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Max Sosin

BILL CARROLL
Special to the Jewish News

%TN

8/18
2000

136

Wil hen Max Sosin died of
chronic heart failure
Aug. 15 at Fleischman
Residence in West
Bloomfield, a part of the Detroit
area's Jewish community died with
him.
That was the feeling of friends,
relatives, officials, co-residents and
others who mourn the 89-year-old
"treasure of Detroit's Jewry."
Mr. Sosin recently reminisced
with a Fleischman volunteer about
the "old days," calculating that he
had spent 86 years in "show busi-
ness" as an entertainer/humorist. He
performed at countless synagogues,
schools and concerts, and for many
fraternal, civic and charitable organi-
zations. He delighted and cheered
Jews and gentiles alike, adults and
children, the elderly and the disabled
— earning a reputation as the area's
unofficial ambassador of good will.
And Mr. Sosin never received "one
cent" for his hundreds of perfor-
mances over the years. "Why?
Because I never needed the income

from this," he explained. "It has been
a hobby ... a labor of love ... the love
of entertaining and the love of the
people I entertain. Besides, if I do a
poor job, I don't have to worry about
the money I didn't take."
Lillian Bernstein of Detroit, Mr.
Sosin's second cousin, pointed out
that he had "the incredible ability to
charm a room full of people and
make instant friends." She recalled
that he always served as master of
ceremonies for their Ordin Family
Club meetings, which lasted 50
years.
Mr. Sosin boasted that he always
did "a clean act," and without notes
or cue cards, "just what comes to
mind as I go along." He learned to
sing in a synagogue choir as a young-
ster, but the cantor advised him not
to pursue a professional career as a
singer — just to do easy songs to
embellish his jokes.
Born in Russia, where he sang
songs at age 3 for his parents' guests,
Mr. Sosin came to America in 1924,
learned English quickly and told
jokes as a teenager to customers at
his brother's candy store at Hastings
and Theodore streets in Detroit.
During his travels as an entertainer,
he was amused that he even "played
Peoria," performing at a synagogue
in that northern Illinois city.
Rabbi Elliot Pachter of
Congregation B'nai Moshe - in West
Bloomfield, who officiated at Mr.
Sosin's funeral Thursday, often visit-
ed him at Fleischman, where he had
lived since 1996 after suffering a
minor stroke. "Max celebrated his
birthday by the Hebrew calendar, so
it was always on the second day of
Rosh HaShana," said Rabbi Pachter.
"He had the honor of leading the
congregation in "Adon Olam."
Everyone just loved him and his
singing style, and they joined right
in."
Mr. Sosin spent most of his syna-
gogue-going years at Congregation
B'nai David, then took a circle of
friends with him to B'nai Moshe in

,

the early 1990s to make it easier for
him to attend Shabbat services.
"They really enjoyed each other's
company," said Rabbi Pachter.
"Max was 'Mr. B'nai David'," said
Larry Traison of Bloomfield Hills,
who served two terms as B'nai
David's president. "I got to know
him very well, and he was one of our
most popular members. His rendi-
tion of "Adon Olam" was the high-
light of the year."
Jack Kraizman, 90, a retired attor-
ney and past president of B'nai
David, served on B'nai David's board
with Mr. Sosin for more than 30
years. "Max was something special
— and the community will miss
him," Kraizman said. "He enter-
tained groups of all kinds in English,
Yiddish and Russian, and the people
just loved it. And he was a real
visionary as a board member. After
we established the Southfield {B'nai
David] building, he wanted to build
an even newer sanctuary further into
the northern suburbs. He always had
a dream for a more modern and bet-
ter place."
Retired real estate developer Sid
Silverman of Southfield remembers
Mr. Sosin for their work together in
the local chapter of the Zionist
Organization of America. Silverman,
past president of both the local and
national ZOA groups, recalled how
Mr. Sosin always "made the Jews of
Detroit laugh" with his many anec-
dotes as master of ceremonies for 20
years at the annual Balfour
Celebration, the ZOA's main fund-
raising effort. "And, of course, he
was an ardent Zionist."
Carol Rosenberg, associate direc-
tor of the Jewish Home & Aging
Services, called Mr. Sosin "a real
symbol of the elderly people in the
Jewish community. We were proud
he chose to live at Fleischman in his
later years and have us care for him.
When you lose a resident like Max,
you lose greatness.
"He was a teacher to all of us,
helping the rabbi lead services. and

regularly attending the daily minyan.
And he was always dressed with a tie
and jacket like a real gentleman. He
had wit, class and real menshkeit."
Another Fleischman resident, Ann
Paneth, said Mr. Sosin entertained at
the home's ice cream social only last
month, "but he was finding it more
and more difficult to walk, and he
got around mainly in a wheelchair.
He talked Yiddish to me all of the
time. He was a fine, dignified gentle-
man."
Mr. Sosin tried his best to take
field trips with the other residents,
especially dto concerts, but he also
made it to Tiger Stadium last year.
When a volunteer assisted him in a
trip to the men's room in the third
inning, he quipped: "We should be
back by the seventh-inning stretch."
Throughout his "show business"
career in his younger days, Mr. Sosin
never gave up his day job — first as
a salesman for Wayne Drug and
Sundries, then as a manufacturer's
representative for Sosin Sales, which
he sold in the 1980s. He always told
the latest jokes to his customers
along the way.
One of Mr. Sosin's fondest memo-
ries was a joke-telling session with
Henny Youngman and his mother
after the late comedian performed at
a Detroit nightclub. "We told jokes
until. 4 a.m. — and his mother was
the funniest," he recalled.
. Mr. Sosin's "biggest fan" was his
wife, Ruth, who died in 1994. They
had been married 61 years. He is
survived by his son and daughter-in-
law, Harvey and Elizabeth Sosin of
New Jersey; a daughter and son-in-
law, Sally and Dr. Phillip Neuman of
Southfield; 11 grandchildren and six
great-grandchildren.
Funeral arrangements were by the
Ira Kaufman Chapel, with burial in
Clover Hill Park Cemetery.
Memorial contributions can be
made to the Ruth and Max Sosin
Forest, do Jewish National Fund,
17100 W. 10 Mile Road, Southfield,
MI 48075.

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