6 | NOVEMBER 11 • 2021 

PURELY COMMENTARY

1942 - 2021

Covering and Connecting 
Jewish Detroit Every Week

To make a donation to the 
DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 
FOUNDATION
go to the website
www.djnfoundation.org

The Detroit Jewish News (USPS 275-520) 

is published every Thursday at 

32255 Northwestern Highway, #205, 

Farmington Hills, Michigan. Periodical 

postage paid at Southfield, Michigan, and 

additional mailing offices. 

Postmaster: send changes to: 

Detroit Jewish News, 

32255 Northwestern Highway, #205, 

Farmington Hills, Michigan 48334

MISSION STATEMENT The Detroit Jewish News will be of service to the Jewish community. The Detroit Jewish 
News will inform and educate the Jewish and general community to preserve, protect and sustain the Jewish 
people of greater Detroit and beyond, and the State of Israel.

VISION STATEMENT The Detroit Jewish News will operate to appeal to the broadest segments of the greater 
Detroit Jewish community, refl
 ecting the diverse views and interests of the Jewish community while advancing the 
morale and spirit of the community and advocating Jewish unity, identity and continuity.

DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
32255 Northwestern Hwy. Suite 205,
Farmington Hills, MI 48334
248-354-6060
thejewishnews.com

Publisher
The Detroit Jewish 
News Foundation

| Board of Directors:
 Chair: Gary Torgow
 Vice President: David Kramer
 Secretary: Robin Axelrod
 Treasurer: Max Berlin
 Board members: Larry Jackier, 
 Jeffrey Schlussel, Mark Zausmer

 Senior Advisor to the Board: 
Mark Davidoff
 Alene and Graham Landau Archivist Chair: 
 Mike Smith
 Founding President & Publisher Emeritus: 
Arthur Horwitz
Founding Publisher 
 Philip Slomovitz, of blessed memory

| Editorial
DIrector of Editorial: 
Jackie Headapohl
jheadapohl@thejewishnews.com
Associate Editor: 
David Sachs
dsachs@thejewishnews.com
Social Media and Digital Producer:
Nathan Vicar
nvicar@thejewishnews.com
Staff Reporter: Danny Schwartz
dschwartz@thejewishnews.com
Editorial Assistant: Sy Manello
smanello@thejewishnews.com

Contributing Writers:
Nate Bloom, Rochel Burstyn, Suzanne 
Chessler, Annabel Cohen, Shari S. 
Cohen, Shelli Liebman Dorfman, Louis 
Finkelman, Stacy Gittleman, Esther 
Allweiss Ingber, Barbara Lewis, Jennifer 
Lovy, Rabbi Jason Miller, Alan Muskovitz, 
Robin Schwartz, Mike Smith, Steve Stein, 
Julie Smith Yolles, Ashley Zlatopolsky

| Advertising Sales 
Director of Advertising: Keith Farber
kfarber@thejewishnews.com
Senior Account Executive: 
Kathy Harvey-Mitton
kmitton@thejewishnews.com

| Business Office
 Director of Operations: Amy Gill
agill@thejewishnews.com
 Operations Manager: Andrea Gusho
 agusho@thejewishnews.com
Operations Assistant: Ashlee Szabo
Circulation: Danielle Smith
 Billing Coordinator: Pamela Turner

| Production By 
Farago & Associates
 Manager: Scott Drzewiecki 
 Designers: Kelly Kosek, Kaitlyn Schoen, 
 Deborah Schultz, Michelle Sheridan

essay

Tulsa Shows Us
How to Attract New
Jewish Residents
J

ewish entrepreneurs 
first settled in Tulsa, 
Okla., in 1902, once 
known as the “oil capital of 
the world.
” Although the Tulsa 
Jewish community only has an 
estimated 1,800 
members today, 
several Jewish 
families amassed 
fortunes in oil 
and gas, resulting 
in the city being 
home to some 
of the Jewish 
world’s most recognizable 
philanthropists, including 
the Kaiser, Schusterman and 
Zarrow families. 

Among these three Jewish 
families alone, hundreds of 
millions of dollars are spent 
annually on services throughout 
the city, plugging the holes of 
significant state budget cuts and 
limited public services.
I’ve been told that Tulsa is 
possibly the most philanthropic 
city per capita in the country, 
and that Jewish philanthropists 
fund close to half of all social 
services in the city. Both 
Tulsa’s United Way and Tulsa’s 
Community Foundation are the 
second largest in the country, 
which says a lot for a medium-
size city. 
In 2016, businessmen David 

Finer and David Charney 
convened a few friends and 
decided that the Tulsa Jewish 
community needed to take 
proactive steps to reverse 
its demographic decline. 
The group calls itself “The 
Guerillas” and decided to tackle 
the community’s demographic 
challenge by founding an 
independent organization 
called Tulsa Tomorrow. Tulsa 
Tomorrow’s mission is to 
create curated experiences 

and opportunities for people 
looking at Tulsa as a place to 
move, grow and connect with a 
Jewish community. 
Since 2017, Tulsa Tomorrow 
has assisted with the relocation 
of 50 Jewish young adults from 
throughout the world and 
is continuing to attract new 
arrivals to the city through 
curated weekends that bring 
together prospective transplants 
to see in just three days 
what the city and its Jewish 

COURTESY OF DAN BROTMAN

Dan Brotman

Philanthropist George Kaiser giving
the Tulsa Tomorrow group a private
tour of The Gathering Place

