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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