metro

A Jewish Journey

Butzel Award winner Peter Alter is passionate for the community and Israel.

joining the Jaffe firm three years ago. With
a strong, radio announcer-like voice, Alter
specializes in business litigation, represent-
ing many real estate developers in often
complicated cases requiring days of witness
depositions. He's also a mediator, arbitra-
tor and facilitator in business disputes. In
addition, he represents former Detroit Red
Wings hockey player Sergei Federov, now
playing in Russia, in attempts to recover $60
million lost in an investment scheme.

Bill Carroll
Contributing Writer

I

f the words "Butzel Award" were in the
dictionary, there probably would be a
picture of attorney Peter Alter next to the
definition.
Alter, 63, of Bloomfield Hills epito-
mizes the spirit of the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit's highest honor, given
each year since 1951 "to the person who
characterizes the highest ideals of Jewish
communal leadership ... who expresses
devotion and commitment unique to the
Detroit Jewish community."
Named for the late Fred M. Butzel,
the award was presented to Alter Oct.
5 at the combined annual meetings of
the Federation and the United Jewish
Foundation of Metropolitan Detroit at
the Berman Center for Performing Arts
at the Jewish Community Center in West
Bloomfield.
While accepting the award, Alter
described himself as "the kid from Forest
Hills [N.Y.], the child of Holocaust survivors,
the yeshivah Bucher (student), who came
to the Detroit area almost 40 years ago and
is now humbled and honored to receive
this award reserved for the leaders of this
incredible Jewish community — a commu-
nity of greatness."

Massive Involvement
Alter said his "hobby is working for the
Jewish people" and "getting the Butzel Award
is not the final step of my Jewish journey"
With a resume showing involvement in
almost 50 types of community and profes-
sional service in the past 40 years, he could
have added that his hobby also is attending
meetings.
Positions that stand out are past-president
of the Federation and the Anti-Defamation
League of Michigan, involvement in doz-
ens of missions to Israel, recipient of the
Frank A. Wetsman Leadership Award
and the Israel Bonds Eleanor Roosevelt
Humanitarian Award, current president of
the Oakland County Bar Association and
current member of Federation's board of
governors.
Like many of the Detroit Jewish commu-
nity's leaders, Alter is just plain "passionate
about being a Jew and working for survival
of our Jewish community',' as he puts it.
Quoting the late legendary Jewish leader
Max Fisher, he said, "We're all trustees of
our Jewish heritage; we have an obligation
to cherish it, to improve it and to guard its
future:'

8

October 27 2011

JN

Alter adds: "Working for the Jewish com-
munity is my passion, my love, my avoca-
tion and my lifetime pursuit."
In presenting the award to Alter, Robert
Aronson, Federation's senior development
adviser, said Alter "captures the very essence
of a Butzel awardee:'

Dedication, Devotion Praised
Rabbi Joseph Krakoff of Congregation
Shaarey Zedek in Southfield, where Alter has
been a member for 35 years, told him: "You
strengthen us with your dedication, devo-
tion and commitment to the Jewish com-
munity, Jewish education and your love for
Israel and Zionism."
Taking time out from an early Sunday
morning work session in the Southfield
office of the law firm of Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer &
Weiss, where Alter is a partner, he shrugged
off the accolades and simply attributed his
passion for Judaism and Zion as being "in
my DNA and there's nothing I can do about
it:'
Alter was referring to his mother, Jetty,
a native of Belgium, who "was a true lover
of Zion and a role model extraordinaire."
She raised him in New York after she and
his father, Igor Alter of Poland, both physi-
cians and ardent Zionists, got divorced. Jetty
graduated from the University of Brussels,

Belgium Medical School in 1941, after World
War II was under way, when it was difficult
for a Jew to practice medicine.
Instead, she joined the White Brigade,
an underground movement that fought the
Nazis; she gave medical care and helped
Jews and others escape, saving many lives.
She ended up hiding in a convent for two
years. She became an anesthesiologist in
New York and died at 88 in 2002.

Early Jewish Education
"My mother sent me to the yeshivah because
she wanted me to have a Jewish education so
that I could decide for myself how religious
I wanted to be," Alter explained. He proudly
asserts that he made the right choices. "I did
the same thing by sending my two children
to Hillel Day School here." He and his wife,
Barbara, have been married for 15 years and
have four children and two grandchildren in
a blended family.
After the yeshivah and high school,
Alter graduated from Brandeis University
in Massachusetts with a "politics" degree.
"It wasn't called political science in those
days; it was politics',' he mused. "No matter,
because I pursued the law and attended
Columbia University's law school."
He spent 35 years at Detroit's Honigman,
Miller, Schwartz and Cohn law firm before

'Tenacious Litigator'
"Peter is a hard worker and a brilliant
and tenacious litigator; we're proud and
fortunate to have him as one of our litiga-
tion attorneys',' said Ira Jaffe, chief of the
100-lawyer Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer & Weiss firm.
"And he has done the same high-quality job
in every aspect of the Federation and other
Jewish organizations that he's been involved
with."
When Alter arrived in Detroit in 1972,
his first tastes of community involvement
were with the Anti-Defamation League of
B'nai B'rith, the old United Jewish Appeal
and membership in the Federation Junior
Division, now the Young Adult Group.
"I always tried to strike a balance between
attending meetings and spending time with
my children',' he said. "I now spend about 15
to 20 hours a week on my outside activities:'

Must Remember Israel
Alter praised the Federation as "the glue" that
keeps Jewish people unified and together in
Metro Detroit, which has established a repu-
tation as a caring and giving community.
"That reputation brings both rewards and
burdens ... we cannot rest on our laurels
and must continue to show we care as much
as ever — by our words, deeds and actions.
There is so much that needs to be done."
He stresses that Detroiters must "continue
to provide strong financial, personal, moral
and political support for Israel.
"We simply cannot neglect our brothers
and sisters in Israel or even be tempted to
do so by the demands at home,' he declared.
"Our commitment is not just a financial
one; it also is a commitment of the heart,
mind and spirit."
Alter has made almost 50 trips to Israel,
many of them "missions" on behalf of
Federation and other causes.
"It's an honor to receive the Butzel Award,
but our work for the Jewish community is
not about awards:' he told the annual meet-
ing audience.
"It's about rolling up our sleeves and get-
ting to work. Let me know if you need my
help."

