COMMUNITY

Jason Honigman Is Recalled
As Brilliant And Charitable

KIMBERLY LIFTON

Staff Writer

A

lthough he wasn't a
religious man, Jason
Honigman believed
in the Jewish people, those
who knew him say.
"He was humanistic in his
Jewish values," said Milton
"Jack" Miller, who with Mr.
Honigman founded the
Honigman Miller law firm
in 1948. It later expanded to
Honigman Miller Schwartz
and Cohn, today one of Mich-
igan's largest legal firms.
"He was active in Israeli
and community affairs. He
didn't go to synagogue, but
he believed in the Jewish
people," Mr. Miller said.
"He was proud of being Jew-
ish."
Mr. Honigman, who im-
migrated from Russia in
1911, died Sept. 12. He was
85.
His father was a tailor
whose family followed him
to New York after he settled.
They moved to Detroit in
1916. Mr. Honigman enroll-
ed in Northern High School,
from which he graduated at
age 15.
To support himself
through college, Mr.
Honigman became a barber.
He spent two years at
Detroit Junior College, now
Wayne State University,
and entered the University
of Michigan. Within four
years, he completed his
bachelor's and law degrees,
graduating first in his law
school class in 1926.
"Of all of the successful
men I know, I think Mr.
Honigman changed his
lifestyle very little over the
years," said Herschel Fink,
a partner at Honigman

Service Sets
Lamp-a-thon

Resettlement Service will
hold its first Lamp-a-thon for
new American families The
Lamp-a-thon is designed to
encourage the community to
donate spare tables and floor
lamps (in working condition),
at any of the four designated
drop off locations until Oct.
15: Temple Israel, Temple
Emanu-El, Beth Shalom and
Adat Shalom.
All donations should be
marked with a name and ad-
dress if a tax deducation form
is needed. For information,
call Louise Hacker, 559-1500.

Miller Schwartz and Cohn.
"He was always true to his
roots."
Businessman and Jewish
leader Max Fisher once re-
ferred to Mr. Honigman as a
"quiet hero" — a refrain re-
peated by many colleagues."
Mr. Honigman was a philan-
thropist, supporting Jewish
charities and other causes.
He was a member for many
years of the Allied Jewish
Campaign cabinet, now
called the Campaign

Jason Honigman:
Communal legacy.

management team. He
chaired the Campaign's pro-
fessional division one year
and later served as an ad-
viser to the division.
Mr. Honigman was a
member of the board of the
Detroit Service Group of the
Jewish Welfare Federation.
He also served as chairman
of the Michigan Law Revi-
sion Commission and was a
member of the state's
Judicial Tenure Commis-
sion, which he chaired for
one year.
Included in Mr.
Honigman's public service
life was a position on the Na-
tional Commission for
Uniform Laws. He also was
vice-chairman of the com-
mission which revised Mich-
igan's Judicature Act in
1961 and its court rules in
1963.
A business lawyer, Mr.
Honigman was well known
to Michigan lawyers and
judges as the author of a
treatise widely known as
"Honigman's Rules," a book
of guidelines for Michigan
civil law practice.
A lifelong Republican, Mr.

Honigman was the party's
1958 candidate for state at-
torney general. He later
wrote:
"I had no real desire to
hold that office, nor was
there any likelihood of a
Republican being elected for
state office that year.
However, I was prevailed
upon to accept the nomina-
tion and enjoyed the experi-
ence of campaigning as a
candidate throughout the
state.
"I considered it important
to demonstrate that the
Republican Party would ac-
cept a Jewish candidate on
its statewide ticket,
although it had not done so
in the past."
Mr. Miller worked with
Jason Honigman for 54
years. Mr. Honigman hired
Mr. Miller when he
graduated from law school
for the firm founded by Gov.
Alexander Groesbeck. The
two later left to form their
own law firm.
"You would think that
after 54 years of my rela-
tionship with Jason
Honigman, first as an
employee, and then as a
partner, I would have
discovered some flaws or
chinks in his armor," Mr.
Miller said. "Today, as I
have done from the very first
time we met, I stand in awe
of his genius and in admira-
tion of him as a man. He was
the greatest."
Alan E. Schwartz, another
partner of the firm Mr.
Honigman founded, de-
scribed him as "one of the
most remarkable men I have
ever been privileged to
know.
"He was a man of unusual
discipline and was unwaver-
ing in his insistence upon
quality, high standards,
diligence and commitment,"
Mr. Schwartz said. "But he
never expected greater from
those about him than he was
prepared to give himself. He
would lead, but he would
always listen, and these
qualities contributed to
making him a great teacher,
something I personally will
always remember him as."
In April, the University of
Michigan dedicated the
main lecture hall at its law
school in his name.
Mr. Honigman is survived
by his wife, Edith; son,
Daniel; daughter and son-in-
law, Julie and Edward Levy,
Jr.; five grandchildren; and
two great-grandchildren. ❑

Michael Weiss

David Icikson

High Holiday Appeals
From Two Students

David Icikson and Michael
Weiss, both of West Bloom-
field, will be the spokesmen
for High Holiday appeals for
Israel Bonds in Detroit.
Mr. Icikson, of Congrega-
tion B'nai David, and Mr.
Weiss, of Congregation Beth
Abraham Hillel Moses, were
selected for their strong in-
terest in Israel and Jews in
the Diaspora.
Mr. Weiss, a second-year
physics and English student
at the University of
Michigan, is a former
regional and international
chairman of the Israel
Awareness Committee of
United Synagogue Youth. In
1989, Mr. Weiss participated
in the first annual USY
Hechalutzim Leadership
Training Seminar in Israel.
Mr. Weiss also went to
Israel in the summer of 1988,
following a week in Poland
touring the sites of the
Holocaust and the remnants
of Poland's Jewish communi-
ty. Following that trip, Mr.
Weiss wrote "Ashes to Ashes:
Or, How I Spent My Summer
Vacation," which has won
writing contests at three
Michigan colleges.
Mr. Icikson is a student at
the Harvard University John
F. Kennedy School of Govern-
ment and has traveled to
Israel and to Eastern Euro-
pean countries. Mr. Icikson
also is a graduate of U-M with
highest honors in Russian
and East European Studies.
He attended the Russian
School, Intensive Language
Program, at Middlebury
College.
For two years he has serv-
ed as the foreign affairs
legislative assistant to U.S.
Rep. Howard Wolpe; earlier
he served on the National Ad-

vance Staff of House Majori-
ty Leader Richard Gephardt's
presidential campaign and
was a staff assistant to U.S.
Rep. Sander Levin.
The proceeds of this year's
Israel Bond High Holiday Ap-
peal will be directed to
"Operation Aliyah" and used
to aid in the integration of
Soviet Jewish newcomers in-
to Israeli society through
employment opportunities
and suitable housing.

JHA Director
Named To Post

Cheryl Riskin, director of
the Jewish Home for Aged's
LeVine Institute on Aging,
will be installed as chair-
woman of Michigan Non-
Profit Homes Association

Cheryl Riskin

(MN—HA) during the
organization's annua 1
meeting Sept. 25 in Lansing
Ms. Riskin, having serve d
the Home in variou
capacities since 1975, help
coordinate education, re
search, training and publi c
policy programs.

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 5

