A Journey of a Thousand Smiles

On this FedRadioDetroit, co-hosts Sam Dubin and Beverly Liss sit down with Kari Alterman, a leader committed to our community since camp.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit is committedto taking care of the needs of the
Jewish people and building a vibrant Jewishfuture in Metro Detroit, in Israel,
and around the world. Hello andwelcome to Federadio Detroit. You're on air
community for all things Jewish in andaround Metro Detroit. I'm Sam Dubin,
joined with my co host, Federation'simmediate past President, Beverly List. Beverly,

(00:26):
as always I am. I amdying for some good quality felon,
Tell time. How are you so? Good to see you? Good to
see you too. I have somediscussion kind of cavalling and telling, and
I need some advice. Doctor SamDubin in the house. Okay, perfect.

(00:46):
So I have this little dilemma.My twins are graduating from the eighth
grade from a school in Chicago.They go to Aunt Jammad, I've spoken
of them before. And my grandsonis graduating high school from Latin where he
just made the decision he's going toschool at the same school that his brother

(01:11):
is, which we're really happy aboutin Nashville, Tennessee. But guess what
the eighth grade graduation for the twinsin Max's graduation from high school or the
same time the same today? Whatto do? So okay, I guess
some preliminary questions would be, arethere both around the same location. No,

(01:37):
Oh, okay, ones at McCormickPlace and ones like on Clark and
Broadway, let's say in Chicago.No, they're not. And Arthur may
or may not be able to gobecause he's having some knee surgery. But
if he does go, I probablyhaven't go to Aunt Jammet because it would

(01:59):
be less walking, and then Iwould go to the other Oh oh,
I should give you a ps.This grandson just told me that he thinks
he's a valiatorian. Oh wow.And maybe giving the keynote that really changes
things too, because originally I wassaying, well, it's two against one,
it's the twins. There are twopeople there that you have to be

(02:19):
there, four versus the one.But then the valedictorian might actually, yeah,
when you think high school, maybemore more than eighth grade graduation,
more in what way? What doyou mean? Like? More important?
Well, he's valued dictorian. Sothis is quite a predicament you're in.
And if I give you the wrongadvice right now, people might write in

(02:39):
kind of a no win situation rightnow, I'm afright, okay, So
I guess we could just move on, but I will give you a quick
fell. And the fell was thetwins from their school in Chicago went on
their eighth grade trip to Israel,and my granddaughter Lily went on our eighth
grade trip from hellel to Israel.And they, oh, God, maybe

(03:00):
we'll see each of their very closecousins. But when they looked at the
itinerary their schedule. One was inthe north, one was in the south.
But I said, you know Israel, believe me, I've been there
and running to people from Corpus Christyyou see someone going up the downstairs or
whatever. And sure enough, onYom Musikerne they ended up a little troon
where you know, the IDF getsworn in and they had a big memorial.

(03:23):
And my granddaughter Lily says, whenthey pulled up into the parking lot,
there were hundreds of buses and shejust knew she was going to see
Georgie and Tate. Sure enough,she walked in and there were hundreds of
people. But out of the cornerof her eye, guess what she saw?
A Georgie and Tate. Isn't thatthat was that's a cavelle to have

(03:44):
my grandchildren all be together. Sothat my cavell and my problem, I
guess it's mine to solve. Well, you'll have to update us the next
time that we do this podcast,so listeners will tune in. And it's
interesting because you've talked about intuitions thatyou have about premonitions or things, things
that you think are going to happen, and for your granddaughter to have those
same not same intuitions, but thefact that she has those, um,

(04:09):
it's quite telling about the list family. Yeah, yeah, it is.
UM. All right, So somebig updates. I yeah, from when
we talk last time. UM,I guess I'll set the context and share
the scope of things that Lyle wasin town. He was in Detroit,
let's say at this point a couplea month and a half ago, and

(04:32):
it was a regular weekend. Um. I thought we were going to have
a nice weekend at the lake,something that we typically do when he's in
town. Um. So Friday,we're wrapping up. I'm wrapping up work
and and he's and he's packing andwe're about to go to the lake.
Um so we go, We goto the lake. We pull up at
the lake House, which is justoutside of Metro Detroit, not too far

(04:55):
um, and I go inside.I forget something, so I go back
in the car. I go backinside. I take off my shoes and
Lyle starts pulling me and not lettingme do anything else with my shoes off.
He's pulling me outside. This waslike our last snow of the season
in March. He pulls me outsidewith no shoes in the snow, and

(05:19):
I'm either thinking there's something very goodthat's about to happen, or there's a
big emergency outside that he is thathe is leading me to. And fortunately
it was something good. So wego out near the water. He gets
down on one knee and asks meto marry him. So Lyle is now

(05:43):
no longer a boyfriend but a fiance, and I figure there must be you
know, he wouldn't ask me tomarry him without kind of a spectacle or
without other people there. So Ilook around. I look up my parents
and his parents who flew in fromNew York. My parents are here.
They're all on the top balcony lookingdown. Confetti goes everywhere. The photographers
hiding in the trees. So itwas a really nice moment. And you

