14 January 31 • 2019
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in 
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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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