YHE JEWISH
Pag* Six
Friday, Augusf 21, 1942
NEWS
A History of the Jews in Detroit
Community's Background Traced to 1763; First Congregation Forme
in 1850; Many Jews Among City's. Notables
ETROIT, fourth largest city of the United
D States, with a population 1,618,549 (1940), has
about 85,000 Jews.
In 1763 there were three, perhaps four, Jews trad-
ing in the neighborhood of Detroit, according to a
record of their capture by Indians when Pontiac
attacked the posts along the Great Lakes. Of these
traders, one named Chapman settled at Detroit and
was there, according to other evidence, as late as 1796.
A Solomon ben Isaac Halevi who lived in Detroit in
1873 is mentioned as a witness in a matrimonial case
before the Beth Din of London. The name of Isaac
Moses appears in 1798 and in subsequent records of
the first Masonic lodge in Detroit. A. J. Solomon
en route to Mackinac was among the 10 passengers
whose names were listed in the Gazette of June 17,
1820, as satisfied with the "arrangements and accom-
modation" of the steamer "Walk in the Water." Louis
Benjamin, a merchant who may have been Jewish,
was, according to records of Michigan Territory,
awarded a lot in Detroit to indemnify him for his
loss in the fire of 1805; and, according to the records
of the Common Council. an Alex Cohen was on the
payroll for grading a street in 1835.
The First Jewish Settlers
I
N 1837 the first directory of Detroit was pub-
lished. It had about 1,100 names, but not one
that was certainly Jewish. In the next directory, pub-
lished in 1845, there were only two names of Jews
(Solomon Bendid and Moses Rindskopf). In the
directory published in 1850, in spite of a large increase
in the population of Detroit, which then numbered
about 21,000, there were only three Jewish firms and
five Jewish individuals listed (S. and H. Bendid & Co.,
dry goods; Silberman & Hersch, cigar manufacturers;
S. Freedman & Brothers, dry goods; Alex. Grunwald,
Leopold Rappenkeimer or Rappenheimer, fancy goods;
F. E. Cohen, portrait painter; Solomon Cohen, pedlar).
The two Jews mentioned in the directory of 1845
came from Ann Arbor. Most of those mentioned in
the directory of 1850 came from Ann Arbor or Ypsi-
lanti. In that year the history of the Jewish commun-
ity of Detroit really began. Isaac and Sophie Cozens
settled in the city in 1850; they were followed by a
number of other Jews, mostly immigrants from
Bavaria. Local documents show the following names:
Amberg, Bresler, Franke, Friedlander, Heineman,
Hirschman, Kanter, Lang. Newman, Proll, Schloss,
Sloman, and Springer. But the Jewish community
grew slowly until the early years of the 20th century.
Then the boom created by the growth of the automo-
bile industry brought many thousands of Jews to the
city.
Beth El—The First Congregation
T
HE first Jewish congregation in Michigan, Beth
El (at first known as the "Bet-El Society"),
was founded in Detroit on Sept. 22, 1850. It met regu-
larly in the home of Isaac and Sophie Cozens. At first
Marcus Cohen, who had come to the city in 1850,
acted as rabbi, but he soon brought his friend, Rabbi
Samuel Marcus of New York, to lead the small con-
gregation. There were at that time about 15 Jewish
families in the city. In 1851 the first Jewish cemetery,
half an acre in size, was purchased in what is now
the city of •Hamtramck for a down payment of $150,
and there Rabbi Marcus, who died of cholera, was
buried.
As Temple Beth El came under the influence of
the Reform movement, the Orthodox members formed
Congregation, Shaarey Zedek (1869), now one of the
foremost Conservative synagogues in America. Beth
El is one of the country's leading Reform congrega-
tions. It was the first Reform congregation to have
unassigned pews; its courses of Jewish ,studies were
likewise the first for adults in a congregation of
Reform Jewry. Among the rabbis of Beth El were
Liebmann Adler (1854-61), Kaufman Kohler (1869-71),
Heinrich Zirndorf (1876-84), and, Louis Grossman
(1884-98). The congregation brought both Rabbi
Kohler and Rabbi Zirndorf to the United States.
Now there are 48 synagogues in Detroit; the rabbis
of the leading congregations are: Dr. Leo M. Franklin
and Dr. B. Benedict Glazer, Temple Beth El; Dr.