(06:08):
know, you kind of know what'shappening at some point because we've been in
a relationship for a while now.But the fact that the proposal happened when
I really really did not know,I was totally caught off guard. And
it's funny because I usually dressed somewhatbusiness casual most of the time, and
that day I wore Lulu Lemon andjust like a nothing sweatshirt and he says,

(06:31):
that's what you're wearing. He saidthat earlier in the day because he
knew that there were photos. SoI think there's something in that too that
you can prepare your whole life.And I know girls, especially your ladies,
get their nails painted and everything whenthey feel that a proposals coming up.
But at the end of the day, you're living a beautiful life with
someone else and it doesn't matter.You could have Lulu lemons on or sweatpants

(06:54):
from Old Navy and it doesn't andit doesn't matter because the rest of your
life is going to be beautiful.So from that aspect, Lyle got a
job. He's a rabbi in NewYork in Long Island, so we'll be
in New York together. I'm keepingmy job here, so I will be
back in Detroit quite often. Butit'll be a fun new adventure together and

(07:18):
somewhere where I have never been before. But my ties are still here,
my job is still here, I'mstill on boards here, so it'll be
nice to kind of have this thisfoot, a big foot here in Detroit,
so all good things to come.Would Now, are you going to
be called a rabbitson? That's stillthe question. If anyone listening has any

(07:41):
um, has any suggestion as towhat I should be called in that realm,
I would love to hear, becauseI think this is still an ongoing
discussion. What do you think,Beverly, I don't know. I'm I'm
gonna I'm gonna think. I'm gonnathink and let y'all know. Okay,
maybe by the end of this discussion, our guests who I'm going to bring
in right now, might have,but for now, let's introduce her and

(08:03):
not put her on the spot toomuch. With that we are so pleased
to have with us today, CarrieAlterman. Carrie is the Program Director Jewish
Life at the William Davidson Foundation anda second generation Holocaust speaker. She is
a board member of One Table andclover Hill Park Cemetery, and previously,

(08:24):
Carrie served as the Detroit Regional directorof the American Jewish Committee. She was
the director of Leadership Development of theJewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, and she
was a founding member of the DetroitJewish News Foundation and the Interfaith Leadership Council
of Metro Detroit and served on SharpZedek's board. She's married to Eddie,

(08:45):
has two daughters, and as welearned, has a dog named Leo,
who might make an appearance in thispodcast. Carrie Alterman, thank you so
much for joining Federated Detroit. Thankyou so very much for having me.
I need to start with muzzletov Sam. Thank a lovely way to begin a
podcast with such great news. That'samazing and I wish you only good things

(09:07):
that I don't have an idea ona title, but I think that that
is just so lovely. And we'relucky to not be losing you. We're
lucky to be gaining him as anhonorary detroitter, and his community is lucky
to be gaining you. So it'sso nice, beautiful. Thank you,
Beverly, I think you should askyour grandkids what to do? Do you

(09:28):
do? Yeah? If they knowit's the same night and they have the
relationship that they have, you havea lovely family who all respect and adore
each other. For them to saywhat they think should happen, because they
know you can't be in two placesat once, they may have the solution.
Ah Solomon, thank you, thankyou. I feel like we need
to carry on this podcast today.This is a bit scher, this is

(09:52):
meant to be. Yeah, somuch wisdom off to that. I am
so delighted that Carrie's on our podcasttoday because I've had the privilege and the
opportunity and the honor of working withher when she has staffed certain committees that
I've chaired. She just like shejust did, giving us that aha moment.

(10:13):
That's what I should be doing.That's how she was on every committee.
She's just the most genuine, downto earth, articulate, brilliant woman.
And thank you Carrie for being heretoday. I'm going to start like
just plunge right in. And Iknow Carrie very well. I knew her

(10:35):
father, Alva Sholom, and Iknow her lovely, beautiful Mom, I
was just wondering if there was somethingthat you could share with our listeners,
some special tradition that your family hadthat you continue to do with Eddie and
your daughters. Well, I thankyou so much and that was so kind.

(10:58):
Everly, I hope to live upto even half of what you portrayed
me as being so thank you andSam, it's funny in the introduction to
call me as a second generation speaker. It's really become a very large activity
in my life when I speak,sometimes even up to once or twice a
week at the Holocaust Center to differentgroups. I spoke on Monday to a

(11:20):
group of police officers, and I'vespekan Friday to a large student group about
I think a one hundred and fiftykids from some part in the state.
I'll look before I get in there. But one of the traditions that has
always stayed with us Beverly is bothvery Jewish and has nothing to do with
Judaism, and that is to celebrateApril nineteen forty eight as a day that

(11:43):
our family celebrates the day my fathercame to America with his eldest brother,
Alex Grossinger, and my dad andhis brother to them coming to America gave
them a whole new lease on life. And while we celebrated, of course
my dad's birthday, which was actuallyjust two days ago this past Monday,
we always celebrated the day that hecame here, because to him that rebirth

(12:07):
was even more important, and it'ssomething my brother and his kids, all
of us celebrate. We were fortunateenough we had a big fifty Years in
America party for my dad back innineteen ninety eight. It was one of
my favorite parties I've ever ever hadthe chance to plan or be a part
of. And then again five yearsago we did seventy Years in America,

