4 | JANUARY 19 • 2023

PURELY COMMENTARY

from the executive director
Coming Home – Again
I

’m what you might call a
double boomerang. Twice in
my adult life, I have moved
away from Metro Detroit, only
to be drawn back. More than
just a geographic location,
Detroit — and
more specifically,
its Jewish com-
munity — has
been home to me.
I grew up here.
It’s where I stud-
ied for my bat
mitzvah, went to
summer camp and excelled as a
student and an athlete. It’s where
I gained the confidence to take
those first tentative steps out
into the world and where I have
always been welcomed back.
And every step of the way, the
Jewish News marked each mile-
stone with stories that, to this
day, live in my memory — and
my scrapbook.
I say all this with the clarity
of hindsight. After graduating
from University of Michigan in
1996, I moved to Los Angeles
to “become a star.
” Six years

later, I returned to Michigan for
the first time to follow a new
career path in public relations.
When the economy crashed in
2009, I once again left Detroit,
this time for the Big Apple. Ten
years later, as 2019 came to a
close, my parents and brother
were living nearby, I had a tight
group of friends and a great job
at a thriving public relations
agency. If you had asked me
then, I would have told you my
intent was to stay in New York
forever.
Little did any of us know how
much the world would change
in just a few short months. Nor
did I know how those changes
would affect me personally.
In April 2020, my parents
passed within two weeks of each
other, both victims of COVID’s
initial wave. Because of the iso-
lation inherent to the pandemic,
we were unable to mark their
deaths with a funeral, and while
more than 350 people attended
the virtual memorials, we were
unable to grieve with friends
and family with an in-person

shivah. Additionally, while reel-
ing from those traumatic losses,
like so many others at that time,
I was laid off. Suddenly, my
life looked very different. I was
shattered.
When the initial shock
wore off and my new reality
set in, I knew I had to make
some changes. In my dark-
est moments, I had no idea
what those changes would be.
However, one word kept going
through my head. Home.
I started spending more time
here. I would come for a few
months, staying with my best
friends — my “chosen family”
— and getting reacquainted
with the area. In April of last
year, I finally moved back with
a renewed appreciation for my
hometown and the people in it.
Even as I continued to get
settled into my new (again) city,
I knew my change wouldn’t be
complete until I found a role
that really fed my soul. I began
to network and meet with
members of Detroit’s business
and Jewish communities. It was

heartening to see how many
people were open to help me
when asked. One of the amazing
professionals I met connected
me with Mark Davidoff, advi-
sor to the board of the Detroit
Jewish News Foundation, and
the rest, as they say…
It’s fitting that this boomer-
ang should find herself in this
particular position at this par-
ticular time. The Jewish News
is a physical representation of
my journey, and the journeys of
so many others. It is a tie that
binds this community together.
And just like me, it is ripe for
the next phase of its growth. I
am honored that I have been
entrusted with its stewardship
and the opportunity to work
alongside a remarkable team
of talented professionals who
bring the paper to your door-
step every week. I look forward
to taking this journey with all
of you, and I know my parents
would be proud.

Marni Raitt is executive director of the

Detroit Jewish News Foundation.

Marni Raitt

T

he Farmington/
Farmington Hills
Multicultural/
Multiracial Community
Council (MCMR) is proud to
represent the rich diversity of
our welcoming community.
Home to the Zekelman
Holocaust Center, ours is a
community that leads efforts
to teach the perils of hatred
and discrimination grounded
in history. As such, we concur
with a recent statement released
by the US Holocaust Museum:
“Though condemnation for
recent antisemitic acts has come

from many quarters, episodic
outrage is insufficient. Leaders
and citizens must consistently
condemn such sentiments and
work toward addressing their
root causes. The Holocaust
teaches that hatred can easily
infect a society — in Nazi
Germany, it started with Jews
but did not end with them. All
Americans who value a free,
just, and pluralistic society
should see these alarming
trends as a threat to each of us.”
In Farmington and
Farmington Hills, we take
seriously the precipitous

increase of antisemitism both
nationally and locally. The
nearby Jewish communities
of West Bloomfield and
Bloomfield Township have
been targets of high profile,
antisemitic threats leveled
against Jewish individuals
and institutions. Our own
community has not been totally
spared either, with antisemitic
threats also reported.
MCMR stands united
with our Jewish friends in
neighboring communities and
within our own community.
Our law enforcement officers,

schools, government bodies,
nonprofits, business, faith and
other community leaders are
of one voice in rejecting this
age-old bigotry. We urge every
member of our community
to stand with us in pushing
back against antisemitism,
racism, Islamaphobia, LGBTQ+
hatred, sexism, ageism and
discrimination against the
disabled.
Here, in Farmington and
Farmington Hills, we reject
hatred in any form. An affront
to any one group is an affront
to us all.

media statement

FARMINGTON/FARMINGTON HILLS MULTICULTURAL/MULTIRACIAL COMMUNITY COUNCIL