14 January 31 • 2019
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ters, synagogues, startups and more.
As Detroit continues to ride the wave
of creativity and renewed energy, these
leaders will be at the forefront of exciting
new initiatives that will strengthen the
community and put Jewish values into
action.
”
To bring the Wexner program back
to Detroit, Larry Wolfe, immediate past
Federation president, offered local phil-
anthropic support of $350,000 through
the D. Dan and Betty Kahn Foundation.
The Wexner Foundation matches that
amount to fund the two-year program
cost of $700,000. No expenses are
incurred by the participants.
“Educated leadership is a catalyst for

progressive ideas, programs and com-
munal participation,
” Wolfe said. “The
Wexner program is in the forefront of
establishing new leaders and giving them
the tools to enhance our communal out-
reach.
”
The Wexner Foundation has expand-
ed to additional fellowships that span
leadership development for Jewish
communal professionals in graduate
programs (Wexner Graduate Fellowship/
Davidson Scholars Program) and leader-
ship development for Jewish profession-
als (Wexner Field Fellowship), to service
learning programs for high school
students (Wexner Service Corps) and
programs to advance the civic sector in

Israel (Wexner Israel Fellowship, Wexner
Senior Leaders).

CURRENT COHORT
The fellows graduate this July in
Jerusalem after having two years of local
courses and weeklong seminars in Aspen
and Utah to learn with participants in
other selected cities throughout North
America; three new cities begin each
year.
During the local courses, a scholar
travels to Detroit for a four-hour semi-
nar, usually held every other Wednesday
evening. The curriculum span is from
liturgy and the Bible and contemporary
Israel society to European Jewish history,
God and synagogue, and modern lead-
ership topics in 21st-century American
Jewry.
“During our first Wexner Heritage
retreat in Aspen in the summer of 2017,
Les Wexner addressed the group in his
beautiful mountainside home,
” partici-
pant David Kramer of Bloomfield Hills
recalled. “He told us he created the pro-
gram because he came to realize many
of the most prominent lay leaders in the
Jewish communal world had little to no
education in Jewish history, Jewish ritual
or Jewishly informed leadership skills.
“I quickly came to realize the princi-
pal benefit of the program is not only
learning from amazing scholars about
all things Jewish, but also understanding
how to take that knowledge and apply it
to Jewish communal leadership.
”

The current participants are already
active in a diverse array of leadership
endeavors in the community.
For example, Yoni Torgow of Oak
Park contributes his time and energy to
advance Yeshiva Beth Yehudah; Rachel
Opperer of Huntington Woods does the
same with Farber Hebrew Day School;
Reuben Maxbauer of Farmington Hills
has been an active, engaged board
member of the Frankel Jewish Academy,
as Josh Levine of Huntington Woods
has been with the Hillel Day School.
Gayle Gold, also of Huntington Woods,
has worked to support the Jewish
Federation’
s endeavors focused on young
adult mental health needs. Others of the
20 fellows give of their time by working
on Federation, Jewish agency, day school
and synagogue boards and committees.
Alicia Chandler of Birmingham, cur-
rent president of Detroit’
s JCRC/AJC,
says being a Wexner Fellow has been the
most powerful experience of her Jewish
communal life.
“It has taught me how to connect my
Judaism to my Jewish leadership,
” she
said. “The experience has helped root
my leadership in Torah and tradition and
helped me understand the ever-changing
entity that is the Jewish community. It
has also given me 19 amazing, smart,
thoughtful friends. While our communi-
ty, like all communities, faces challenges,
this experience helps empower leaders
to embrace the challenges and help our
community thrive.
”

The track record of Wexner Heritage
Fellows from 1986-88 is easy to see.
Many of the graduates have given
decades of leadership and service to the
Jewish community, which has included
some of the most significant positions
of philanthropy, policy-making and com-
munity-building within Jewish Detroit,
and within the national and international
communities.
Peter Alter, as an example, has served
as local Federation and Anti-Defamation
League president as well as on national
Jewish boards. He also studied for more
than 15 years with Rabbi Avi Cohen of
Partners Detroit, which Alter says has
been a very special, worthwhile and privi-

leged experience for him.
Dr. Richard Krugel has chaired the
Jewish Fund and been president of the
Jewish Community Relations Council;
Judge Susan Moiseev has chaired com-
mittees at the Jewish Historical Society of
Michigan and at Jewish Senior Life; Marcy
Feldman co-chaired the Federation’
s
Family Mission to Israel and was vice
president of Federation’
s Women’
s
Division; Phillip Fisher served as chair
of the Investment Committees of the
Jewish Foundation of North America and
the boards of the Jewish Foundation and
United Way of Southeast Michigan — and
this list is just a tip of the iceberg for their
involvement and that of other members of
their cohort.
Looking back to their time in Wexner,
Cheryl and Dan Guyer, who attended
together, said, “We were exposed to dif-
ferent models of leadership, developed
a more critical way of problem-solving,

and had the opportunity to study with
nationally and internationally known
Jewish thought leaders — Adin Steinsaltz,
Joseph Telushkin, Deborah Lipstadt, Yitz
Geenberg, Irwin Kula and others.
“We connected with peers in other
Jewish communities across the country,”
Dan Guyer said. “We studied with them
and learned from them and developed
a global picture of leadership through
Jewish values that prepared me to take
on leadership roles in local agencies and
nationally. The return of the Wexner pro-
gram to Detroit is an opportunity to create
a group of educated, thoughtful, dynamic
and Jewishly sensitive leaders to take on
the challenges of our community.”
Cheryl Guyer is director of development
at the Holocaust Memorial Center.
Krugel says his experience in Wexner
was one of the most significant events
of his early Jewish leadership devel-
opment and was life-altering. “Those

years studying with some of the greatest
Jewish scholars in the world, including
Rabbis Adin Steinsaltz, David Hartman and
Shlomo Riskin, among others, made me
realize the importance of Jewish educa-
tion for the future of the Jewish people
and the need for adult Jewish education.”
Alter says it’
s impossible to overstate
the success and impact of the Wexner
programs nationally and in Israel.
“For Detroit, it was a privilege 30 years
ago, for each of us participate in the
program. It is a fantastic boost for Detroit
to have Wexner back here. It, of course,
enriches the community and creates a
buzz, but, even more importantly, it helps
to provide Detroit with a new generation
of more informed, more educated, more
enthusiastic and, therefore, better Jewish
leaders. It allows many of the participants
who have leadership potential to be/
become much better Jewish leaders. The
entire community benefits.” ■

Wexner Inspired
Initial Detroit
Alumni

Reuben Maxbauer

and Ethan Davidson

(facing camera) listen

intently during a sem-

inar session.

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