(12:30):
and while it was acknowledged each sentevery year, we really did big celebrations,
and that's a way that we reallytry and keep not just the memory
of my father alive, but therecognition of how fortunate we are to live
in the United States and what thiscountry means to our family and to so
many others. Perry, that's notreally what I thought you were going to

(12:54):
say, but it's more. It'sso much more, and I just have
to share that you recommend did abook on your Facebook page. One hundred
saturdays, I read it, andI could not put it down, and
I haven't stopped recommending it. It'sjust the most beautiful memoir. Thank you.
I agree, and I listened toit. It's written by Michael Frank,

(13:16):
but it's a conversation between Michael Frankand Holocaust survivor Stella Levy, who
just celebrated her hundredth birthday last week, and Della tells the story. Michael
tells the story of meeting with herover a hundred it's not really probably a
hundred, but over a hundred consecutiveweeks, and the relationship that they built,
and what he learned about her storyand her narrative. She was from

(13:39):
the island of Rhodes, which Iknew very little about, especially about the
Jewish community. But what's so specialI'm listening to it is every once in
a while, I think three timesin the book, she chimes in and
sings. When they talk about differentsongs, you hear her singing those songs
of her youth. And I lovedthe book so much I had to buy
it, so now I have thehard copy and the audio because it really

(14:01):
was just that meaningful. So I'mglad you enjoyed it. Beverly, Yeah,
I did, Kerry, I thinkand and I think it's connected to
Beverly's question. I'm always so intrigued, especially with Jewish communal professionals asked to
how did how did you end uphere? How do we end up here?
Um? I feel like in someways, in many ways, it's

(14:22):
much more than a career. Perhapsfor some it could be seen as a
calling or a passion. Um.So if you could kind of walk us
through what is your Jewish journey?What was your Jewish journey to get where
you are today? And and perhapsexpound on that and perhaps where does the
future future lie in your Jewish communityworld? Thank you? I love that

(14:46):
question. And I've just always beena part of this Detroit Jewish community.
I grew up in Southfield off ofBell Road, meaning like most families who
grew up off of Bell Road,I was an active member of Schartzetek my
entire life. I knew that synagogueinside and out and still do. My

(15:09):
brother started at hill l Day School, but it wasn't a fit for him,
and so my parents didn't end upsending me there. But I had
many many friends there. But becauseI went to shared Setek, from preschool
and all through religious school, graduatingin twin twelfth grade. From there,
I always had a strong group ofJewish friends. I did not have as
many Jewish friends at school. Iwent first to public school for elementary school

(15:33):
in Southfield, and in fifth gradeI went I started attending Detroit Country Day
and not a very Jewish school.Still always has had a small and mighty
Jewish community, but it was alwaysI had to seek ways to express my
Judaism and to learn Jewishly outside ofmy everyday life, outside of my academic

(15:54):
life. And for me that wasSchartzetek, that was bbyo In. I
think it was summer of eighty nine, so I guess I was going into
my junior year in high school.I was able to get somehow on Tamarack's
Alaska trip. I had not goneto Tamarack. I had gone to Walden,

(16:15):
which is a great camp. Ithink of it as the camp for
Jews, but not a Jewish camp. I had the complete and total fortune
of getting on that Tamarack, Alaskatrip in nineteen eighty nine, and that
trip really sent me on a differenttrajectory that changed. It expanded my friend
group, but it solidified as itdoes for so many people. Jewish camping

(16:36):
is such a gateway, but itreally solidified my deep pair in love and
adoration for this community and wanting tobe a part of it. And the
next year, Tamarack ran a sampleIsrael trip, an experimental Israel trip,
and I was on that first groupin nineteen ninety and I worked there.
So I did the trip for thefirst half of the summer and the second

(16:56):
half I got a job at Tamarackand I worked as a staff kid counselor.
So that was really it that becamemy Those were the things that helped
launch me into this. In college, I went to University of Michigan,
I was involved. I joined aJewish sorority, A five, because I
thought, then I'll meet more Jewishgirls who want to do things like at

(17:17):
hill El with me. And Ilove my sorority sisters, many of whom
I'm still close with, but nobodyreally wanted to go to Hilloa with me.
I went to Hillel and was involvedthere. I was planning on going
to law school. I was seriouslythinking about it, but my cousin,
Evan Shapiro may He Rest in Peace, was sick and I was coming home
to see him almost every weekend.I didn't do a junior year abroad.

(17:41):
I wanted to spend more time withhim because he was really ill and he
was a few years younger than Iam. And he said, we're talking
about taking the elsat and going tolaw school. And he said, what
are you doing. You really loveyour happiest when you're working with the Jewish
community, and when you're working atcamp, you should make that your career.
And that little wisdom from somebody who'sbeen gone twenty eight years is what

(18:04):
sent me on the trajectory of applyingto the University of Michigan School of Social
Work and what was then Project Star, which is now the next iteration of
it is the Jewish Community Leadership ProgramJCLP, And that really led me.
There had three different internships when Iwas there, and the third one was
at Federation and it turned from aninternship to a part time job to a

(18:26):
full time job, to eleven anda half years at Federation, eight and
a half years at AJC, andnow the last seven and a half years
so far at the William Davidson Foundation. Amazing, it's beautiful. You know
what our listeners should know that wedid a federation a demographic study about four

(18:47):
or five years ago, and thestudy looked at everything about our Jewish community.
In one of the ways that theyfound to keep us whole in Jewish
is Jewish camping. They thought thatwas informal education. Jewish camping was the
key to success, to keeping uswhole. So that's interesting, Carrie.

