Views 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