18 | MARCH 11 • 2021 

OUR COMMUNITY

R

acial Justice nonprofit 
New Detroit Inc. has 
named Jodee Fishman 
Raines as its first-ever COO.
Raines joins New Detroit 
after 12 years with the Fred 
A. and Barbara M. Erb Family 
Foundation.
At New Detroit, she will 
be responsible for overseeing 
strategic planning of the non-
profit’s project initiatives and 
programs and for cultivating 
relationships with funders.
Prior to the Erb Foundation, 
Raines held roles at the Jewish 
Fund, Skillman Foundation 
and Bodman PLC. She was 
recognized as one of Detroit’s 
Most Influential Women by 
Crain’s Detroit Business in 2007.
New Detroit is shifting how 
it works toward racial equity, 
with Michael Rafferty, who 
succeeded longtime CEO 
Shirley Stancato in May 2019.
“I’m excited about work-
ing with Michael Rafferty,” 
Raines said. “I’ve worked with 
Michael before, and I think 
highly of him as a leader and 
look forward to being his part-
ner.” 
New Detroit is focusing 
on improving interpersonal 
behavior and addressing struc-
tural racism in more tangible, 
measurable ways with a coali-
tion of leaders from civil rights 
and advocacy organizations, 
human services, community 
health organizations, business, 
education, media and more.
“New Detroit is a historic 
organization going through a 
redo, so I’m looking to bring a 
lot of my experience working 
with nonprofit organizations 

and on systemic change in 
Detroit to New Detroit, rede-
fining their future strategies 
and approaches to eliminating 
racism,” Raines said. “This is a 
chance to help reshape a lega-
cy organization.” 
With an “open mind and 
open ears,” Raines began 
March 8. “It’s hard to imagine 
having a job you don’t feel 
personally passionate about,” 
Raines said. 
Raines said her Jewish val-
ues will influence how she 
approaches the job in the same 
way her human values will.
“My family raised me with 
very strong values, I’ve always 
been able to apply my values 
to my work, being a servant 
leader, being humble and 
caring about other people,” 
she said. 
“The fight for racial and 
social justice isn’t just about 
prejudice, but also about sys-
tems and policies that create 
inequities,” Raines continued. 
“Racism has been a long 
serious issue in our country 
... and I think there’s real 
momentum now to make a 
difference.” 

Look for a more in-depth feature on 

Raines in an upcoming JN.

NEW DETROIT INC.

Aiding the Fight 
Against Racism

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

Jodee 
Fishman 
Raines

In these times of COVID, 
a lot of socially distanced 
people are finding the 
time to cull through 
years of pictures, scan 
them, toss them and cat-
alogue them. Facebook 
searches for old friends 
and Google searches fill 
empty moments of iso-
lation.
Memories surface. To 
many, there are memories 
of packing a trunk, catch-
ing a bus at the Mercury 
Theater in Detroit, sing-
ing “Petosega Hail to Thee” 
and riding up to Petoskey 
to Camp Petosega. 
Nestled on Pickerel 
Lake, Camp Petosega 
welcomed campers from 
1956 to 1972. Housed in 
six girl cabins — Ruth, 
Miriam, Deborah, Naomi, 
Esther and Leah — and 

across the stream six boy 
cabins — Daniel, Akiba, 
Joshua, David, Maccabee 
and Samson — 100-plus 
campers shared a sum-
mer of sailing, swimming 
and riding with a good 
dose of Yiddishkeit. On 
Shabbat, campers dressed 
in their camp bests, lit 
Shabbat candles and sang 
traditional tunes. 
Now, 50 years later, 
Petosegans will once 
again gather on March 
14 at 4 p.m., not in upper 
lower Michigan but on 
Zoom and revisit Color 
Wars, College Nights and 
Shabbats.
Interested campers can 
go to the Camp Petosega 
Alumni 1956 to 1972 on 
Facebook and/or email 
camppetosegareunion@
gmail.com. 

N.J. Teen Confesses to Spearheading 
Plot to Vandalize U.P. Synagogue

(JTA) — A 19-year-old 
from New Jersey admit-
ted he coordinated with 
members of the neo-Na-
zi group the Base in 
attacks on at least two 
Midwestern synagogues.
Richard Tobin, of 
Brooklawn, pleaded 
guilty Feb. 26 to con-
spiracy charges, the 
Associated Press report-
ed. He faces up to 10 
years in prison.
In the September 2019 
attacks, a synagogue in 
Hancock, Mich., was 
daubed with swastikas 
and SS symbols and a 

synagogue in Racine, 
Wisc., was defaced with 
an antisemitic slogan and 
the insignia of the Base.
Tobin said he called 
his efforts “Operation 
Kristallnacht,” a reference 
to the pogrom through-
out Nazi Germany in 
1938 that many refer 
to as the start of the 
Holocaust.
He added that he was 
“triggered by the state 
of the country” and 
described feeling angry 
after seeing large crowds 
of Black people at a New 
Jersey mall. 

Camp Petosega Alumni 
to Host a Zoom Reunion