(19:08):
Thank you. You know you talkedabout your positions at AJC and a federation.
Of course, Federation is a whole. AJC is part of Federation,
But can you tell us what youlearned from those positions. I know at
Federation you're in charge of leadership development. Did those those two inter you know,

(19:32):
crossover and and what did you learnfrom those experiences? I appreciate that
question, Beverley, and I wouldfirst say, at Federation, I was
so fortunate to have unbelievable mentors,both lay and professional, who saw things
in me that I didn't see inmyself, so a leadership in me that

(19:55):
I didn't see, and they putme into table around tables and they had
me making decisions and working on programsand on committees that were probably above where
I should have been at the time. But they trusted me, and that
trust and that guidance has always stayedwith me, and especially in the past
year we lost Harley and Appleman,who was such a special mentor to me

(20:19):
and I think of her very often. She had the best BS meter in
the business and taught me so somuch. And also their little phrases of
hers that always stick in my head, especially around community and ensuring that people
work together. And she used tosay, everybody doesn't need to make chavis

(20:40):
for themselves, meaning have people atyour own table, invite people over.
Organizations shouldn't be duplicating efforts. Weshould be really making sure that people are
staying in the lane that is bestfor them and doing the best work they
can do, and not thinking beyondthose, thinking beyond those, but not
always acting upon them. The otherthing I need to say about Federation is

(21:02):
that's how I met my husband.My mother in law, Sharon Alterman,
was the original community archmist. Shecreated the Leonard Simon's Community Archives and helped
move the building from one sixty threeMadison up to Telegraph and when I was
an intern in the department she keptin the core department. It was called
at the time Community outreach and educationwho would come by and talk to me

(21:26):
and kept asking me if she couldfix me up with her son, and
I said, I kept saying,I'm sure your son is delightful, and
I'm sure the last thing he wantsis his mother picking up the interns.
And after a few conversations like this, it turned out that he and I
had friends in common, and wehad more than friends in common. We
went on one date, and reallythat was it. It was the kind

(21:48):
of date that everybody goes home andthey say, Okay, well that was
fun. I figured that part out. So we're really lucky. We've been
married twenty four years next month.And that's the Federation. It will always
have the credit for me because itbrought me Ednie. I think I would
have met him anyway, I reallybelieve that. But I met him at
the right time. And what Ialso learned of Federation was I was often

(22:15):
interested in the bigger picture of thingsthat when you have to stay focused on
certain things, sometimes you don't getto open the aperture of what you're working
on. And I would often thinkabout how things would work in bigger systems
and how the Jewish community was perceivedin different ways and how do we present

(22:38):
ourselves. Beverly and I chaired.Beverly chaired and I staffed the Bluemenstein Leadership
Initiative, and it was so fantastic. And what it was was a program
that Penny and Harold graciously sponsored forthe next generation of campaign leaders. And

(22:59):
it wasn't your typical program to atthat time because it was started with a
flyout not to Israel, but toBrandeis University and we spent a day learning
all together as a group, andthen flew back and then had monthly meetings
where there were hard and soft skillsemphasized, and one of them we really
sat down and talked about, Beverly, I'm sure you remember what the skills

(23:22):
that we felt were missing or couldbe better in today's leaders and in tomorrow's
leaders. And one of them waspublic speaking right there at Experior. Remember
the session because it was so memorableand so much fun. But it was
times like that where I thought reallyabout how the community is perceived, not

(23:45):
just internally but externally. That Iwas thinking about what's life beyond Federation in
some ways, and I was sofortunate I wasn't actively considering leaving. I
was so happy with what I wasdoing, and actually the phone call to
you, Beverly, telling you Iwas leaving was one of the worst calls
I've ever had to make, oneof the worst I got to I felt

(24:08):
so badly calling you and Larry Jackhere. Those were the two I fully
remember making the phone calls where Iwas. But the AJC opportunity to really
try and represent the Detroit Jewish communityto the outside world was something that I
felt my whole life had been preparingme for, especially from when I talked
about country Day, where I wasoften the voice of the Jewish kids,

(24:32):
not on purpose and not elected,but people would ask me questions that I
could answer, and so I wouldanswer them. I think that the AJC
was that answer for me, wasthat opportunity to test those skills, and
it was the time. So inmany ways, Federation taught me about how
to think internally and AJC taught meabout how to think externally. Both,

(24:55):
of course, are representative of theJewish community and in a super important part
of what we do, because weboth have to think about ourselves and about
everyone else. It's kind of likethe universalism in particularism conversation on a grander
scale in some ways. So allof that that. When I was at
AJC, there were some really challengingyears, as it was the beginning of

(25:18):
the BDS movement and as it waspicking up speed, and many people were
unprepared, people who worked in community. Sam you talked about why people work
in community. People don't go intocommunal work to defend Israel. That was
not something most people were thinking about. They were thinking about the joys of

