Jewish Congregations in Detroit
THE JEWISH NEWS-71
Friday, September 28, 1951
HOLIDAY GREETINGS
In 1889, the Central Conference
By IRVING I, KATZ
Executive Secretary, Temple Beth El, Detroit
of American Rabbis was founded
Although the history of De- Kohler, who was brought here at Temple Beth El.
troit Jewry as am organized from Germany in 1869, organ-
The distinguished ministry
community begins on Sept. 22, ized the Beth El Hebrew Relief of Rabbi Leo M. Franklin, one
1850, when Temple Beth El, Society and later served as
Michigan's first congregation President of the Hebrew Union of the most beloved spiritual
was founded, the record of indi- College. In 1873, during the leaders in this community, ex-
vidual Jews oes back to a much ministery of Rabbis Emanuel tended from 1899 to 1941 as
earlier period. The first Jew, Gerechter and Leopold Wintner, active Rabbi and from 1941 to
Chapman Abraham, settled here Beth El was one of the founding the, time of his death in 1948
in 1762, when Fort Detroit had congregations of the Union of as Rabbi Emeritus. Dr. Frank-
about 300 families. Abraham American Hebrew Congrega- lin organized in 1899 the
was captured by the Indians in tions. Rabbi Henry Zirndorf es- United Jewish Charities out of
1763 during Pontiac's. siege of tablished in 1878 the Library of which sprang the Jewish Wel-
Detroit but was released and Temple Beth El, oldest Jewish fare Federation in 1926;
carried on a successful business congregational Library in Michi- founded the Sisterhood of
for over twenty years. gan. He was the first Detroit Temple Be0'.. El in 1901; es-
Benjamin Lyon, a. partner of Rabbi to exchange pulpits with tablished in 1902 the Inter-
Christian ministers and to speak denominational C o m m u nity
Abraham, was here in 1765.
b before civic and educational Thanksgiving Service;. was
Levi Solomons, who conducted
a large trade in Mackinac, re- groups. He organized in 1882 the largely responsible for the
I Hebrew Ladies' Sewing Society building of the Temple on
sided here in 1783.
to help HeJewish refugees from Woodward and Eliot in 1903;
Ezekiel Solomons, Michigan's lR ussia.
served later as Pro- introduced the unassigned pew
first Jew who came to Mackinac
in 1761, was here in 1789. Ezekiel fessor of History and Literature system, first in the count•y;
inaugurated the Beth El Lec-
was a founder in 1779 of a gen- at the Hebrew Union College.
Rabbi Louis Grossmann, Beth ture Forum in 1904 and scout
eral store in Mackinac, believed
to be the first department store El's first American trained activities in 1910; established
in the United States, and was Rabbi, came here in 1884 when in 1914 the Jewish Student
also a founder in Mackinac in he was ordained at the Hebrew Congregation at the University
1784 of the first Board of Trade Union College. Dr. Grossmann of Michigan, first in the. coun-
• try, organized the Men's Club
in Michigan.
founded in 1886 the Temple of Temple Beth El in 1919;
Isaac Moses was a member in Alumni Association (now the
helped build the present mag-
1788 of Zion Lodge, Detroit's Young People's Club) ; organized nificent
building on Woodward
first Masonic Lodge. the Emerson Circle, a society for ward and Gladstone in 1922;
Louis Benjamin was awarded the promotion of culture; was and _organized liberal Jewish
a lot in 1808 for his loss in De- the first Detroit Rabbi - to con- congregations in Flint, Port
troit's great fire of 1805.
duct formal adult study classes Huron, Pontiac, Lansing and
Alex Cohen was on a payroll on Jewish subjects; and in 1891, Saginaw. He served as presi-
organized the Jewish Women's dent of the Central Confer-
for grading a street in 1835.
Frederick E. Cohen, who was t Club of Detroit, which is now ence of American Rabbis; was
here in 1837, became a promin-he Detroit Section of the Na-
Continued on Page 83
ent portrait painter and was the tonal Council of Jewish Women.
teacher of Lewis F. Ives and
Robert Hopkin, famous Michi-
gan artists. -
German Jews began to arrive
in Detroit in the 1840s. Charles
E. Bresler, who prospered in the
fur and wool business, was here
in 1844. He was the first Presi-
dent in 1851 of the Sick Visiting
Society of Temple Beth El.
