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6 | NOVEMBER 21 • 2019
guest column
Gatherings – Not Programs
M
eeting facilitator Priya
Parker’
s book The Art
of Gathering: How
We Meet and Why It Matters is
inspiring hosts across the globe,
from C-suite retreat planners to
novice book club
hostesses.
The Well, a
Jewish commu-
nity-building
organization for
young families
serving Metro
Detroit, is also
gleaning inspiration from the
book and Parker’
s “rules” for
hosting successful gatherings.
Breaking traditions, con-
fronting “FOMO” culture and
combating millennial loneliness
are just a few of the issues The
Art of Gathering has helped The
Well tackle, with an approach
guided by a Jewish lens.
I recently interviewed Rabbi
Dan Horwitz, founder and
director of The Well, to find out
more about his organization’
s
innovative gatherings, Parker’
s
influence on his work and how
the book has subtly transformed
the day-to-day experience of
participants in Metro Detroit’
s
Jewish community.
The focus on bringing young
Jews (and those who love them)
together is an essential part
of The Well’
s success. While
nationally, formal affiliation
rates with traditional Jewish
institutions is down, The Well
has empowered Metro Detroit’
s
millennials to take a hands-on
role in developing its gatherings.
“We aim to co-create and
empower our people to play
active roles in the planning and
execution of our gatherings so
that the up and coming gener-
ation of young adults will feel
empowered to be architects
of the Jewish future, prepared
to invest their time, talent and
treasure,
” Horwitz wrote.
The Well’
s gatherings avoid
lectures and one-sided exchang-
es, instead favoring interac-
tive experiences and mutual
exchanges in their work. “
All of
our gatherings have substantive
Jewish content built in, often in
experiential fashion,
” he said.
Many Jewish gatherings are
“calendar-dependent,
” following
the annual cycle of holidays.
For many, these gatherings are
driven by a desire to mark the
holidays and seasons of the year,
sometimes with little further
direction or inspiration. The
Well is constantly re-imagin-
ing these traditional gathering
opportunities with new energy,
such as their Passover-inspired
escape room and Sukkot-
themed immersive dinner the-
ater experience.
The organization’
s monthly
“Tot Shabbat” series, a Sabbath
prayer experience designed
for families with young chil-
dren, creates opportunities for
connection with the Jewish
tradition, other young families,
and exciting spaces in Metro
Detroit, such as the Detroit Zoo,
Third Man Records, the Detroit
Institute for Music Education
and more.
The theme and location
change every month, challeng-
ing assumptions that Shabbat
and other Jewish gatherings
must take place in traditionally
Jewish spaces such as syna-
gogue structures and embracing
Parker’
s concept that one choos-
es a venue to meet a particular
gathering’
s objectives. So, for a
Tot Shabbat celebrating the hol-
iday of Tu b’
Shevat (the Jewish
Arbor Day), the Outdoor
Adventure Center proved a
powerful platform for the gath-
ering.
Many of Parker’
s other prin-
ciples can be seen in approaches
embraced by The Well — from
“creating an alternate universe”
and “establishing rules” to per-
fecting logistics like thoughtful-
ly curating a guest list and fos-
tering meaningful connections
between each person gathered.
However, one suggested
approach in Parker’
s book
seems to run counter to what
The Well seeks to achieve.
The “Passover Principle,
”
explained in Parker’
s book as
a special invitation to a one-
night-only gathering, might
actually contribute to a height-
ened sense of millennial lone-
liness. Horwitz says: “It’
s near
impossible to truly build com-
munity — one that supports
you day-to-day — with one-off
gatherings, or gatherings that
only take place once a year.
”
The pressure of creating and
attending a “one-time-only”
Issues With
Levin’
s Column
As a constituent of Rep. Andy
Levin, I applaud him for writ-
ing about the anniversary of
Kristallnacht and his concerns
about the increasing anti-Se-
mitic attacks against Jewish
institutions and individuals in
this country. (“The Lessons
We Learn From Kristallnacht,”
Nov. 7)
However, I take issue with
him connecting these incidents
to the presidency of Donald
Trump. He referred to the
2017 incident in Charlottesville
claiming Trump referred to
the neo-Nazis who showed up
as “very fine people.” He may
be parroting video or audio
clips from the main-stream
media. However, those sound
bites don’
t report Trump’
s
entire quote. If Rep. Levin
were to research and listen to
the entire comment Trump
made, he would have heard
him condemn (in the presi-
dent’
s words) the neo-Nazis
and white supremacists who
showed up to the demonstra-
tion regarding the removal of
Confederate General Robert E.
Lee’
s statue.
In the recording of Trump’
s
comments, the “very fine peo-
ple on both sides” he referred
to were the people who showed
up to demonstrate against
removing the statue and those
who want the statue removed.
It’
s fine for Rep. Levin to be
critical of the president he dis-
agrees with, but he must get his
facts straight first.
— Lee L. Schostak
Beverly Hills
Trump Supports Israel
“The Lessons We Learn From
Kristallnacht” by Rep. Andy
Levin was informative until he
made false political claims that
President Donald Trump was a
threat to the Jewish people.
We never had an American
president so supportive of
Israel and the American Jews
as President Trump. What
country ills did the president
blame the Jews for? It was
Congresswomen Ilhan Omar
and Rashida Tlaib who blamed
the Jews for the Palestinian and
American problems, but Rep.
Levin tended to ignore this
present danger.
— Doreen Lichtman
Orchard Lake
letters
Chelsea
Landry
continued on page 10