MARCH 17 • 2022 | 13

N

eil Sherman didn’t grow 
up in Metro Detroit and 
wanted a better under-
standing of the Jewish community. 
Bill Goldstein “got invited to a 
fun event.”
Stacey Goodman wanted to 
give back to the organization that 
supported her family when she 
was younger. Her mom struggled 
financially, but she was able to go 
to Camp Tamarack because they 
received financial assistance. 
Josh Rubin went to Israel on a 
Federation mission two years ago. 
When he returned, he vowed to 
“dig deep and give back, beyond 
just writing a check.” 
Their paths to community 
involvement may be different, but 
each of these Gen-Xers is actively 
involved in the Jewish Federation 
of Metropolitan Detroit’s Affinities 
Department, created to engage 
adults in their 40s and 50s in the 
Jewish community. 
“Federation was doing a great 
job with a younger demographic, 
but we realized we were kind of 
missing the mark with this seg-
ment of our community,” said 
Affinities Director Karen Kaplan. 
“We started thinking about how 
to engage this age group, which 
doesn’t necessarily want to sit on 
committees and really wants a rea-
son to be involved. They’re all busy 
with their families and careers, 
and they’re looking for ways to 
get involved with the community 
that are meaningful to them. We 
realized that a really great way to 
engage them was to create these 
affinity groups.”

PROFESSIONAL GROUPS
“Find your tribe within the tribe” 
is the department’s tagline in refer-
ence to the special interest groups 
designed to bring like-minded 
people together for social, educa-
tional and networking opportuni-
ties. 
The Maimonides Society 
(although formed before the 
department’s creation but now 
under its umbrella) connects 

physicians to each other, the com-
munity and Jewish philanthropy 
through social and educational 
events and international mission 
opportunities. 
While the Maimonides Society is 
the oldest group, the newest is an 

TOP: Neil Sherman & Randy 
Wertheimer at the Real Estate Group 
event at the Shinola Hotel.
ABOVE: Josh Rubin was among the 
particpants of the Andi & Larry Wolfe 
Gen X Mission in Israel. FACING 
PAGE: Karen Kaplan and Jodi Feld 
in Israel on the Forman Leadership 
Mission II.

Federation’s Affinities Department offers 
lots of options for Gen-Xers.
There’s A Group

continued on page 14

JENNIFER LOVY CONTRIBUTING WRITER
for That

COURTESY OF FEDERATION

