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N

oah Arbit was a self-described 
“political nerd” two years ago 
when he founded the Michigan 
Democratic Jewish Caucus (MDJC). 
Arbit, 25, director of communications 
for Oakland County Prosecutor Karen 
McDonald, said he was “restless for a new 
project” after working to elect Democrat 
Gretchen Whitmer as Michigan’s governor 
in 2018. He saw the need for an organi-
zation, not then existent, that could bring 
Jewish Democrats together because “I 
believed fiercely that our Jewish community 
needed political leaders who understood 
the issues facing our community — right 
here, right now.
”
MDJC (mijewishdems.org) seeks to 
“provide a voice for Michigan’s Jewish com-

munity within the Democratic Party, to 
empower and mobilize Jewish Michiganders 
on behalf of candidates, causes and issues 
we believe in,
” Arbit said. 
MDJC, he added, is the only Jewish orga-
nization in Michigan that endorses candi-
dates for state and federal office and helps 
raise money for them.
“The Jewish community has enthusi-
astically supported our movement,
” Arbit 
said, noting that MDJC has endorsed 50 
candidates, raised nearly $200,000, recruited 
nearly 3,000 members and held more than 
40 public events. 
On Aug. 1, MDJC added to its fundrais-
ing totals when board members and other 
volunteers helped Arbit host a “Summer 
Simcha.
” Elected Democrats, several of 
them Jewish, gave speeches before an enthu-
siastic, partisan crowd on the grounds of 
a Bloomfield Township home overlooking 
shimmering Wing Lake. 
This second Summer Simcha picked up 
from where it left off after last year’s cancel-
lation. About 200 attended in 2019, but “this 
one was bigger,
” Arbit said. “We had to cap 

turnout at 300,
” said Troy Zukowski-Serlin 
of Kalamazoo, MDJC’s Southwest Michigan 
chair. 
With admission pegged at different levels, 
“we raised $50,000,
” Arbit said. “$40,000 
will go to support the campaigns of Gov. 
Whitmer and Attorney General Dana 
Nessel.
” 
Both Michigan leaders, up for reelection 
in 2022, spoke to the crowd; top givers had 
guaranteed access to meet them.
“The Jewish community is caught 
between the right and left in politics,
” said 
Arbit in his introductory remarks. “We 
[MDJC] organize on our own terms with 
adherence to Jewish values. We are a voting 
block beyond Israel. We want to get our 
elected officials on the record, addressing 
issues of importance to our community.
”

HATE CRIMES UNIT
Nessel said she was surprised during her 
campaign by the attacks she received for 
being Jewish, more than for being gay. 
“When I got into office, one of the things 
I wanted to address was the exponential 

Democrats’
‘Summer Simcha’

COURTESY OF NOAH ARBIT

Party leaders address 
antisemitism, hate 
crimes at Jewish 
caucus event.

ESTHER ALLWEISS INGBER
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Gov. Whitmer

Michigan Democratic 
Jewish Caucus meets.