22 | NOVEMBER 21 • 2019 M ichigan State Sen. Jeremy Moss pro- posed a resolution on Tuesday, Nov. 12, that would allow a menorah to permanently share a spot on the Capitol lawn with a Christmas tree during the hol- iday season. Currently, the Michigan Capitol Commission allows a menorah and other religious symbols space on the Capitol lawn, but they must be no larger than 4 feet by 4 feet and be removed each night and re-installed each morning. Moss calls it unfair that a Christmas tree stays outside the Capitol from November through Christmas, but a menorah must be removed by volunteers each evening. Also, the rules prevent a big menorah, like the one used in Menorah in the D, from being installed on the lawn. The Detroit News reports that the Michigan Capitol Commission’ s vice chairman John Truscott says the reason a menorah is treated differ- ently from a Christmas tree is because the “Christmas tree is a secondary religious symbol, and a menorah is a primary religious symbol. ” Senate leadership sent Moss’ resolution to a com- mittee instead of holding a vote. According to Amber McCann, spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clark Lake, he’ s “not inclined to do anything different than we do now in terms of policy with regard to religious symbols. ” Moss said Lansing Mayor Andy Schor, who is Jewish, would like to light the meno- rah along with the Christmas tree during Lansing’ s Silver Bells in the City holiday event on Nov. 22. But unless the rule changes, it will have to be removed that night. JN STAFF COURTESY OF HOUSE DEMOCRATS Capitol Menorah in the Spotlight This year’ s festivities begin at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 22, at Campus Martius in Detroit with the menorah lighting at 5 p.m. The annual event, put on by The Shul in partnership with the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and Chabad of Greater Downtown Detroit, is a family favorite with entertainment and refreshments, a marshmal- low roasting pit, strolling entertainment, face painting, Chanukah gelt for kids, com- plimentary snack bar and hot soup, a kosher food truck, dancing dreidels and dreidel mascot, mitzvah station, horse-drawn carriage rides, live music and a fire show. MENORAH IN THE D 2019 THE SHUL Last year’ s Menorah in the D State lawmakers and others gather around menorah outside the Michigan Capitol during a past holiday season. Jews in the D Generous Gift Ann Arbor Hebrew Day School receives a $1.8 million pledge. L ast month, Hebrew Day School of Ann Arbor (HDS) secured a pledge from an anonymous donor for a gift of $1.8 million, the largest donation the school has received since opening its doors in 1975, and it will sup- port all aspects of the school’ s operation. The pledge marks the lat- est in a series of fundraising successes for Hebrew Day School, which has received generous support in recent years from the Jeffrey Farber Family Foundation, the David and Nanci Farber Family Foundation, Mickey and Debbie Stern, the Allen Foundation and others. Gil Seinfeld, president of the HDS Board, shared news of the gift with HDS families and staff shortly after the school year began. “The mag- nitude of this gift is, of course, extraordinary, but the instincts underlying it are familiar. It reflects deep appreciation for the value of Jewish edu- cation — an understanding of the fact that day schools have a profound and durable effect on their students’ sense of Jewish identity and of the central role day schools can play in an entire community’ s Jewish experience. ” Seinfeld noted that this gift “will help scores of Jewish families in Ann Arbor to partake of the warm, proud, deeply connected Jewish community [his] family has enjoyed since moving to Ann Arbor. ” Greg Gafni-Pappas, imme- diate past president of the HDS Board, said, “This is extraordinarily exciting news for our school. It’ s no secret that there has been a decline in day school enrollment across the country in recent years, and that, of course, can create significant financial challenges for schools. “We have confronted some of these challenges at HDS, but we have been able to continue to supply an excellent product to our families because of generous support from our families, the Ann Arbor Jewish com- munity, especially the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor, and dedicated sup- porters of Jewish education elsewhere in Michigan and throughout the United States. This gift builds on that tradi- tion and will enable us to con- tinue our important work. ” Sam Hendren, who has served on the HDS Board since 2016 and sits on its executive committee, empha- sized that the benefits of this gift will extend far beyond Hebrew Day School families. “There is ample evidence, ” she explained, “of the relation- ship between Jewish education and having a strong, positive sense of Jewish identity as an adult. Day school graduates are more likely to be vibrant participants in, and leaders of, their Jewish communities when they grow older. So, the consequences of this gift will ripple far into the future and far beyond Ann Arbor, as our students go off to lead engaged Jewish lives wherever they choose to settle down. ” JENNIFER ROSENBERG SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS COURTESY HDS Young students of Ann Arbor Hebrew Day School