(25:41):
Judaism. My first job at Federationwas rekindling Shabad no No, I remember
that, yeah, but it wasvery emotionally exhausting with Israel in the crosshairs
around BBS and what have you.And in the summer of twenty fifteen,
all the grantees of the William DavidsonFoundation, and AJC Detroit was one of

(26:03):
them, received a letter letting themknow that they were going to start hiring
and they had an open position fora senior program officer for Jewish Life.
And I read through it and Ithought, oh, I never really thought
about this, and I sent itto Eddie, to my husband. I
emailed it to him and he wroteback five minutes later and said, I've

(26:25):
never seen a job describe you before, and that was what I needed to
kind of give me the emphasis,because again, while I was tired at
AJC, I was really happy andfulfilled and had wonderful lay leaders, great
professional support. They're still my friendsand colleagues to this day. And that's
when I was really I felt blessedfor the Davidson Foundation opportunity because not only

(26:51):
was I interviewing, but they wereinterviewing me. I kind of felt like
I was interviewing them because if Iwas going to make a change, it
had to be the right change,which is how I felt about the move
from Federation to AJC. So that'skind of the path of the journey,
and that's how I ended up whereI'm at. Now, you want to
I want to get more into AJC. I think I'm intrigued by it.

(27:12):
I think our audience would be firstthat you mentioned a few moments ago that
looking at kind of the big pictureof things, we so often speak of
trends and demographics and shifting attitudes,and a lot of that is for our
audience that is familiar with the Pewstudy that was done a few years ago,
or the study that Detroit Commission thatthat Beverly mentioned four or five years

(27:34):
ago. I think it's oftentimes difficultto kind of cut through the stats and
actually observe what we're seeing on theground. So what are you seeing on
the ground, How do the statsmatch up to your observations? And there's
always evolutions and living jewishly, inliving in a Jewish community, I think

(27:57):
we preserve our history quite well inthe trot. So I'm curious, how
do you square the history that wehave and where things are going and just
again the trends overall in what you'reseeing well. I was fortunate to be
on the committee for the twenty eighteenpopulation study, so I very much appreciated

(28:18):
Beverly calling it out and talking aboutthat piece around Jewish camp. I remember
Irish Eskin saying somebody asked him,I believe if you could invest in just
one thing, what would it be? And I think his answer was Tamarack.
And I always appreciated that. Ithink that we're at a really interesting
point every genre. Up until mygrandparents' generation, every generation could say that

(28:42):
the synagogue or their religious experience prettymuch looked like their parents or their grandparents.
Since then, since probably the endof really the end of the nineteenth
century, we've been accelerating our paceof change and right now it's I think

(29:03):
safe to say, Beverly, wouldyour grandparents recognize your synagogue and the way
you practice Judaism or your kids.It's a departure, it is. It
is. I have to think aboutthat because my grand mother was so committed
to her synagogue and Corpus Christi Texasof all things. Yeah, I am
probably not. It's a different place, right And when you think of how

(29:26):
your grandkids, how they connect toJudaism and Jewish practice, it's just as
valid. It's just different. Andthat difference is something that we see.
The Q Study and the population studyused to ask questions around do you remember
that used to ask about if youlit shabat candles. That's no longer the

(29:48):
way people necessarily because what if?What if Sam, I'm at dinner with
you and you like the sbak candlesbecause it's your home? Do I then
say? No? It's about practiceand observance every thinking. The way we
evaluate has changed and the standards haschanged. It used to be around affiliation
at a synagogue or at a templeor JCC membership, these things all still

(30:11):
matter, especially in Detroit, butthe trends tell us that people are much
less likely to belong to organizations inthe way that Gen X and above always
have. That change tells us youcan either, you know, almost ter
crea over the loss of what was, or celebrate what is happening. Because

(30:37):
I am amazed at the way peoplenow practice their judaism, celebrate both the
religious and cultural. And this brandagnostic wave that young millennials and Gen Z
really have has made us better becauseit's no longer that I want it.
I'm only going to go to theprogram at the place where I belong,

(30:57):
even if I hear from somebody elsethat the program somewhere else is better.
They don't care as much who ishosting a program or who is putting it
on as they do about the contentand the program itself. And that forces
us as a community, and that'snot just Detroit, that's national to do
better and be better. That's whatI think. The big trend is telling

(31:19):
us that people care about content andabout what they can learn and how it
can enhance their lives. Are youexcited about this evolution? I mean,
change is scary, right and it'sdefinitely hard to recognize that what we're used
to isn't necessarily what the future isgoing to hold. But rather than mourn

(31:44):
it, I celebrate it. Istill go to synagogue every week. Actually,
next week it will be end ofmy eleven months of saying Cottish for
my dad. And so I'm onMinion every day. Now, I'm on
Minion online and in person, andI go to Shabat services, which I
was always an often Shabat service person. I always very much enjoy it.