Edward Kanter, the founder
of the German-American Bank
and a member of the State
EVERKRISP "All the Name Implies"
Legislature in 1857, also came
here in 1844. He was Vice Presi-
Potato Chips — Pretzels — Popcorn
dent of Temple Beth El in 1855.
Joseph, Simon and Herman
Cheese Corn and Shoestring Potatoes
Freedinan, who became the own-
ers of Michigan's largest dry
goods store, were here about the
5333 Vermont Cor. Kirby
same time, Joseph served as the
first Secretary of Temple Beth
TY. 8-0200
El, Simon as President of the
Temple and Herman as Presi-
dent of the Religious School
Board.
Best Wishes for
A Happy New Year
JOSEPH AND ADOLPH SLATK IN
DEXTER CHEVROLET CO.
SALES AND SERVICE
11534 DEXTER
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IIII II I IIIi I IIIIIIIIIIIiIIIIIII 111111111111111111111111111111 111111111111111I111i111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111VE
HOLIDAY GREETINGS
SAM GRENADIER
YOUNG MEN'S TAILOR
E
520 United Artists Bldg.
WO. 3-4193
Best Wishes for the New Year
T. H. BREHM COMPANY
INCORPORATED
Heating Contractors and Distributors
Member Detroit
Air Conditioning Institute
2138 Coolidge Hwy.
Oak Park, Mich.
JO. 4-6785
Everkrisp Food Products Co.
TEMPLE BETH EL
In 1850, when Detroit's popu-
lation numbered 21,019, there
were a dozen German-Jewish
families in the city and on Sept.
22, 1850, the "Beth El Society,"
an Orthodox congregation, was
founded at the initiative of Mr.
and Mrs. Isaac Cozens. Jacob
Silberman was the first Presi-
dent and Rev. Samuel Marcus of
New York the first Rabbi. Rabbi
Marcus opened an all-day school
where children received their re-
ligious and secular education.
His successor, Rabbi Liebman
Adler, introduced the preaching
of sermons and was a founder in
1857 of Pisgah Lodge, Bnai
B-rith, today the largest in the
world.
In 1861, the first synagogue on
Rivard Street, formerly the
French M. E. Church, was dedi-
cated and changes in ritual in-
troduced. This was the begin-
/ling of Beth El as a Reform
Temple which created a schism
in the congregation resulting in
thy organization of Congrega-
tion Shaarey Zedek. In 1863,
Rabbi Abraham Laser organized
the Ladies' Society for the Sup-
port of Hebrew Widows and Or-
phans in the State of Michigan,
first Jewish women's society in
Michigan.
Rabbi Isidor. Kalisch, who
Was the first Rabbi to preach
English sermons, conducted a
memorial service for President
Lincoln on April 19, 1865. Rabbi
Elias Eppstein introduced in
1867 a lecture service on Friday
evening, following Beth . El's oc-
cupancy of the Washington
Avenue Templ^, formerly the
Tabernacle Baptist Church.
Rabbi Eppstein discontinued the
all-day school and opened a
Religious School after public
school hours. He published the
first Jewish children's textbook
in Detroit. Rabbi Kaufmann
Best Wishes for The New Year
DETROIT INSURANCE AGENCY
We Write Every Type of Insurance
Best Wishes for
A Happy New Year
CASS PARLOR FURNITURE
MANUFACTURING CO.
Designers and Manufacturers of
Distinctive Living Room Furniture
23528 JOHN R, HAZEL PARK
JO. 4-5969
502 FISHER BLDG.
C. W. CARTER
H. L. NEWNAN
President
Vice-President
Wishing All Our Friends and Patrons
A Happy New Year
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Best Wishes for a
Happy' and Prosperous
New Year
BELDEN-STARK
BRICK COMPANY
STUART FOUNDRY
COMPANY
Distributors of P. G. Glass Blocks
Complete Stock
For Full . Information
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Jobbing Founders Grey Iron Semi-Steel
and Alloyed Iron Castings
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138 S. Junction
Detroit 9, Mich.
VI. 1-9250
Call WE. 3-1331
14305 LIVERNOIS,
Near Ewald Circle