metro >> on the cover

U.P. Treasure

Temple Jacob marks 100 years with strength,
continuity and resolve to preserve its historic home.

Shelli Liebman Dorfman I Contributing Writer

CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE

children who attended.
"My daughter attended MTU more than
10 years ago," Wolfe said of Bonnie Harden,
now living in the Cleveland area.
"While she was there, the small Jewish
community took her under their wing to
make sure she maintained her Jewish heri-
tage:"
Wolfe of West Bloomfield and his wife,
Marilyn, visited Houghton a few times and
are now supporting efforts to preserve the
Temple Jacob building.
"We were impressed with this 100-year-
old synagogue. It is now badly in need of
repair. It would be a shame to see it crum-
ble into dust. As Jews, we are all family and,
as such, we all need to support each other?'
Harden learned about the synagogue
before leaving for school and contacted
then-president Harley Sachs.
"When I got there it was like having
someone waiting for me said Harden, who
studied at MTU from 1992-1998."He said
to me,'We're so glad you're here; come join
us: From the first set of High Holidays, I
was blown away with how welcoming and
generous the community was. I was a nine-
hour drive from home, but I was not alone
for any holiday the entire time I was there:'

"We have already received donations
from people both with and without a con-
nection to Temple Jacob:' Burack said. "We
are thrilled to see the impact"

Doing It All
"We have to be all things to all people
Burack said of the sparsely populated
community with 40 Jewish households.
The Reform congrega-
tion offers High Holiday
services, Passover sed-
ers, Torah study, and
Sukkot and Tu b'Shevat
celebrations for residents,
vacationers, and students
and faculty at Michigan
Technological
University
Susan Burack
(MTU) in nearby
Houghton. They have
social potluck dinners and parties, maintain
a newsletter, archives, a library and a ceme-
tery, and do occasional shared programming
with Temple Beth Sholom in Ishpeming.
The synagogue, which includes five
children, also offers Jewish summer camp
scholarships.
"Members of the Shoer family, who lived
here and owned a grocery store until the
1920s, came back a couple of years ago:'
Burack said. "When they met our kids, they
decided to give a $10,000 bequest each sum-
mer for them to go to Union for Reform
Judaism (URJ) camps:'
This summer, three young congregants are
at camps in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Through the years, services and celebra-
tions have been led by members as well stu-
dent rabbis from Reform rabbinical schools.
Now Rabbi Steven Mills serves the congre-
gation.
"One of my first official acts as the region-
al director for the Northeast Lakes Council/
Detroit Federation 10 years ago was to speak
as the URJ representative at the 90th anni-
versary of the congregation',' he said. "Since
that time, most every year I have been serv-
ing as the congregation's rabbi during the
High Holy Days and coming in to officiate
at life-cycle moments. Even though my full-
time job is with the URJ, I have become the
congregatiods long-term rabbi:
"It has been very special for me because
I have come to know so many wonderful
people over the past 10 years and have built
very close bonds with members of the con-
gregation."
The rabbi will lead Shabbat services and
speak during the anniversary celebration.
"Temple Jacob has had a rich 100-year his-

10 August 9 • 2012

The luminous stained glass windows at Temple Jacob in Hancock

tory and, over the years, new generations have
stepped up to continue the legacy',' Mills said.
"'While it is a small congregation, it is large in
spirit and warmth. I expect that it will come to
celebrate many more special anniversaries?'

Come On Up
"We're at the top of Michigan; we're not on
the way to anywhere else Burack said.
For staff and students of MTU, the U.P.
was their destination.
"Knowing there is a synagogue here
can be a big consideration for prospective
Jewish faculty:' Burack said.
For students like Tom Lebovic, who
attended the university from 1968-1971, it
was an unexpected plus.
"I was surprised to learn that Hancock
had a synagogue and Jewish families:" he
said." [MTU] Professor Harley Sachs found
me at the optional Religious Assembly dur-
ing Orientation Week and told me about the
synagogue.
"He organized a carpool to the syna-
gogue for Rosh Hashanah. I enjoyed going

to services; it was nice to be able to practice
my religion far from home. I also enjoyed
meeting people from the community?'
Lebovic, now living in West Bloomfield,
said he always felt welcomed by the com-
munity, and so did his family. "Jay Joffee [a
descendant of a Temple Jacob founder] and
his wife, Jean, invited me over for dinner,
usually around a holiday',' he recalled. "My
last year there, my mother, sister and broth-
er came up for Winter Carnival. My brother
stayed in my dorm room, and my mother
and sister stayed at the Joffee house:'
Lebovic recently reconnected with
Temple Jacob and plans to attend the cel-
ebration largely to see 91-year-old Jean
Joffee, who lives in Marquette near her son
and his family.
"The students are always welcomed into
our homes and for services and have helped
out with Hebrew study for our congregants'
bar and bat mitzvahs:' Burack said. "Some
stay connected:'
And some, like Samuel Wolfe of West
Bloomfield, stay connected on behalf of

.

Copper Country Jews
Temple Jacob was dedicated on Sept. 1,
1912, and was built on land purchased in
1908 from the Quincy Mining Company
for $8,000. The cornerstone inscribes the
building in memory of Jacob Gartner, a
generous contributor and fundraiser who
died shortly before the building was fin-
ished.
"We opened at the peak of the copper
mining boom;' Burack said. "Jewish mer-
chants were successful enough to fundraise,
and when we opened we had a rabbi and
standing room only for the High Holidays?'
Approximately 100 Jewish families
were in Copper Country at the time; many
donated, but Jacob Gartner's contribution
allowed them to open debt-free.
The synagogue's architect, Charles Maass,
designed the building — located at the
north end of the Portage Lake Lift Bridge
that connects Houghton and Hancock — to
be constructed of double-fired brick in red
native Jacobsville sandstone, with stained
glass windows and a domed, copper-col-
ored roof topped by a Star of David. Above
the entrance is the gold inscription, Adat
Israel, Hebrew for the synagogue's chartered
name, Congregation of Israel.
The interior of the synagogue, estab-
lished in 1889, includes a suspended balco-

