4 | JULY 14 • 2022
W
hen the
Jewish News
approached me
about contributing to its
80th anniversary issue, I
was honored
and humbled.
Honored to be
invited to share
thoughts with
this community.
Humbled
because I have
worked in
Detroit’s Jewish
community for less than
10% of the time that this
newspaper has served as its
scribe.
I felt similarly nervous and
excited when I was asked to
join the William Davidson
Foundation in 2015. Despite
a career in nonprofits and
in-law connections to this
region, I harbored doubts.
Who was I to help
lead a family foundation
with a commitment to
securing a bright future for
Detroit, Israel and Jewish
communities across the
diaspora? I was not from
Detroit. I had never visited
Israel. And — I am truly
embarrassed to admit —
in my first week, I had
to Google what “Shabbat
Shalom” meant when that
phrase filled my Friday
inbox.
The Davidsons, Southeast
Michigan and the Jewish
people of Greater Detroit
welcomed this stranger,
and the Jewish News helped
familiarize me with the
culture of this beautiful
community. After more
than seven years now, I not
only wish friends “Shabbat
Shalom” — but I also know
the difference between tzitzit
and tzimtzum, Heschel and
Herzl, shmurah and shmitah.
My life is richer because of
the words and phrases I have
learned. As a now frequent
traveler to Israel, my soul is
nourished by the country’s
spirit, food, pragmatism and
joy. I am a better person
having been introduced to
the stories, traditions and
relationships I experience
daily at the William
Davidson Foundation.
Identities take shape this
way. We mix what we inherit
with what we discover. And
like individual identities,
communities also take
form and remain vibrant
this way. We hold what gets
handed down and combine
it with what we encounter.
Evolution and growth are the
products of a dance between
the familiar and the foreign.
In this context,
column
80 Years, and It’s Just the Beginning
I
n November 1942,
Winston Churchill said
of the war, “Now this is
not the end. It is not even
the beginning of the end. But
it is, perhaps,
the end of the
beginning.”
Earlier that
year, a visionary
journalist who
immigrated
from Russia in
1910, leveraged
his learnings
from his degree
in journal-
ism from the
University of
Michigan and
his experiences
as a writer for
the Jewish Chronicle to launch
the Detroit Jewish News. This
leader knew that the Jewish
community would be desper-
ate for news and perspective
given the unfolding devasta-
tion of World War II.
His name was Philip
Slomovitz.
In that first issue, pub-
lished March 27, 1942, Mr.
Slomovitz proclaimed: “We
promise to give our people
the latest news and histori-
cal data concerning Jews all
over the world. We pledge
to help build up the morale
of the Jews in this war-torn
world by fostering that spir-
it of brotherhood which
will assure amity and good
will among all faiths of the
United States, the world’s
greatest nation.”
In this 80th anniversary
issue, we proudly reprint
the first edition of this great
paper, with the support
of the William Davidson
Foundation, which has been
instrumental in supporting
the Detroit Jewish News
Foundation and countless
other important institutions
and endeavors. We are grate-
ful for the ongoing support
for this publication and
for the William Davidson
Archives of Jewish Detroit
History.
When the Detroit Jewish
News Foundation assumed
ownership and control of
the Detroit Jewish News in
late 2020 from Publisher
Emeritus Arthur Horwitz,
the publication became part
of a charitable enterprise and
evolved into both a commu-
nity-supporting organization
and a community-supported
organization.
The newly constituted
Board of Directors of the
Foundation adopted mission
and vision statements pledg-
ing in part “to be of service
to the Jewish and general
community” and to advance
“the morale and spirit of
the community, advocating
Jewish unity, identity and
continuity.”
As you flip through the
reprint of the first issue, you
will note the story of Sgt.
Hank Greenberg and the
call to action by Fred M.
Butzel on behalf of the Allied
Jewish Campaign.
Gary
Torgow
Mark
Davidoff
PURELY COMMENTARY
column
Welcoming the Stranger
Darin
McKeever
80 YEARS on page 6
STRANGER on page 6