(32:07):
And to me, i'm a shortsetic member. I find our sermons from
our rabbis and from any of theguests as relevant or more relevant than they've
ever been. And I find themtopical and interesting. And I still find
services meaningful. Do my kids gowith me? Not even really when they're
in town, they'll go, Butwe can have both and if it works,

(32:32):
it doesn't mean that it means thatpeople are shopping for what they want.
It might not be what they wantat this point in their life.
But I'm there on a shabbist withtens of young families with little kids,
fifty seventy five kids running up onthe mma. There's nothing better. So
I know that other people are shoppingaround and choosing the same version that fits

(32:55):
me and fits who I am.But it doesn't hurt me that people are
not picking that and going elsewhere.Instead. We're better by the we're worth
more than the some of our parts. It's a great perspective. I love
the way you let our listeners andSam and I understand the trend. And

(33:16):
you know, I never really thoughtabout it like that, but you just
mentioned the some of our parts.I just read somewhere that we are all
the some of five people we spendthe most time with. Who would those
people be to you carry in yourlife? Well, that's such a scary

(33:37):
question, Beverley. I was notprepared for that one. I'm only laughing
because you you know, well,obviously my husband, although he's out of
town right now, but I reallydo spend a lot of time with that
dog, Leo, my dog.Would you think that? He literally right
outside the door wondering why I haven'topened it. No, we're really lucky.

(33:58):
As new empty nesters or just finishingour first year of empty nesthood,
we enjoy spending time together. SoI'm really lucky Eddie gets number one spot.
He's the person I'm doing life withand I'm really lucky to have him.
I would probably say my colleagues atthe William Davidson Foundation I'm with.
It's hard to pick one. Ihave a team. I have three people,

(34:21):
four people who work directly with me, and I have a supervisor.
And then I have a whole groupof colleagues who I'm with all the time.
So can I consolidate them and awonderful William dayson Foundation board into a
person? Sure? And then Iwould probably have to say Amy Shlussell,
who is the amazing director of Advancementat Hill Day School and the person I

(34:43):
talked to every day or text withevery day for the good, the bad,
and the ugly, for the Iforgot to pick up my dog?
Can you pick up my dog?To the come over? I made too
much food? That's everybody has thosefriends. I'm really fortunate to have that.
And then of course I would probablysay my mom. I talked to

(35:05):
my mom every day two or threefour times a day, probably less than
she'd like to speak with me.But I am super busy and i'd really
try to start my day on myway into my office. Every day I
call her so that I can talkwith her and kind of have that morning
conversation, and then I call heron my way home always, and sometimes
we talk during the day too.And I know, Beverley, I know

(35:28):
how you are with your kids,so you fully understand that I cannot.
And I would probably then say Ihave four friends from Detroit Country Day who
I text with and talk with allday long. We've been in conversation for
thirty five years. Longer, we'vebeen in conversation for forty years, and
it's never ending. One is workingin she's in the theater business and the

(35:53):
film business, and is going tothe French Open to film her show that
she's working on. So Day wasall about the upcoming French Open. It
was also about the dog show thatjust ended last night. Yes, and
then if one has a horse farm, so we heard a little of her
horses and others. A psychologists inCharlottesville hearing about some of that, and

(36:14):
another upstate New York and her amazingbusiness. So those are the people I
spend my most home with. Helllove it. Thank you, Harry.
I do want to touch on AJCand how that flip fits in to diplomacy
and your diplomacy work after the twentyfifteen attacks in Paris of some of our
audience might remember that pretty high profileat the time on the offices of Charlie

(36:37):
Hebdo and at a Kosher supermarket.As executive director at AJC Detroit, you
were tasked with working with one ofthe largest Muslim communities in the United States.
And speaking about that, you saidthis, and I'm quoting you,
it's so hard when people paint ourcommunity, meaning the Jewish community, with

(36:58):
a broad brush, saying the Jewishcommunity thinks X, when we really go
from the far left to the farright to do that with the Islamic community.
They're not homogeneous in any sense.So if you could just give us
some perspective, walk us through whatyou meant at the time when you said
that, and how that might havebeen emblematic for the role that you occupied

(37:21):
in twenty I want to say twentythirteen, it might have been twenty twelve,
twenty twelve or twenty thirteen. Wewere fortunate enough and we, meaning
us at a JC Detroit at thetime, received a grant from the Rabbits
Foundation to do some work on MuslimJewish relations, and they didn't give us
any real parameters about what they wantedto see. So we created a three

(37:43):
part program from it, and oneof the most important components of it we
created a steering committee. We alreadyhad some groups. We already had some
very active members of both the Muslimand Jewish communities who liked to work together,
but we really expanded that. Butthe most important thing in my mind,
what we did was create an opportunityfor a shared survey of the Jewish

(38:07):
and Muslim communities of southeast Michigan.It was run by the University of Michigan
Dearborn, and we did a surveyof opinions of the communities around how long
people had been in the states,how long they'd been in Michigan, around
their religiosity, around their family life, around their feelings of the other and
the other in this case being Jewor Muslim, and about how they would

(38:30):
feel theoretically if there had family membersof the other religion. We asked all
these questions and we got an unbelievablesurvey out of it, and it was
interesting. I learned so much.One of the things I learned was that
the Muslim community was really hesitant toanswer online surveys at the time because they
were so nervous about being tracked,because so much of the government was often

(38:54):
looking for this type of information andthey didn't feel like it was secure,
so we had to make some accommodationsfor that. I learned a lot about
their feelings around many of these things. We held a so we were planning
this big program, a symposium aroundthe results of the program, which was
called a Shared Future, and thenwe were going to run a series of

