The Collective Annual Retreat 2026: One Community
The Collective Annual Retreat convenes Jewish education, engagement, and
communal professionals from across Metro Detroit for a full day of practical
learning, conversation, and cross-agency connection.
This year’s theme, One Community, focuses on the real work of Jewish communal
life today: navigating difference, sharing priorities across institutions,
supporting our community through complexity, and sustaining ourselves as
professionals.
**Opening Plenary One Community, Many Commitments with Yossi Klein Halevi**
The day will begin with a plenary that grounds our collective work in the
moral and peoplehood questions facing Jewish communal life right now. Through
storytelling and reflection, Yossi Klein Halevi will explore what it means to
belong to one community amid differing commitments, perspectives, and
priorities.
This session will invite participants to grapple with how we hold complexity
with integrity—navigating disagreement without fragmentation, shared
responsibility without uniformity, and clarity in moments of tension. The
plenary will provide a shared frame and language that will carry through the
workshops and conversations that follow.
**Why This Retreat**
Jewish professionals across Detroit are doing meaningful, values-driven work.
This retreat creates space to step back together, engage with professionals
across roles and agencies, and strengthen our collective capacity to lead with
clarity, purpose, and care.
One Community focuses on moving forward together while honoring the distinct
roles, voices, and responsibilities each of us brings
**Workshop Highlights Include**
* Universal Design: Creating a Culture of Inclusion with Detroit Disability Power
* Making Impact Real: Goal Setting That Actually Sticks with Jessica Katz
* Leadership and Teamwork with Tomer Moked
* Courageous Conversations: Conflict Resolution with Alex Harris from OpenDor Media
* Jewish Joy: Empowered Jewish Journeys with Dr. Samantha Vinokor-Meinrath from The Jewish Education Project
* Development Team Torah with Rabbi Ari Witkin
* Jewish Teens Today and the Jewish Future with Rabbi Jen Lader and Alex Harris
* Program Evaluation and Metrics with Ashley Schnaar Morof
* Finding My Voice with Yoel Levy (The Jewish Batman)
* AI Case-Studies and Experimentation Lab with Kari Alterman and Michelle Turnbull
And a whole lot more…
**Who Should Attend**
This retreat is designed for Jewish communal professionals across Metro
Detroit, including those working in:
* Education (early childhood, day schools, supplemental education, adult learning)
* Youth, teen, and family engagement
* Israel engagement and Jewish learning
* Community engagement, programming, and innovation
* Philanthropy, development, and strategy
Both emerging and seasoned professionals are encouraged to attend.
**Kosher Continental Breakfast and lunch provided**
Organized by: The Collective
