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. J : :