(39:16):
lectures around it. And I wasso fortunate. I think one of the
best things I've ever done in twentyfive years of working in this community is
I introduced Said Khan and Howid Lupofitchto each other. And you know,
I knew Howie and I had metSaied and I was like, these are
the same people with different religions,but they have the I'm sure you know

(39:39):
them, you're nodding along. Tocall them bright is an insult to anybody
who's smart. They're in a wholeother They're in a different stratosphere of intelligence,
and they are so of the moment. They have so many cultural references.
They're active, wonderful lecturers, andthey understand how to do things and
putting them in conversation with each otheris just so much fun and their friendship

(40:00):
is so genuine and true. Sowe had the Shared Future Conference and it
was wonderful. There were I thinkwe had about one hundred people at UVM
Dearborn. We held it there andannounced the findings, and I spoke on
behalf of the Jewish community. Mycolleague Farhan Latif, who now runs who's

(40:21):
now the head of a large Islamicfoundation based in DC, the Ibrahm Alhab
Foundation, He gave the comment onbehalf of the Muslim community. And we
had a bunch of different conversations.Brenda Rosenberg ran one with her colleague with
her Muslim partner about business as anopportunity for advancement between communities. Rashidd to

(40:45):
Leib and Vicky Barnett ran a sessiontogether talking about their work in the Michigan
House as women of women from minorityreligions and how they helped each other and
about their opportunities for cross cultural work. We had a number of sessions and
they were awesome. We had allthis momentum and excitement and all these wonderful

(41:06):
things, and then we had theissues. The Gaza incursions of December twenty
fourteen, and all this work justwent out the window. But it didn't
it went on pause. And whatI learned from my deep work with the
Muslim community of Detroit is exactly whatI said all those years ago, which

(41:27):
is they're not monolithic. So manyof them are so generous of spirit and
interested in working with those that areabsolutely not like them in any religious way,
but have a deep connection to familyand community. We found talking about
Israel was certainly the most difficult thingwe could do, and we'd often we

(41:51):
wouldn't put it completely aside. Somepeople believe that talking about the most difficult
thing is the best way to createa really lasting relationship, and we aired
on the side of building deep friendshipsand deep relationships and alongside that dealing with
the thing that separated us the most. Wow, Miss Carrie, you're blowing

(42:15):
me away. You've spoken about yourposition at William Davidson Foundation, and I
just wondered, No, I'm goingto ask if you can tell us more
about the William Davidson Foundation, andcan you also tell our listeners that might

(42:35):
not understand family foundations what they didand how they operate. Sure, So
the foundation was started in two thousandand five by mister Davidson, and when
he passed in two thousand and nine, it began a process of becoming a
perpetuity foundation that is overseen by thefamily. There are six family members on
the board of the foundation. Theyworked together for a number of years in

(43:00):
solidifying what the goals of the foundationwould be. It's really in mister Davidson's
image, if you will. Wecare about the same things he cared about
and fund in the same areas thathe always expressed as what really mattered to
him. One is, of coursethe Jewish community, both here in Detroit
and of course the state of Israel. And the second is around southeast Michigan

(43:23):
as a whole. What does thiscommunity have to offer. So in two
thousand and thirteen or twenty fourteen,the family decided that the foundation was getting
to a point that it was timeto professionalize, and they started bringing on
professional staff. And so I waslucky to be in that first I was
for the end of that first trunchof staff. The first ones were really

(43:45):
our first hire was a woman namedDanielle Hansen, who is higher number one.
She's our vice president and CFO andshe's amazing and she built out the
entire foundation from scratch, and Daniellethen hired out the finance team and tried
to get that in order. Shecame from Skillman, she knew what she's

(44:07):
doing, and then brought on DarrenMcKeever as our Chief Program and Strategy Officer.
As you know, Darren is nowour president and CEO. We still
have an incredibly active six person board, but we're much more professionalized than we
ever were. Our focus areas remainedthe same. We have three program areas
where we are fortunate enough to distributemoneies. One is Israel, one is

(44:30):
Southeast Michigan, and one is JewishLife. Our work in Israel is really
to continue on the path that theDavidson and Wetzman extended families have always been.
I don't know if you guys areaware, but they're some of they
were. I believe it's Bill Davidson'sgrandparents were at the Second Zionist Congress.

(44:51):
They are long standing Zionists. Thisfamily is deeply committed. They were part
of a deal to help purchase theland at Mount Scopus and andated it's a
Hadassa hospital. Bill Davidson's late mother, Sarah Wetsman Davidson, was and the
founder of Hadassa in Detroit. Hername, as you know, graces the

(45:12):
Hadassa building on Orchard Lake Road.She and her late husband, Ralph,
they have always been involved in Israeland building the state, both in democracy
economic development. That is a hugecomponent of what we what we do.
Of course, our worker in SoutheastMichigan, I think is best summed up
by colleague George says, good jobsin great places, meaning we want to

(45:34):
make sure that the economic vitality ofSoutheast Michigan is strong and that the places
that we can visit and participate inare literally world class. We know the
DSO and the DA and the Riverfrontand all of the different opportunities that we
have in this community that set Detroitapart. There's a reason we end up
on almost every list of underrated orabsolutely must seize around the country is to

