Jewish Historical
Society
Releases
Newest Volume Of Local History
n 1900, several prominent mem-
bers of Detroit's Jewish communi-
ty took pen in hand to describe
their lives and their predictions for
the 21st century.
Three of these letters — written by
David W Simons, Mrs. Jacob (Fannie
Friedman) Teichner and Louis Blitz —
are included in the 41st volume of the
journal Michigan Jewish History.
Newly released by the Jewish
Historical Society of Michigan,
Michigan Jewish History is the oldest
continuously published journal of
Jewish history in the United States.
Aimee Ergas, journal editor, said the
letters, which are among those sealed in
the century box that was opened last
New Year's Eve at Detroit's Orchestra
Hall, give "an intriguing look into the
Detroit of a century ago."
"To read directly the words of these
people about Detroit Jews in careers,
society and charitable organizations is
remarkable," she said. "They seem con-
fident and optimistic, as befits the mood
of the U.S. in 1900, before the many
horrors of the 20th century."
In his letter, David Simons wrote, "If
we may judge of the future by the trend
of the present, it would seem that in
time many of the social barriers [against
Jews] will be swept away as have been
those of mercantile, professional and
political life."
Louis Blitz wrote similarly about the
demise of social barriers, but was not as
good a "fortune teller" for political
events:
"May God keep watch and ward over
this our fair city...and when these
plain...lines are read at the dawn of the
21st century, may there have indeed
arrived that era of 'Peace on earth and
goodwill to men' [when] nations shall
have unlearned war."
The letters — now on display at the
Detroit Historical Museum — are only
part of this year's journal. Like all previ-
ous editions, the journal also contains a
variety of articles, book reviews, memo-
rial tributes and other information of
interest to historians, scholars and gener-
al readers.
I
The 2001 edition includes a photo
Right:
essay, "Jewish Life in Postwar Flint,"
Congregation
published in conjunction with an exhib-
it now on view at the Sloan Museum in Beth David, later
gnai David, on
Flint, and profiles of two early Jewish
Winder Street
professors, Moses Gomberg of the
near
St. Antoine,
University of Michigan and Samuel
Detroit, 1922.
Levin of Wayne State University.
"The article about Flint represents an
incredible amount of research and work
on the part of its authors," Ergas said.
Rounding out the volume's major
articles are "Synagogues of Detroit —
Lost and Found," and a profile of 99-
year-old athlete Julius Spielberg.
Books reviewed in this volume are
Jews in Michigan, by Judith Cantor,
Stanley Winkelman's autobiography A
Life in the Balance: the Memoirs of
Stanley J. Winkelman, Irwin Cohen's
Echoes of Detroit: A 300-Year History,
and a soon-to-be-published volume
on the Fresh Air Society camps, A
Timeless Treasure: 100 Years of Fresh
Air, by Wendy Rose Bice.
Journal 2001 includes an index to
last year's volume 40, to complement
the 39-year index to Michigan Jewish
History published in 2000.
The journal is available as a benefit
of membership in the Jewish
Historical Society of Michigan. For
information on membership call
(248)432-5600 or e-mail the JHS at:
JHSofMichigan@msn.com
Above:
Look magazine
profiled Jewish
life in Flint in
1955, focusing
on the family of
bakery owner
Art Hurand.
4 40-
erg
lies S
:Mes'ffigrx
ALL PHOTOS APPEAR IN MICHIGAN- JEWISH HISTORY
10/26
2001
39