Abraham M. Hershman and Rabbi Morris Adler,
Shaarey Zedek; Rabbi Leon Fram, Temple Israel;
Rabbis Moses Fischer and Jacob J. Nathan, Bnai
Moshe; Rabbi Joshua S. Sperka, Bnai David; Rabbi
Isaac Stollman, Mishkan Israel; Rabbi Max J. Wohl-
gelernter, Beth Tefilo Emanuel.
Jewish Welfare Federation Formed
T
HE rapid growth of the Jewish community of
Detroit was reflected in its community agen-
cies. On Nov. 7, 1899, through the efforts of Rabbi
Franklin, the United Jewish Charities was organized;
David W. Simons, who in 1918 was elected to the
Editor's Note '
A number of readers of The Jewish News have
asked that we publish a history of the Jews in
Detroit, to complement the historical article on
Michigan.
This article is reproduced from the Universal
Jewish Encyclopedia. It' was written by Philip
Slomovitz, editor of The Jewish News.
first nine-man council of the city, was he first presi-
dent; Blanche Hart was the director Until 1923.
In 1923 the Bureau of Jewish Social Research of
New York made a survey of communal needs which
was financed by the members of the Wineman family.
As a result, the Jewish Welfare Federation was or-
ganized three years later to coordinate and supervise
the educational, recreational, and welfare agencies of
the community, including those financed in -part by
the Detroit Community Fund, as well as to conduct
non-local and overseas relief drives. The first president
of the Federation was Henry Wineman. He was suc-
ceeded by Clarence H. Enggass and then by Abraham
Srere, the incumbent. Fred M. Butzel, one of the
leading philanthropists of Michigan, is chairman of
the executive committee.
The Allied Jewish Campaigns
T
HE first community-wide drive of the Jewish
Welfare Federation in 1926 had 3,000 con-
tributors; in 1940 there were 21,000 contributors to
the Allied Jewish Campaign who gave a total of
$735,000 for local, national, and oversea causes. In
1942 nearly 22,000 people contributed $890,000, setting
an all-time record in fund raising. Among the
agencies helped or supported by this fund were the
following local services: Jewish Social Service Bureau,
Resettlement Service, House of Shelter, Hebrew Free
Loan Association, Jewish Home for the Aged, Jewish
Community Center (of which Henry Meyers is presi-
dent), North End Clinic, Council Camp, (Detroit Sec-
tion of the National Council of Jewish Women), Fresh
Air Camp (which conducts camps for both children
and mothers), United Hebrew Schools, Yeshivoth Beth
Yehudah, the Sholem Aleichem Schools, Arbeiter Ring
Schools, Farband Schools, and the Jewish Community
Council. The Detroit Community Fund makes alloca-
tions toward the budgets of the Fresh Air Society,
Hebrew Free Loan Association, Jewish Child Place-
ment Bureau, Jewish Community Center, Jewish
Social Service Bureau, North End Clinic. and the
Jewish Welfare Federation.
Isidore Sobeloff is the executive director of the
Jewish Welfare Federation and Allied Jewish Cam-
paign. Miss Esther R. Prussian is director of the
Detroit Service Group, the fund-raising arm of the
Federation.
Detroit has three institutions of adultJewish edu-
cation: Beth El College of Jewish Studies, the Jewish
Academy of Learning (conducted by Shaarey Zedek),
and the Young Israel Adult School.
Hebrew Schools, Council, Etc.
HE United Hebrew Schools, of which Bernard
Isaacs is the superintendent, has 10 branches,
and 1,600 children between the ages of 6 and 16
attend its classes.
The Jewish Community Council has united 185
organizations "to help maintain the dignity and in-
tegrity of Jewish life; to develop an articulate and
intelligent and effective public opinion on Jewish
problems and interests; to coordinate insofar as pos-
sible the activities of the various segments of the
Detroit Jewish Community." Simon Shetzer was the
first president. James I. Ellmann is the present presi-
dent.
Detroit has an active chapter of the American
Jewish Congress. Rabbi Joshua S. Sperka is the
present president.