(46:02):
come here. I mean, ifyou haven't been to Motown, I don't
know what you're waiting for. There'sso much good stuff around here. And
then of course we have the Jewishcommunity, and I'm fortunate enough to oversee
our Jewish life portfolio that really encompassesthree main areas that we prioritize at this
point. One is, of course, the Jewish community of Detroit. This

(46:24):
family has always been here. TheDavidson family stayed in Detroit. The business
was global, but this is wherethey where mister Davidson ran the businesses,
and this is where the family hasbeen. We're not the Federation, we
have no interest in being the Federation. But what we can do is help
this community to achieve its best andhighest goals and do the things that the

(46:45):
community can't necessarily do on its own. And that's what our goal is to
help elevate. We're not here tomake the decisions. We're here to elevate
community. The second pieces around leadingJewish educators. We have a partnership with
the Wexner Foundation through the Wexter FellowsDavidson Scholars Program that mister Davidson and Les
Wexter had a dream together of ensuringthat the next generation of leaders had a

(47:12):
very deep understanding of all that ittakes to be a leader in the community.
And there's about one hundred and fiftyDavidson Scholars. They are leading some
of the biggest and best Jewish communityprograms throughout the world, and we're lucky
to be able to work with them. The last piece is something that we
call cutting edge programs and products,and that, of course is mister Davidson

(47:35):
was an entrepreneur and he was arisk taker. What are those next things
that are that are meeting an unmetneed or creating change? What's the next
iPhone? What's the thing in theJewish world that you didn't know you needed
and now can't live without, thebest example of that is our work with
Safaria. If you haven't downloaded theapp Safaria, I highly recommend you do.
Ten years ago, it was atotal dream that the Jewish camp and

(48:00):
would be available for absolutely everybody atno cost, on your phone, on
your computer. Whatever you needed youcould just find. And we were fortunate
enough to be an early investor withthem to bring the Steinsaltz Talmud to the
internet. If you will, it'snow available the digital edition of the Stein

(48:22):
Talmud as the William Davidson Talmud,and it's available on Safaria. They've only
continued to grow. What are thosenext Safarias? What are those next big
ideas that can transform Jewish life inthe twenty first century and beyond well carry
thank you. And you know,we interviewed Ethan Bills Sun probably about a

(48:44):
year ago, and I think itwould actually be a really nice supplement to
our listeners who haven't heard that interview. And I think it kind of pulls
back the curtain even more to thetype of father that Bill was in,
the type of businessman, and somuch about his character. So I would
definitely recommend listening to that episode.And Carrie, I appreciate you kind of
pulling back the curtain on what sometimesis I think in some people's mind a

(49:07):
mystery in terms of what foundations do. So this is such valuable insight.
I think the last question is goingto be the biggest softball of all because
I think this so speaks to yournature and that is what has you optimistic
for the future. Oh my goodness, this next generation that every generation has

(49:29):
reinvented Judaism for themselves at least overthe twentieth century and into the twenty first.
But I think of the way genZ has committed itself to a life
of learning and deep connection in waysthat we wouldn't have even imagined. I
think of their connection to Israel.I think of the programs that have allowed

(49:49):
people to live in both worlds.We talk about multiple identities, to live
in their Jewish world and to livein their everyday world, and to have
that inter meshed in the most naturalway and opting into so many amazing opportunities.
I'm a huge booster of one table. I'm on the board. You
heard me say that my first jobwas for rekindling shabat. I've always believed

(50:15):
in the grounding behaviors that Shabbat dinnercan add to someone's life. And I
sit with this loneliness epidemic that wetalk about nothing is better and gen Z.
Having two of them in my ownfamily and watching my brother's kids,
I think one is like the youngestmillennials, but the others are gen Z.

(50:35):
Seeing what they are passionate about andhow they're not giving up on community,
They're not walking away. They're goingto make it even better than we
could have ever imagined. Thank youso much. You know when I called
and asked you to do this andyou said me, and I was like,
yes you, Sammy, and Iwant you to be on our podcast

(50:59):
because we know who you are andwhat you are and how well you can
speak, and you did not disappoint. You overperformed, and I love you.
I'm falling. I have a bigsmile on my face, and thank
you so much for being with us. This was such a joy. I
really appreciated it. I love youtoo, Baverly, as you very well

(51:22):
know. I'm so lucky to knowyou and your husband and your kids and
to always. As I said toyou a few weeks ago, I was
in Florida and I saw your son, Jeremy, who I grew up with.
We haven't seen each other in along time, but the friendship was
just like that. We just wentright back into super deep conversations. And

(51:43):
you are such a quality person whohave raised quality people. Were so lucky
to have you. I'm so gladyou took the risk of coming from Corpus
Christie up to Detroit and Sam again, I wish you only the best.
We're so lucky to have you,and we're not going to lose you.
Thank you, We'll carry You're abreath of fresh air in this program and
of course in this community, andand we're grateful for everything that you do.

(52:06):
So Carrie, thank you, andthank you. Our audio engineer and
editor is Tim Segriss. You canfind Federadio Detroit at Jewish Detroit dot org,
Forward Slash Podcast, or wherever youfind your podcasts. Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit, Federradio Detroit. We'rehere for good