DECEMBER 2 • 2021 | 5

THE NAIVETY OF 
BEST INTENTIONS
For those of us on that call, 
white Jewish professionals who 
in our own lives had begun a 
journey of anti-racist learning, 
there was a sense of eagerness 
and urgency about the opportu-
nity to bring our broader com-
munity and institutions into the 
conversation. And so, we ambi-
tiously put a plan in place. 
 With a focus on centering 
the voices of Jews of color, we 
would invite the broader Metro 
Detroit Jewish community to 
an opportunity to learn more 
about what was happening in 
the world around us. What we 
had overlooked in our hurry to 
capture the moment was how 
far behind we and our commu-
nity were and are in the work, 
and how many assumptions we 
had made in the brainstorming 
of this program. 
Over the course of the next 
few days, we reached out to 
individuals we had relationships 
with to garner feedback on our 
plan and solicit participation 
from Jews of color locally and 
nationally. The response we 
received could not have been 
clearer: Don’t ask us; start with 
yourselves. 
The feedback admittedly 
was hard to swallow, but so 
important. I am particular-
ly grateful to my friend and 
colleague, Rebecca Steinman-
DeGroot, for her generosity of 
spirit and intellect in helping us 
understand our location in that 
moment. Though our imme-
diate programmatic plans had 
taken a back seat, the conver-
sations that had begun opened 
the door to what became a year 
of listening and learning, which 
led to the creation of a new 

unique and important initiative. 

STARTING WITH 
OURSELVES
In the weeks that followed, 
Sarah and I met with various 
individuals and stakeholders in 
Detroit and around the country. 
Though much was unclear at 
that time, what was obvious was 
that meaningful engagement 
was not about the moment, but 
about the work we would do in 
the long run. Yes, everyone and 
their rabbi was going to post 
on Facebook that summer that 
Black Lives Matter, but would 
our community and our orga-
nizations make a real commit-
ment to cultural and systemic 
change?
One of our early conver-
sations was with Dr. Andrea 
Jacobs, a longtime leader and 
educator in her work to help 
Jewish communities become 
more inclusive and equitable 
spaces. Together, we began 
to think about what it would 
mean for organizations like 
the Federation and Repair 
the World Detroit to begin an 
anti-racism learning journey. 
While we knew there was no 
one thing to do, thanks to the 
hard work and determination 
of Rachel Wasserman, a fellow 
at Repair the World Detroit, 
and with the feedback of our 
friends fresh in our minds, we 
launched Start Here: A Jewish 
Anti-racism Learning Cohort. 
Led by Dr. Jacobs, with 
support from the Max M. & 
Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation, 
the Jewish Fund Teen Board, 
the Jamie and Denise Jacob 
Family Foundation and 
the Jewish Federation of 
Metropolitan Detroit, this 
program brought together 17 

mid-career white Jewish pro-
fessionals and lay leaders, rep-
resenting 13 area organizations, 
for a seven-month learning 
intensive. 

WHAT WE LEARNED
The first question we inevitably 
got every time we spoke about 
this idea was “why just white 
people?” What we know is 
that while there is important 
work for white and BIPOC 
folks to do together, separate 
affinity space gives room to 
build understanding of the his-
tory of racialization in the U.S. 
while increasing participants’ 
capacity or critical analysis 
and self-awareness around the 
issues of race. Additionally, and 
importantly, as a response to 
that initial feedback, that we 
must start with ourselves and 
take responsibility for our own 
learning, rather than placing 
that burden on BIPOC folks. 
The content of our learning 
provided a curricular arch that 
began with the genesis of racial-
ization and the racial disparity 
upon which America was con-
structed. We studied settler-co-
lonialism, anti-black racism, the 
toll racism has taken on white 
people, the intersections of rac-
ism and antisemitism and what 
it means for Jews to be white. 
Most importantly, through-
out the entire program, Dr. 
Jacobs moved us toward under-
standing the ways in which we 
can bring our learning home as 
we work to make anti-racism 
an inherent part of Jewish com-
munity infrastructure.

WHAT COMES NEXT
The truth is, I’m not sure we 
totally know what comes next, 
nor do I believe this work is 

linear. What I hope is that the 
learning we have done these 
past months, and the relation-
ships we have built, provide a 
framework and a foundation 
to each of us in the moments 
when we continue to encounter 
the legacy of racism and white 
supremacy acting in the Jewish 
community.
I’m proud that our 
Federation, through the 
Hermelin Davidson Center, 
created a fund to promote racial 
justice programs in the com-
munity, including modest fund-
ing for a staff person at Detroit 
Jews for Justice focused on 
building community amongst 
local Jews of color. I am grateful 
for the support and leadership, 
particularly of the many women 
of color, who have long been 
doing this work in the Jewish 
community, and consistently 
and benevolently give their 
time and energy, all too often 
without compensation. 
It has been nearly 18 months 
since George Floyd was mur-
dered. Our communal Twitter 
feed and d’vrei Torah, briefly 
ablaze with calls for racial jus-
tice, have by and large returned 
to business as usual. This cycle 
is not new, but what can be is a 
far more impactful and quieter 
commitment in the stalwart 
structures and organizations of 
Jewish life. 
While we don’t know what’s 
next, in Detroit we have chosen 
to Start Here, with a serious 
look at ourselves, knowing 
there is still a long way to go as 
we continue to work to show 
up for racial justice. 

Rabbi Ari Witkin is director of lead-

ership development at the Jewish 

Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.

