Dear friends,
JCRC is entering an exciting time of connecting with the broader community and making a difference in all of Washtenaw County and beyond. We have solidified our Black Jewish Coalition with a wonderful bus tour of the history of the Underground Railroad in the area. 50 people filled a bus, with a wonderful representation from both the Black and Jewish communities. We look forward in working with our African American partners to craft a corresponding bus trip to explore the Jewish community of Ann Arbor – both its history and current institutions. We delayed a bus trip in order to make sure that we check what the Black community wanted to know about Jewish life in Ann Arbor – not just what we wanted to show them. Look for this trip later in the spring or early summer. Thanks to Nancy Margolis, Latina Saba and Miri Sussman who have put a lot of time into this exploration of Jewish Ann Arbor.
Meanwhile, we are moving ahead with our Chaldean Jewish Alliance that will work to enable our two communities to understand each other better and to work together to promote the causes that we share – educating about our traditions – and that we need as individual communities. Standing up to antisemitism is always at the forefront of our concerns, and the Chaldean community is committed to supporting the Jewish community in that area.
We are excited once again to celebrate Chanukah and Diwali with the Hindu community on December 4 with our friends at the JCC. As last year, the celebration is sponsored in memory of Samantha Woll, who inspired so many in the importance of these inter-community events and Chanuka Diwali in particular. This year we are expanding the celebration to including a celebration of the Sigd, the important Jewish Ethiopian holiday (that was just celebrated on Nov. 20). To be fair, this great celebration for all ages is not falling on Diwali, Chanuka or Sigd! But we are pretty close with all of them.
Our JCRC’s approach to interfacing the Jewish and broader community is one of sharing the joy and goodwill that come from interfaith and inter- community work. So while we are always monitoring antisemitic issues that occur in our public schools, we want to focus on educating both Jewish and non-Jewish students about Jewish life and the Jewish people – through Jewish American Heritage Month and Jewish celebrations of Fall Festival. We have had meetings with Dawn Linden at the Ann Arbor Public Schools to make sure that Jewish American Heritage Month is officially reachable from the AAPS website (not yet, but hopefully soon) and that all ethnic groups are given equal status and recognition. Thanks to Esther Terry, Rachel Goldberg and Diana Ingberg and many others who have spearheaded efforts to bring JAHM and Jewish Fall Festival celebrations to our public schools.
We are eager for everyone who reads this to step up and get involved. Of course please attend the events we are planning – stay tuned for an MLK lunch we are working on with our friends at Ypsilanti churches – but also, please note the state and county commissions which we would love for your to apply for to make sure our community is doing its share to help our state and county. We also encourage everyone to get involved in our state political parties and their upcoming conventions. Of course, as a 501C3 our JCRC and Federation take no partisan position, but we certainly do want to advocate for your involvement in the political world and to make your Jewish voice heard. The Michigan Democratic convention will be Sunday (moved from Saturday!!), April 19; the Michigan Republican convention will be Thursday, March 28, 2026. Join whichever party you want and get involved! We need you.
Finally, you may have read in the Times of Israel or the Jerusalem Post or other publications all about the Goodwill trip I organized to Syria in September. The goal was to bring Syria closer to the American orbit and to encourage Syria to respect minority rights and to continue to be a force for peace with all its neighbors – including Israel. To bring the experience home to Greater Ann Arbor, our JCRC sponsored a Syrian and Jewish dinner in Washington with our delegation of 12 to the General Assembly of North American Federations with leaders of the Syrian community as well as representatives of the ADL, AJC and universities in the area. I am excited that Eileen, Federation CEO, and I will be privileged to make another trip to Syria with some prestigious academic, political and cultural leaders in order to deepen relations between Syrian civic society (universities and museums) and American civic society. I hope that soon after our return we can sponsor an event for the Greater Ann Arbor Jewish and Syrian American community. Stay tuned please!
Our JCRC has just dusted the surface of possibilities of connecting our Jewish community with the broader community. With your help and involvement, I am confident that our work will continue to grow and deepen.
Yours,
Asher