Fred M. Butzel, Leo M. Butzel and Henry Wineman
are members of the executive committee of the Amer-
T
BU
SE
BON DS
ican Jewish Committee. Michigan state representativ
on the American Jewish Committee are Julian H. Kr
lik, Isidore Levin and Abraham Srere of Detroi
Harry Shulsky of Grand Rapids and Julius H.
berg of Kalamazoo.
Jewish N.ational Fund-Work
ETROIT is one of the leading communities '
the country from the point of view of a
complishments in Palestine land redemption wor
Under the chairmanship of William Hordes, the fun
reached a total of nearly $27,000 for the current ye
The former chairman of the Jewish National Fund,*D
Israel Wiener, is now a Captain in the U. S. arm
forces and is serving overseas.
The various Zionist organizations of Detro
number about 4,500 members, including 1,200 membe
in Hadassah and 1,000 in the Zionist Organization
America.
Abraham Cooper is president of the Zionist 0
ganization of Detroit.
Mrs. Joseph H. Ehrlich, a former national vie
president of Hadassah, is one of the outstandi
leaders in the movement in Michigan.
The' labor Zionist movement is an effective fo
in Detroit. The National Labor Committee (Gewer
shaften) drives are most successful here. Morri
Schaver, Harry Schumer and a large number of
sociates have helped build up a strong organizati
for labor Zionism, including the Farband (Jew'
National Workers' Alliance).
The Chalutzoth in Detroit are also very activ
and have helped expand the movement as a force "
the middle west.
D
The Largest Bequests
HE largest bequest to Jewish philanth • •
on record in Detroit (1940) was the fund
$400,000 left in 1937 by Carrie Sittig Cohen and
brother, Joshua Cohen, to the United Jewish Chari *
in trust for the Jewish Welfare Federation. A. fund -
$75,000, given in 1929 by members of the Wine
family in memory of Leopold Wineman, helped b
the North End Clinic. The gift of $190,000 by
Aaron DeRoy, in memory of her husband, made •
sible the construction of the Jewish Community Cen
at Woodward and Holbrook Ayes. in 1939. An a. .
tional $70,000 for the center came from the Cob
estate.
Among other important buildings of the Je
community are the Jewish Home for the Aged, bif
at •a cost of $250,000, and the three buildings of
United Hebrew Schools, the newest of which,
Rose Sittig Cohen Memorial Building (also used as
branch of the Jewish Community Center), was co
pleted with funds from the Cohen estate in Septe
ber, 1940. The Jewish Children's Home and the Ho
of Shelter are in their own buildings.
UNIQUE Jewish organization is the M
Study Club of Detroit (founded 1924), wh' .
fosters the appreciation of music, promotes musi
events and helps launch young artists on their caree
It aids the Jewish Community Center School of M '
Detroit'S Jewish cemeteries include: Beth El; Be
Tefilo Emanuel; Beth Abraham; Harmorea; Clo
Hill Park Cemetery of Shaarey Zedek; Beth Yehu
Beth Moses; New Harmorea; Oakview; Beth Aa
V'Israel; Beth Shmuel.
T
A
Prominent Jewish Leaders
EWS of Detroit played a prominent part
cultural and civic life. When the Detro
Symphony Orchestra was reorganized in 1918, Osse
Galbrilowitsch became the first conductor.
filled the post until his death in 1935. Victor Kola
an assistant conductor from 1919, succeeded him
one of the orchestra's two conductors. Albert K
famous as an architect, gave the University of Par
half a million francs and an additional, conditio
grant of nine and a half million francs in 1929. He
the outstanding designer of war munitions plants.
Among other prominent Jews of Detroit
Charles C. Simons, judge of the United States Circu
Court of Appeals; Henry M. Butzel, justice of
Supreme Court of Michigan; Dr. Leo M. Franklin, m
ber of the Detroit Library Commission, formerly
president, and a director of the Detroit Symphony
chestra; William Friedman, member of the House
Correction Commission (president 1927, 1931,
1935); Nate S. Shapero, president of the Board
Fire Commissioners; Samuel T. Gilbert, member
the Detroit Street Railway Commission.
A branch building of the Detroit Public Libr
was named after Bernard Ginsburg, who had
vice-president of the Municipal Lighting Commissio
A lighting station or. Custer Ave. has been nam
in honor of the late Martin Butzel, a former mem
of the Detroit Lighting Commission.
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