Metro
Vision Of An Era
Simons archives completes Sinai Hospital history project.
A
three-year project to preserve
the history of Sinai Hospital
of Detroit has been completed
with its transfer to the Reuther Library of
Labor and Urban Affairs at Wayne State
University in Detroit.
The director and volunteers of the
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit's Leonard N. Simons Jewish
Community Archives catalogued the col-
lection of the medical center that began as
a dream 100 years ago, operated as a clinic
in the 1920s-1940s and opened its doors
as a full-service hospital in 1953.
The institution closed 46 years later, but
its name continues at Sinai-Grace Hospital
in Detroit and Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital
in Commerce Township.
Archives Director Sharon Alterman
coordinated the project with volunteers
led by Ruth Broder at the Max M. Fisher
Jewish Federation Building in Bloomfield
Township.
The materials include historic records
and tapes as well as the documented
minutiae of running a medical center.
Thousands of Sinai photographs will
remain at the Federation building.
The Reuther Library has a secure and
climate-controlled environment where
Jewish communal collections are avail-
able to researchers.
Alterman called the Sinai records
a valuable collection that reflects the
vision and dedication of the hospital's
founding generation. Researchers
will gain an unparalleled view of
our Jewish hospital's beginnings and
progress over the nearly 50 years of its
existence."
The archives maintains the papers,
records and photos of the Jewish
Federation and continues to arrange the
collections of its agencies, organizations
and notable individuals.
Other groups have been trained to
arrange and catalog their own collec-
tions, including annual reports, minutes,
newsletters, articles and other materials
that document their history.
For information on the archives and
its programs, or a copy of the latest
archives newsletter that documents
a chapter of the Sinai story, contact
Alterman, (248) 203-1491 or
salterman@jfmd.org .
CC
Judge Henry Butzel wields the trowel at the 1951 cornerstone laying of Sinai Hospital
along with Nate Shapero, Federation President Samuel Rubiner and Max Osnos.
Photo courtesy the Leonard N. Simons Jewish Community Archives.
Outstate Outreach
Promoting Jewish life in small Michigan communities.
ews living in small and rural
communities face many chal-
lenges in maintaining a Jewish
identity. Their Jewish experiences are
often few and far between and they rely a
great deal on their own internal network
to maintain Jewish activities for adults,
families, and children.
Many communities do not have profes-
sional rabbis, educators or Jewish scholars
to assist their Jewish communal agenda
and their financial resources are limited.
The Ravitz Foundation recently awarded
the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit a three-year grant to strengthen
Jewish identity and promote Jewish con-
tinuity in Michigan Jewish communities
outside Metropolitan Detroit and Ann
Arbor. According to the Michigan Jewish
j
Conference, a program of the Jewish
Federation, an estimated 8,000 Jews live
in these communities and struggle to sup-
port 26 congregations and 20 Jewish com-
munal facilities.
The Ravitz Foundation,
led by trustees Burt Shifman,
Arnold Shifman, Jon Aaron,
Bruce Gelbaugh, Dr. Lawrence
Handler and Jerry Speedy, will
help strengthen these com-
munities.
Reflecting on the necessity
for such a program and his
Jeffrey
family's experience growing up Surowitz
in Bay City, where they lived in
the 1930s, Burt Shifman stated,"It's hard
enough to be a Jew and carry on the obli-
gation in a community like Metro Detroit
where you have many choices. Imagine
how difficult the task is where there may
be only a handful of Jewish families.
"If there's a way to reach out and offer
our support to those who still stand as
proud representatives of Judaism in
these small communities today, then
surely we must do whatever we can
to advance their effort."
The Ravitz initiative will:
• Provide a new level of rabbinic
support and Jewish educational and
cultural opportunities.
• Make available scholarships for
Israel trips and Jewish camping
experiences for young people.
• Provide resources and networking
opportunities to deepen the connections
among Jewish communities across the
state.
Jeffrey Surowitz of Southfield has joined
the Federation staff in the new position of
state Jewish outreach coordinator, funded
by the Ravitz grant.
Surowitz will travel throughout the state
and work with Susan Herman, director of
the Michigan Jewish Conference, to net-
work with and provide services in smaller
Michigan Jewish communities. He will
also work with existing Jewish organiza-
tions to coordinate outreach efforts.
A graduate of Western Michigan
University in Kalamazoo, Surowitz spent
four years in Israel and studied at Ben-
Gurion University and Yeshivat Aish
Hatorah. Previously, he was program and
development director at Machon L'Torah
in Oak Park.
December 27 • 2007
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