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NIF Represents Our Most
Essential Jewish Values

Editor’s Note: This op-ed was written
in response to “Commentary: The New
Israel Fund Does NOT Support Israel”
by Kobi Erez on Nov. 1, 2018.

M

etropolitan
Detroit forged
my Jewish
values. When I think of
Torah, I think of Saul
Rube’s Talmud class
at Hillel Day School.
I think of endless sto-
Michael
ries, discussion and
Brodsky
questioning. I think of
being endowed by our community with
an incredible opportunity: the chance
to learn, aspire and improve. And it’s
this very same aspirational notion —
harnessing Torah in pursuit of our
best selves — that’s inspired my sister’s
pursuit of the cantorate and her Judaic
studies at Hebrew Union College.
Political, labor and cultural Zionism,
as conceived by the early founders of
Israel, was meant to liberate Jews from
the age-old ghetto mentality of weak,
helpless victim. It set out to prove that
Jews were not doomed to be subjects,
and that a people whose reality had
always been defined by oppressive forc-
es could at last become a community
steeped in choice, with the power to
construct its own political history.
It sought to accomplish this by
creating a Jewish citizen, a Jewish gov-
ernment, a Jewish army. But while so
much progress has been made — and
Israel’s achievements are too many to
count — these is still much work to
do. Israel, for all its accomplishments,
remains a country disproportionate-
ly governed by religious law, which
prohibits equal protection for each
denomination of Judaism and applies
unequal public services to its non-Jew-
ish minorities. That’s why it’s crucial we
remain steadfast to our Jewish values,
appreciating all that Israel’s done right
while continuing to move the country
forward.
The New Israel Fund is an extension
of these values. Not only in terms of
its civil society-building in Israel, but

also because NIF represents the most
essential principles shared by our
community — from a commitment to
social justice and egalitarian society to
the advancement of individual freedom
and democratic law. The older I’ve
grown, the more I’ve come to believe
that maturity lies in holding multiple
truths simultaneously. That patchwork
quilts are inherently, richer, warmer
and more full of beauty than uniform
single-stitch. It’s a rare organization that
embodies this kind of nuance, which
is one of the many reasons I’ve been
drawn to the New Israel Fund.
It’s for similar reasons that I was
drawn to Tel Aviv — a city that’s played
a surprisingly formative role in my
life. I love the bauhaus of Kikar Bialik,
the children and grandkids playing
in Habima and the worn Democratic
socialist architecture west of Ibn Gvirol.
But the real reason I love Tel Aviv is
because it embodies, more than any-
place I’ve ever been, the spectrum
of human emotion. It makes me feel
warm, hopeful and endlessly vital while
existing just 15 miles from the occupa-
tion. It’s impossible to live in Tel Aviv
without thinking critically about all
those who can’t; about the overbearing
influence of the rabbinate on everyday
life; about the South Sudanese refugees
who trekked through Sinai in search of
a future for their children. In short —
the city’s just like a person. It embodies
beauty, blight and a willingness to rec-
ognize its shortcomings in pursuit of
something better.
It’s this same maturity and authen-
ticity that draws me to the New Israel
Fund. And it’s one of the many reasons
that all Jews can feel at home in this
community. NIF is an organization
that actively chooses to embrace com-
plexity rather than the dogmatism that
too often dominates our political and
religious landscape. Just like Tel Aviv, it
holds multiple truths simultaneously.
That’s what enables NIF to unequiv-
ocally condemn Palestinian terrorism
while supporting organizations — like
the Association for Civil Rights in
Israel, the country’s equivalent of our

continued on page 10

8

November 29 • 2018

jn

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.

Dual Chanukah-Christmas Observances
Growing In Detroit Jewish Households

W

ith Chanukah starting
the evening of Dec. 2,
Jewish households across
the Detroit Metropolitan area will
celebrate by lighting candles and
partaking in customary meals and
exchanges of gifts. The communi-
ty’s shifting religious composition
offers some insights into the way
the Festival of Lights is celebrated.
Based on the 2018 Detroit Jewish
population study, 71 percent of
our community’s 31,500 Jewish
households always or usually light
Chanukah candles (59 percent
always). This compares to 77.1
percent who always or usually lit
Chanukah candles (68.9 percent
always) from data contained in the
comparable 2005 community study.
Could the downward trend be a
result of changes in the religious
composition of Jewish households?
Maybe. Maybe not.
The 2018 study shows that 30
percent of couples in Jewish house-
holds are intermarried, almost dou-
ble the number (16 percent) report-
ed in the 2005 study. However,
in the 2018 study, 63.3 percent of
these households always or usually
light Chanukah candles (55.8 per-
cent always), up from 54.4 percent
who always or usually did so in
2005 (46.4 percent always).
But the data suggest there is a
cross-current of religious obser-
vance taking place in more house-
holds.
The 2018 study reveals that
25 percent of Jewish households
always, usually or sometimes have a
Christmas tree (14 percent always).
The 2005 study showed that 14.9

percent always, usually or some-
times had a Christmas tree, with
9.2 percent always having one. Of
Jewish households with children
under the age of 18, 31 percent said
they always, usually or sometimes
had a Christmas tree, compared
with 20.9 percent in 2005.
To muddy the waters a bit more
… of those Jewish households in
the 2018 study who always, usually
or sometimes have a Christmas
tree, 49 percent always light
Chanukah candles. ■

See related story on page 18.

QUESTIONS:
• Studies continue to show a high
correlation between levels of Jewish
education and Jewish affiliation
and engagement. What should the
Jewish community do to expand the
Jewish educational opportunities
for intermarried families and their
children?
• Larger numbers of intermarried
Jewish households are located outside
of the Detroit Jewish community’s
core area (primarily in Wayne County).
Does the community have greater,
lesser or equal responsibility in
attempting to engage these families?
Would the community have a higher
“return on investment” of its finite
charitable dollars by investin g them in
the core area (the core area includes
West Bloomfield, Farmington Hills,
Birmingham, Bloomfield, Southfield,
Oak Park, Huntington Woods and
Franklin)?

