These remarks were originally delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor on May 25th, 2022.
In 6th grade, I found myself re-enacting my ancestors’ arrival into Ellis Island, on a beach in Lake Michigan, in the back of my synagogue, B’Nai Torah (Highland Park, IL), orchestrated by my then Sunday School teacher.
Perhaps it was the proximity to the Lake or that he was from Skokie (that joke would be really funny to a Chicago audience), but somehow this teacher felt that the best way for us moussed-up, drakar-drenched teens to understand our ancestors’ plight (there was an assumption we were all of European descent) was to reenact the moment of arrival.
Notably, as truly the only actor in my 6th grade Sunday School class, I could not be more thrilled. A method actor by age 9 (I had been playing animals) I threw myself into this role–
My name: Faya Glicka (my mom’s Hebrew name)
My story: Coming alone, oldest daughter, Uncle here
I carried a pillowcase with what I thought were the only items I could grab when the progroms came (two Crate & Barrel candlesticks, and a picture from the early 1900s). I took one of my mom’s scarves and made it into babushka, shtetl style.
We went down to the lakefront, where our teacher became the officer/gatekeeper at Ellis Island. In front of me, some of my classmates, few if any who had my acting chops, breezed through, ready to start their tenement lives in America. And then me…
Ellis Island: Name.
Me: Faya Glicka, daughter of Golda and Meyer.
Ellis Island: So, Faya Meyer.
Me: Okay.
Ellis Island. Papers.
He then checked my hair for lice and my eyes for Glaucoma. He looked into my eyes what seemed forever, a generation, and yelled:
“GLAUCOMA. NO ENTRY. BACK TO THE BOAT.”
My heart sank…I couldn’t breathe. Everyone else it seemed could move forward to a new life.
I sobbed.
When I think about our Jewish Federation, the Jewish Federations in every enclave, I see them as our community’s entryway—portal—to what is and what could and should be the possibilities and the promise of being Jewish in this still-new world.
In this transient landscape, a Federation is an oasis of both famiility and possibility—ensuring those that arrive here to our community, find community.
That is ultimately our charge, I believe, not be a gatekeeper, but more of a watchtower, reaching out, seeing, protecting all the parts/factions and people of our Jewish community.
I was here in this area almost two decades before I became involved with Jewish community beyond my university job at EMU. It didn’t take much really—a reach-out by then Federation Director David Shtulman to my EMU tribe –[Marty] Schictman and [Jeff] Bernstein and our fledgling Jewish studies program—and soon, somehow I was hosting salon conversations on local issues, and then soon after, I was on the Board. After being peripheral to the Jewish community here for years, one light touch was all it took to bring me back or to bring me home. Here.
I deeply believe that regardless of the degree, depth, or denomination of your Jewish self –that our responsibility as a Jewish Federation is to reach out, and subsequently cultivate inclusive spaces for all – to be a doorway, a window or, to some, a haven.
What does that look like? How does that want of inclusivity get translated into programs or policies, allocations and advocacy?
I hope my tenure in this dynamic organization, led by a most dedicated staff and leader, Eileen Freed, is not just asking questions but providing answers or solutions as we convene, engage and raise resources for us and for others.
I hope we begin to have continued conversations around equity and inclusion as it relates to programs and policies.
I hope that we continue and elevate ourselves as a conveyer of this eclectic population of Jewish people, unaffiliated, affiliated, from Ypsi, to A2 and all places in between, from Israel, from the US, from …everyplace…
I hope that we have a deeper understanding and knowledge of our Jewish community, from demographics to dreams.
I hope that we continue to educate ourselves and others on the impact of hate of others and of Jews.
I hope we continue to sustain our Jewish organizations and expand support to others.
I hope that we are not just good neighbors, but active and present neighbors. I believe when you speak up for others—WITH OTHERS—you also speak up and protect yourself. Our silence never protects us.
I am honored to be part of the fabric of this organization and community and will do my best to speak up, reach out, reach in, advocate, and protect; this is my/our promise.