A Letter from Mike Rogers
Nu?DetroitNu?Detroit
A Letter from Dr. Abdul El-Sayed
Nu?DetroitNu?Detroit

September 18, 2026

Dear Dr. El-Sayed and Mr. Rogers,

Happy New Year! As we write this, it has been 45 days since the August primary and 45 days remain before Election Day. Recent polling shows your race to serve Michigan in the US Senate as a dead heat. 

So, nu? We don't know about either of you, but we did not anticipate the outsized role the Jewish community would have in this election. It has been exciting at moments, exhausting at others. Most of all, it has been noisy. 

This is a time of year we pause and return to first principles. We'll leave the teachings of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Simchat Torah and Sukkot to the Rabbis. Rather than looking back 5,000 years, we'll settle for five — back to 2021 when we started Nu Detroit to be a space "for diverse, dynamic writing about and relevant to Jewish Detroit."

For better or for worse, this election is highly relevant to Jewish Detroit — and vice versa. So we are inviting each of you to write. Here are the criteria we shared all the way back in '21 and have done our best to adhere to since:

Anyone can submit writing to Nu Detroit. Whether commentary, opinion, analysis or just good storytelling, we are looking for writing that draws on:

Experience. Writing in the first person ("I statements") or otherwise drawing on your lived experience to inform your perspective on the subject.

Evidence. Observable and reputable context to help substantiate your point.

Empathy. Respecting and seeking to understand others' lenses, even if you are advocating for a particular point of view.

Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to sharing your words with our readers.

Respectfully,

Ben Falik and Alicia Chandler