I To Life!

SPIRITUALITY

Immigrant Gift

Synagogue hosts Yiddish contribution to American culture.

Shoes worn by Sadie Solomon, one of
Detroit's youngest Vaudeville stars

Suzanne Chesssler
Special to the Jewish News

B

ei Mir Bist Du Shane — the
ever-popular song at Jewish cele-
brations — holds special signifi-
cance at Temple Israel. The song's lyricist,
the late Abraham Blum, was the father and
father-in-law of temple members Calvin
and Phyllis Blum.
The lyricist, who came to America from
Russia in 1912, built a career in New York's
Yiddish theater way beyond music; but it's
not necessary to meet his family to find
out about him.
The writer is represented in a temple
exhibit, Yiddish Theater, which is on
view through the first week in March
along the Wasserman Atrium outside the
main sanctuary.
The exhibit showcases theater posters,
photos, newspaper articles and memorabil-
ia reaching back to the first half of the 20th
century and also shows items that involve
Yiddish entertainment beyond the stage.

Susan Loss of Bloomfield Hills poses showing a photograph
on loan from the Strote family.

Items depicting the Yiddish theater of
Sholem Aleichem have been borrowed from
the Oregon Jewish Museum. The video The
S. Dzigan Show runs perpetually as an
example of Yiddish entertainment.
"We want people to understand how
much the immigrant Jewish community
gave to America in the areas of theater,
comedy, music and literature," says Susan
Loss, who heads the Museum Fine Arts
Committee that put the exhibit together.
"All of it is part of our heritage, and we
can look back on the times with pride."
The idea for the exhibit developed last
summer, after a Temple Israel concert
featuring music from the Yiddish theater.
A notice requesting items was put in the
temple newspaper, The Messenger, which
was read by the Blums.
"We have boxes and boxes of materi-
als at home," says Calvin Blum, of White
Lake, whose dad's plays included The
Last Dance, The Story of Ruth and The
Jewish General. "Paul Muni, who became
a very successful film actor, was a friend

Calvin Blum of White Lake takes a look at the showcase
where a scrapbook made by his father is exhibited.

of my father and worked with my father so
we decided to include his picture."
The exhibit also includes vintage radios
made available from the collections of Neil
Dorfman and Matthew Vanderaue and
mementoes from the radio programs pre-
senting political commentary in Yiddish.
The exhibit extends to scrapbook mate-
rials about Sadie Solomon, who was a
dancer performing in Detroit, and sheet
music popular with immigrants from
Eastern Europe.
Among the nationally known people
recollected is the late Molly Picon, an
actress who made a place for herself in
feature films after starting out on New
York's Yiddish circuit. Among the places
recalled is the Littman People's Theater,
which was located on Detroit's 12th Street
from 1927 to 1940.
Committee members working on the
exhibit include Patti Erlich of Bloomfield
Hills, Terri and Mark Goodman of
Franklin, Sara Hoffman of West
Bloomfield, Paula Korelitz of Farmington

Hills, Mary Jane and Rick Larson of
Livonia, Ida Nathan of Bloomfield Hills,
Carole Slotkin of Bloomfield Hills, Betty
Sorkowitz of Bloomfield Hills and Janet
Strote of Bloomfield Hills.
They collected items and arranged them
in the cases, which also have props, such
as beaded purses and scarves, to give a
sense of the styles of the time period rep-
resented.
"We hope visitors will get a little sense
of the past as they look through our col-
lection:' Loss says. "A lot of the American
stage came from people with roots in the
Yiddish stage."

Yiddish Theater will be on view
through the first week in March at
Temple Israel, 5725 Walnut Lake
Road, West Bloomfield. Visitors can
see the exhibit as an extension of
attending services or during admin-
istrative hours, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
Mondays-Thursdays and 8:30 a.m.-2
p.m. Fridays. (248) 661-5700.

Far left: Janet Strote of Bloomfield
Hills stands next to some items of
her family that are on loan for the
Yiddish exhibit.

Left: A scene from Stempenu
(Jewish Daughters), based on a pop-
ular novel by Sholem Aleichem

36

January 18 . 2007