Detroit JCRC Merges With American Jewish Committee Branch

By Andrew Silow-Carroll July 21, 2016

— The Jewish Community Relations Council of Metropolitan Detroit is merging with the American Jewish Committee.

The partnership between the local advocacy group and the national Jewish organization, announced Thursday, is meant to boost the regional council in its efforts in support of Israel, interfaith affairs and outreach to elected officials.

Members of the AJC’s Detroit board will be added to the JCRC board under the merger, according to the announcement. The joint agency will maintain a local focus while gaining access to the AJC’s national and global assets,which include 10 international offices.

“We are excited to start the next chapter of Jewish communal relations in metro Detroit,” said Richard Krugel, president of the JCRC. “JCRC’s partnership with AJC will bring together the strengths and resources of two highly respected organizations to benefit the lives of Jewish Detroiters and the community in which they live.”

The Jewish Community Relations Bureau in Kansas City, Missouri, merged with the American Jewish Committee in 1991.

Local community relations councils function as the advocacy arms of organized Jewish communities, either as divisions of the federation umbrella philanthropies or as separately incorporated agencies. Some 125 local CRCs are members of the national Jewish Council for Public Affairs.

“The JCPA is delighted by the new partnership,” David Bernstein, the president and CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, said in a statement. “It’s gratifying to see such a strategic pooling of community resources toward common goals. We know that both organizations will be stronger for it as well as the larger Jewish community. “

Andrew Silow-Carroll is editor in chief of the New York Jewish Week and senior editor of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. He previously served as JTA’s editor in chief and as editor in chief and CEO of the New Jersey Jewish News.

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