8 June 6 • 2019
jn
T
he shocking news that
57-year-old Dan Gilbert suf-
fered a stroke on May 26 is
a stark reminder of the impact one
person with a vision — and the will
to implement it — can have on a
company, a city and a region’
s future.
Gilbert moved Quicken and allied
companies — approximately 1,700
employees — from Livonia to Detroit
in 2010, despite a prolonged economic
downturn and a city teetering on the
edge of bankruptcy.
He told Jewish News reporter Bill
Carroll at the time that he was plan-
ning to “create the urban core of the
city — new technology, and the best
is yet to come. But we must retain the
young talent graduating from colleges
in the state … It’
s interesting to read
obituaries in the local papers and see
how many of the surviving children
and grandchildren are listed as living
out of state. All of the companies must
join the push for jobs here. We’
re cer-
tainly doing our part.”
He tirelessly recruited skeptical
companies and real estate developers
— initially with mixed success — to
join him in Detroit. Many were wary
of taking such a gamble on a city with
crumbling infrastructure, high crime
rates and a deeply damaged reputa-
tion.
However, Gilbert’
s pied-piper vision
resonated throughout his Detroit
Jewish community. A 2005 demo-
graphic study by Dr. Ira Sheskin found
that Detroit’
s Jewish population was
the oldest outside of Sunbelt com-
munities and that the number of
adults in their 20s and early 30s was
views
Appreciating Dan Gilbert’s Audacious
Vision, And Praying For His Full Recovery
continued on page 10
S
o far this year, eight states have
passed laws severely limiting abor-
tion rights in an attempt to lay
the groundwork to have Roe v. Wade
overturned. Alabama has just passed
the most restrictive law that makes per-
forming an
abortion
a felony
at any
stage of
pregnancy.
Georgia,
Kentucky,
Ohio,
Missouri and Louisana have passed
laws prohibiting abortion as soon as
a fetal heartbeat is detected, about six
weeks into a pregnancy, often before
many women know they are pregnant.
These laws are not in effect yet and
will probably be blocked while they
are challenged in courts, but the threat
to a woman’
s right to make her own
reproductive decisions is very real.
Recently, a delegation of our mem-
bers from National Council of Jewish
Women, Michigan met with many
Michigan legislators and/or their staff
about repealing 1931 Michigan laws
that ban abortion. The Roe decision
has mothballed the 1931 laws, but if
Roe is overturned, women’
s reproduc-
tive healthcare would revert to stan-
dards established nearly 100 years ago.
NCJW believes that every woman
should have the right to make per-
sonal decisions about her body, health
and future; that, consistent with the
value kavod ha bri’
ot (respect and
dignity for all human beings), all
women should have equal access to
safe and legal health care; and that
bans on abortion coverage interfere
with a woman’
s moral autonomy and
her power to make personal decisions
based on her own moral or religious
beliefs. We believe it is unjust for law-
makers to enshrine one religious view
into law in order to restrict abortion
access. Doing so erodes our nation’
s
basic principle of religious liberty.
Unlike some faith traditions, which
view abortion as murder, Jewish law
does not because the fetus is not rec-
ognized as a “life” or a “person” with
independent rights. The fetus does
not have the same legal status as the
mother who is a full-fledged, autono-
mous human being. It has no identity
of its own since it is dependent on the
body of the woman until most of the
body emerges from her womb.
This is why Jewish sources explic-
itly indicate that if the continuation
of a pregnancy might imperil the life
or health of a woman, abortion is
not only permitted but required. The
interests of the woman always come
before the fetus. According to some
contemporary Jewish sources, health
includes psychological health as well
as physical health.
A recent CBS News poll indicated
that 67 percent of Americans want
to keep Roe v. Wade as the law of the
land. Michigan’
s 2018 midterm elec-
tion placed three pro-choice women
at the top of our state government.
indicating that a majority of our
state’
s electorate believes in a woman’
s
right to decide for herself. However,
Michigan’
s Republican-dominated leg-
islature appears to want to turn back
the clock to the “old days” of secrecy,
shame and illegal abortions.
We feel strongly that women have
the right to make personal decisions
about their bodies, their health and
their futures. If you agree, contact
your state representative and state
senator to register your support to
repeal the 1931 laws banning abortion
(House Bills: 4113-4116; Senate Bills:
50-52). To find your state legislators,
go to house.mi.gov/MHRPublic/frm-
FindARep.aspx (representatives) and
senate.michigan.gov/fysbyaddress.
html (senators). These calls could be
among the most important you have
ever made.
You can join with us in our efforts
to protect women’
s reproductive rights
by calling the NCJW office at (248)
355-3300, ext. 0. ■
Irma Glaser and Cathy Cantor are NCJW Michigan
state policy advocates.
guest column
Protecting the Rights of Michigan Women
Irma Glaser and Cathy Cantor
Readers on Facebook reacted to our
story (May 23, page 38) about Drag
Queen Storytime at Congregation
Shaarey Zedek.
Debra Cash: Not the Shaarey
Zedek of my childhood and that’
s a
good thing.
Rachel Lutz: I graduated high
school with Raven. Although this
person’
s outward appearance has
changed, their heart is still the
same — generous and kind. Raven
brings a lot of joy to these kids,
and I can’
t understand why anyone
would be so closed-minded to not
embrace this concept. Don’
t like
it? Don’
t send your kids. It’
s pretty
simple, really.
Karen Couf Cohen: I love our shul.
Fred Cislo Jr.: I am glad to see
there are people like Raven who are
comfortable enough with themselves
to be who they were meant to be
and help to educate others.
Larry Gunsberg: Why is this even
necessary? Why do we constantly
expose our kids to weirdness? What
is the purpose behind exposing our
children to drag queens and why
is it so important the drag queens
need to read to our children? This
is also happening in Huntington
Woods and, frankly, I don’
t
understand this at all.
Nancy Simpson Moody: This is
so sick and twisted. That’
s what’
s
wrong with our society nowadays.
God made you man or woman.
Stick with what He made you.
The Jewish News welcomes reader
feedback. Feel free to comment on
thejewishnews.com, our Facebook
page or send a letter to letters@
renmedia.us.
Online Comments
Correction:
In the May 23 issue, page 44, it should
have stated that the Zioness Movement’
s
Amanda Berman’
s visit to Beth Shalom
was presented in partnership with the
Cohn-Haddow Center for Judaic Studies.
editorial