4 | JUNE 3 • 2021 

PURELY COMMENTARY

editorial
Thank You for Your “Community” Service
A

s is highlighted in 
our cover story (page 
14), Steve Ingber 
is the newly appointed CEO 
of the Jewish Federation of 
Metropolitan 
Detroit.
Now, that may 
seem like the 
often-reported 
“People on the 
Move” that we 
see in various 
publications 
regarding a job change or a 
promotion.
However, this is no ordinary 
announcement.
Having spent 12 years of my 
career working at the Jewish 
Federation, initially as chief 
financial officer and eventually 
as chief operating officer, I have 
been behind the curtain, and I 
have seen how the kosher sau-
sage is made.
Federation executives, those 

who work at Federation, other 
agencies or within our syna-
gogue network, don’t have easy 
jobs. It is not for everyone.
The needs and demands of 
the community are complex 
and ever-changing, and it takes 
a steady hand and a strategic 
mindset to make it work. It is a 
series of balancing acts between 
mission and margin, between 
governance and management, 
and between risks and rewards.
Most of the opportunities 
for Federation are difficult to 
land and most of the challenges 
are not easily solved. But over 
the many decades and over 
the body of work through the 
years, the mission is realized.
I had the unique opportunity 
to learn from two of the pro-
fession’s finest, Bob Aronson 
and Michael Berke. They ran 
the Federation playbook with 
an air of sophistication and 
the art of diplomacy. Until you 

have spent a day within the 
cherished walls of the Max M. 
Fisher Federation Building, you 
cannot possibly appreciate what 
happens there every single day. 
It’s fast-paced, dynamic and 
unpredictable.
The Federation is the address 
where many of the commu-
nity’s most complicated issues 
and unexpected crises get deliv-
ered. And it is the CEO who 
must sign the receipt accepting 
that delivery, working with lay 
leadership partners who ensure 
Federation is best positioned 
to find the solutions, raise the 
funds and, above all, protect 
the health, wellbeing and conti-
nuity of our community.
As Steve Ingber transitions 
into this role, he and his family 
know they are making a sacri-
fice on behalf of the commu-
nity. Near the completion of 
my tour of duty at Federation, 
those closest to me would ask, 

“Why do you do it?” I would 
respond, “It’s not for the stock 
options.
”
You only take on such roles 
because it is in your DNA and 
because it is in your heart. You 
come out the other side a dif-
ferent person, but it is worth 
every moment.
Years from now, and hope-
fully many years from now, 
when Steve completes his tour 
of duty, the community will say, 
“Thank you.
” 
Well, I say “thank you” to 
Steve Ingber today. Thank you 
for your community service. 
Thank you for stepping up and 
leaning in to take on this role. 
You have our support, and 
you have our commitment. All 
the very best on the journey 
ahead. 

Mark Davidoff is senior advisor to the 

Detroit Jewish News Foundation Board 

and oversees the Detroit Jewish News.

Mark 
Davidoff

essay
Jewish Community Must Play Active Role 
in Michigan’s Redistricting Process
E

very 10 years, 
following the national 
census, every state 
is required to redraw the 
electoral districts by which 
citizens 
elect their 
representatives 
to the state 
legislature 
and the U.S. 
House of 
Representatives. 
 
 
 
 
 For decades, 

political parties have sought 
to abuse the redistricting 
process by drawing districts 
that slice and tear through 
contiguous communities or 
jam dissimilar cities together 
to give their party an unfair 
advantage — a process 
known as gerrymandering. 
During the 2018 
election, Michigan voters 
overwhelmingly voted to 
eradicate unfair partisan 
gerrymandering by passing 

Proposition 2 (“Voters 
Not Politicians”), which 
created the new Michigan 
Independent Citizens 
Redistricting Commission 
(MICRC). The MICRC 
is comprised of four 
Democrats, four Republicans 
and five Independents, who 
are in charge of soliciting 
input from the public to draw 
Michigan’s congressional, 
state house and state senate 
districts in effect for the next 

decade.
The foremost among 
a number of metrics the 
MICRC will use to determine 
the boundaries of Michigan’s 
new congressional and state 
legislative districts is what 
is known as “communities 
of interest.” A community of 
interest may be neighboring 
municipalities that form 
an economic corridor, or it 
may be an ethnic, cultural, 
religious or issue-oriented 

Noah Arbit

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