views letters continued from page 6 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?