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Temple B’nai Israel of Petoskey
120th Anniversary
FREE 38-PAGE
BROCHURE
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Petoskey temple serves residents
and visitors to Northern Michigan.
Carol Ellstein | Special to the Jewish News
Petoskey
M
ay you live until 120!”
In honor of this timeless
Jewish blessing, Temple
B’nai Israel in Petoskey will be cel-
ebrating its 120th birthday July 29-31.
B’nai Israel has offered 120 years of
continuous service to the year-round
Northern Michigan Jewish community
and summer population of Jewish resi-
dents and visitors.
“It is very exciting to celebrate our
120th anniversary with three separate
events that work together to create a
big festive event weekend,” said Emily
Freedland Stuchell, event chair. “We
look forward to our small year-round
community coming together with our
much larger summer community to
celebrate and ensure a bright future for
the next 120 years.”
Temple President Dr. Josh
Meyerson added, “We are especially
excited to welcome back our Israeli
summer Rabbi Maya Leibovich and
her husband, Menachem. We will
also be honoring the many student
rabbis who have served us so faith-
fully since 1925.”
The Petoskey Jewish community’s
origins began in 1875, when Alpena
dry goods peddler Samuel Rosenthal
and his family moved to town and
established the Rosenthal department
store in downtown Petoskey.
In 1896, the Rosenthal family and
a handful of other Jewish merchants
established the Hebrew Benevolent
Association to provide Shabbat
services, children’s religious educa-
tion and burial services. In 1909,
the name B’nai Israel was formally
adopted. In 1911, the Parr Memorial
Baptist Church sold its building to
the fledgling Jewish congregation,
where it still resides.
The temple continued to evolve over
the years. Renovations to the build-
ing occurred in the 1920s, 1940s and
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20 June 23 • 2016
1970s, and the adjacent rabbi’s house
was acquired in 1995. A few years
later, the neighboring home was pur-
chased and then razed in 2006, in con-
junction with the congregation’s latest
renovation and building expansion.
TBI now serves more than 100 families
and many guests throughout the year.
TBI became affiliated with the
Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) in
1920. When the congregation needed
a rabbi for its many summer Jewish
residents and visitors, the Reform rab-
binic college responded to the temple’s
summer needs in 1925. TBI was the
first temple in the URJ to offer a sum-
mer student pulpit, from July through
the High Holidays. The program has
become an integral part of many
small-town Jewish communities.
Past president Dr. Hal Willens said,
“The Jewish community and Temple
B’nai Israel have been longtime active
participants in the religious, cul-
tural and business communities of
Northern Michigan. We will be hon-
ored to have our neighbors join us in
our celebration.”
The 120th anniversary of Temple
B’nai Israel of Petoskey will be cel-
ebrated during the weekend of July
29-31. Highlights will include a special
Friday night Shabbat service honoring
its history of student rabbis, a Saturday
evening family dinner and Havdalah
celebration at the temple, and a
Sunday luncheon with guest speak-
ers and musical entertainment by the
temple band, the Wailin’ Schpilkes, at
the Petoskey-Bay View Country Club.
A special invitation is extended to
the Metro Detroit Jewish community.
Many temple members, including
Stuchell, Meyerson and Willens, are
native Detroiters who moved north
to enjoy the area’s scenery, sports and
relaxed lifestyle.
Contact Emily Stuchell at
efreedland@hotmail.com for more
information.
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