the utmost respect for
the rationale behind his beliefs. He
extends that same courtesy to me and
everyone else.”
Randee Black
JFS Resource Center Director
Introducing
Jewish Detroit’s New Resource for
Connecting You to the Help You Need
If you or someone you know could use some assistance,
the Jewish community is here to help. One call or
visit to jhelp.org is all it takes to connect you to the
resources that can make a difference.
JHELP is for: Children, Teens, Families,
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Made possible by The Jewish Fund, the D. Dan and Betty Kahn Foundation
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14
October 4 • 2018
jn
ZIONISTIC AWAKENING
Brodsky attended Hillel Day School
of Metropolitan Detroit through the
eighth grade and then graduated from
West Bloomfield High School. He was
popular among his peers, a star tennis
player and a high achiever.
After high school, Brodsky enrolled
at Washington University in St. Louis,
earning an undergraduate degree,
Summa Cum Laude, in history.
He spent his junior year abroad as
an exchange student in England at
University of Oxford. While at Oxford,
Brodsky was a member of the uni-
versity’s famed Oxford Lawn Tennis
Club and was chosen to compete in
the school’s annual tennis competi-
tion against University of Cambridge.
Called “The Varsity Match,” the tour-
ney dates back to 1872.
After receiving his bachelor’s
degree, Brodsky returned to the UK
and earned his master’s in interna-
tional history at the London School
of Economics. It was his thesis topic,
exploring the origins of Mandatory
Palestine and why the British chose to
invade the Ottoman territory during
the first World War, that fostered his
understanding of Zionism’s true ori-
gins.
As a lover of history, Brodsky noted
“It’s his strong sense of
seeing the potential in
humanity that drives him.”
— OLIVIA BRODSKY
the endeavor was more an “academic
exploration” of events during WWI
versus any intrinsic affinity for Israel.
However, he became enchanted with
the work of Chaim Weitzmann,
Zionism’s founding statesman, and the
labor unions that helped underpin the
movement for an industrial, pluralistic
society grounded in Jewish values.
The synergies between his intellec-
tual muscle, love of history and natural
bent toward politics led Brodsky to
his first job, post-grad, at a think tank
in Tel Aviv. It was during his time in
Israel that brought into relief his desire
to facilitate civic engagement, then
as a way to address divisions within
both Israel’s body politic and its civil
society.
CAN TECHNOLOGY SAVE DEMOCRACY?
The critical takeaway from his time in
Tel Aviv was a then-nascent concept
of harnessing technology to facilitate
civic engagement. During his tenure,
Brodsky recalled how a mentor sug-
gested he find some niche that was of
interest and become the expert — own
the space; he did.
After eight months of working
diligently, an energized Brodsky, now
eager to use his newfound knowledge
of community organizing powered by
technology to further American ideals,
returned stateside, settling in Northern
California and joining the bipartisan
political organization Fwd.us as an
organizer in San Francisco. Funded by
several Silicon Valley entrepreneurs
including Facebook founder Mark
Zuckerberg, Fwd.us seeks reforms
to issues long unsettled in American