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Dehumanizing Anti-Semitism at
the University of Michigan
and live out his dream. When he was
approaching his final days, he asked
that his gravestone be inscribed with
the following line: He loved Torah.
At FJC, our Torah — the Torah
that we love — is indivisible from
love of Israel. But loving Israel is
a practice full of life, open to new
experiences and, ultimately, a process
leading somewhere new. It can start
from nearly anywhere as long as the
educators who nurture it are respect-
The Jewish News and other media
outlets have already reported on
U-M professor John Cheney-Lip-
pold (“Israel Bias,” Sept. 27, page
18). The professor refused to give an
academic letter of recommendation
to a student who wanted to study
in Israel, with the explanation that
“many departments have pledged
an academic boycott against Israel
in support of Palestinians living in
Palestine.”
Sadly, the professor’s refusal to
write a letter of recommendation
is nothing compared to what U-M
student Alexa Smith reported on
her Facebook page Oct. 5 (“U-M
Lecturer Crosses Line,” Oct. 11, page
16). She was “forced to sit through
an overtly anti-Semitic lecture” as
a required course. Former Black
Panther leader Emory Douglas pro-
jected an image of Adolf Hitler and
Benjamin Netanyahu together, with
the caption “Guilty of Genocide”
across their foreheads. Alexa wrote,
“In what world is it OK for a man-
datory course to host a speaker who
compares Adolf Hitler to the prime
minister of Israel?”
This blatant act of anti-Israel/
anti-Semitism is abominable. “As
a Wolverine,” Smith wrote, “I sat
through this lecture horrified at
the hatred and intolerance being
Dry Bones
10
October 18 • 2018
jn
spewed on our campus. As a Jew
who is proud of my people and my
homeland, I sat through this lecture
feeling targeted and smeared to be
as evil as the man who perpetuated
the Holocaust and systematically
murdered 6 million Jews.”
According to Smith, this was
not the first time she’s faced such
hatred. Two years ago, a speaker at
another mandatory art class made
references to Israel being a terrorist
state and “explicitly claimed that
Israeli soldiers were unworthy of
being represented as actual human
beings in his artwork.”
All American Jews should be dis-
gusted at these examples of what is
allowed in American universities
such as U-M. Thankfully, there are
still young heroes like Alexa, who
says she will no longer “sit quietly
and allow others to dehumanize my
people and my community.” She
wrote that because the U-M admin-
istration repeatedly fails to confront
anti-Semitism, it “comes back worse
and worse each time.”
Let all U-M students, alumni and
anyone else who cares join with
Alexa in her admonition to the uni-
versity: “A line needs to be drawn
and it needs to be drawn now.”
Arnie Goldman
Farmington Hills
ful, knowledgeable and empathetic.
It’s always possible to renew and be
renewed by an Israel experience, even
in what is challenging and unexpect-
ed about it. We see the challenges of
Israel engagement for young adults as
an exciting opportunity, an authentic
and dynamic Jewish journey begin-
ning every year with every student. ■
Dr. Stephen Arnoff is the executive director of
USCJ’s Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center, first
published on USCJ.org
The Contours of Our Jewish Community:
Snapshots From the 2018
Population Study
Editor’s Note: Each week, the Jewish News will offer insights into the findings of
the 2018 Detroit Jewish Population Study with the intent of stimulating discussion
about its potential meaning and impact.
The Children Are Our Future
The Detroit Jewish community is
nationally recognized for its pro-
grams and services targeting youth.
Tamarack Camps, Michigan
Region BBYO, the communi-
ty-wide Teen Mission to Israel,
the Jewish Community Center
day camp, plus the Hillel, Farber-
Akiva, Frankel Jewish Academy,
Yeshiva Beth Yehudah and Darchei
Torah day schools — as well as
our synagogues, movement youth
groups — all play significant roles
in serving the estimated 15,100
children under the age of 18 iden-
tified by the 2018 population study.
There’s just one problem … The
2005 population study identified
19,344 children in this identical
age cohort, a decline of 4,244 chil-
dren. And virtually all this signif-
icant decline can be found in the
age 6-12 and age 13-17 cohorts.
The one area of population
growth in the under-18 crowd is
in the Orthodox community. The
study shows that 41 percent of
the Detroit Jewish community’s
Orthodox community is under
the age of 18 and that 56 percent
of Orthodox families have at least
four household members.
Since Orthodox children cannot
be expected to attend Tamarack
or the JCC day camps, partici-
pate in BBYO, join the commu-
nity-wide Teen Mission to Israel
or attend Hillel Day School and
Frankel Jewish Academy, the data
suggest that, as a community, we
are likely to face “overcapacity”
in our non-Orthodox facilities
and programs. Concurrently, the
study suggests that our non-Zion-
ist Orthodox institutions will be
facing significant “under capacity”
issues. ■
DISCUSSION QUESTION
• The Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit and its United
Jewish Foundation are currently
looking at the community’s overall
“footprint” of buildings and facilities
with an eye toward reducing square
footage and consolidating some oper-
ations. What would you a dvise them?