looking back
Courtesy Leonard N. Simons Jewish Community Archives, Greater Detroit Chapter of Hadassah Records
In October 1952, the Greater Detroit Chapter of Hadassah hosted the Hadassah National Convention. Women leaders from
across the country gathered in Detroit to discuss the advancement of Israel’s health programs and listen to speakers, including
Helen Keller and Abba Eban. Just prior, Mayor Albert E. Cobo proclaimed Sept. 9 as Hadassah “H” Week and Mrs. Harry Moss,
Mrs. Norman Rom, Mrs. Jacob Jaffe and Mrs. Maurice Perlman hit the streets as part of a membership drive. •
From the JN Foundation Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History
I
was thinking about Canada again this week after Carolyn
Gray, my good friend from Hamilton, Ontario, reminded me
that “Labor Day” in Canada is actually “Labour Day.” Recently,
I wrote a bit about the relationship of Detroit and Michigan to
Windsor, Ontario, and elsewhere in Canada, and pointed out that
many of us have relatives there. In this regard, I found an excellent
article in the Davidson Digital Archives in the Aug. 1, 2013, issue
of the JN that addressed this precise subject.
“Over the River” by Esther Allweiss Ingber
was an informative report of a Jewish Historical
Society of Michigan bus tour to Jewish sites
in the nearby city of Windsor, situated “Over
the River” from Detroit. Along the way, the
tour participants — and the readers of the JN
— learned about various aspects of Windsor
Jewish history. For one example, it seems that
Mike Smith
Stan
Meretsky’s great-grandfather, Polish-born
Detroit Jewish News
Aaron Meretsky, was an early Jewish pioneer in
Foundation Archivist
Windsor around 1880, and a bit of a bigwig: He
58
September 13 • 2018
jn
was a city alderman.
The tour visited several synagogues. First, the bus stopped
at Congregation Shaar Hashomayim (Gate of the Heavens),
Windsor’s home for Orthodox Jews since 1930. And, not to be
confused with Detroit synagogues, but Windsor has both a
Congregation Beth El and a Congregation Shaarey Zedek; the lat-
ter is the oldest in Windsor, founded in 1893.
The bus also stopped at Shaar Hashomayim Cemetery. There,
tour participants found the headstone of Windsor’s first Jewish
settler, Moses David (1768-1814).
Of course, since 9/11, it has been a bit tougher to go “Over the
River” to Windsor, but it does sound like it is worth the effort to
find your passport and visit some of the sites listed in this JN arti-
cle. And, I would add — there are also some good eats in Windsor,
more than just Tim Horton donuts and poutine for your french
fries. •
Want to learn more? Go to the DJN Foundation archives,
available for free at www.djnfoundation.org.