By Mike Shriberg, Director of University of Michigan Water Center As a steering committee member of the Ann Arbor Jewish Climate Circle and an environmental professional, I believe that we in the Jewish community have a responsibility to be good stewards of our planet. And I’m proud of the leadership our community has shown to…
By Morgan Hesse As the school year comes to a close for U-M’s School of Social Work, the Jewish Communal Leadership Program (JCLP) wants to recognize their seven graduating MSW students. The JCLP class of 2026 hails from around the country with interests spanning the entirety of the field of social work, yet they all…
By Ari Smith In the aftermath of October 7, Rina Naor felt a million different emotions — fear, shock, and anxiety, but above all a sense of hopelessness. After the initial violence had subsided, Naor, an entrepreneur who worked with start-ups in the technological industry, felt unsure of what to do. When it seemed like…
By Clare Kinberg Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is currently detaining one or two people a day in Washtenaw County, according to several activists in the immigrants’ rights network. Some, like reports of four parents of Ypsilanti Community Schools students detained in January, receive wide news coverage. Most ICE activity in Washtenaw County is not…
By Chuck Newman “If it wasn’t for the milkman we would have starved to death.” That’s what my mother and her siblings would tell me whenever I asked about their childhood. Ever since I heard this story I wanted to know more about this compassionate man and wished I could somehow thank him. This is…
The Eastern Michigan University Center for Jewish Studies is excited to announce that it is bringing Professor Samira Mehta to Southeastern Michigan. Professor Mehta is author of Beyond Chrismukkah: The Christian-Jewish Interfaith Family in the United States, which was published in 2018 with the University of North Carolina Press, and The Racism of People Who…
By Esther Greenfield Jakar and Orit Aviran Technology is everywhere in our children’s world, and the easy answer would be to block apps and set strict screen time limits. But real resilience doesn’t come from restrictions — it comes from helping students understand what they’re encountering online and how to navigate it thoughtfully. At Hebrew…
By Deborah Meyers Greene The Ann Arbor Jewish community has a special opportunity to welcome Shahanna McKinney Baldon, a recognized leader and cultural producer in the movement for visibility for Jews of Color, for a weekend residency on January 24 and 25. McKinney Baldon will participate in Shabbat services and deliver a public lecture, inviting…
By Murray Rosenthal Genesis of Ann Arbor, a long-standing equal partnership between Temple Beth Emeth and St. Clare’s Episcopal Church, has taken another bold step toward sustainability by expanding its solar energy system. Genesis’s original installation consisted of 160 panels which were mounted on the south-facing roof of the office building and the flat social…
By Steve Merritt Nicaragua is a poor place with problematic politics where it is hard enough to survive, let alone be a Jew. Life is a balancing act. And yet, the people I met there on my visit in July were determined to hold onto their Jewish identity and build community. I connected with the…