jews in the d

COURTESY OF THE RABBI LEO M. FRANKLIN ARCHIVES OF TEMPLE BETH EL, BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MI.

Looking Back

Temple Beth El’s library at Woodward and Gladstone in Detroit, date unknown.
(If you look closely, you can see one of the men sitting at the table reading an issue of the Jewish Chronicle.)

From the DJN Foundation Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History

I

Mike Smith

Detroit Jewish
News Foundation
Archivist

54

t is December, and the political season is
over. Well, the political season is never
really over, but at least the elections
concluded more than a month ago. I am still
thinking about politics as an election from 40
years ago caught my eye.
Having worked with the Davidson Digital
Archive of Jewish Detroit History for the past
five years, I have already answered one of my
questions — how much political history can
one find on the historic pages of the JN and
the Jewish Chronicle? The technical answer:
a lot!
In 1978, however, there was a historic first
in Michigan. Voters elected Carl Levin as our
state’s first Jewish U.S. senator. At the same
time, by the way, Howard Wolpe of Lansing
became just the second Jewish congressman
in state history. It was a good year for Jewish

December 13 • 2018

jn

politicians in Michigan.
Levin would go on to have a most
distinguished career in the U.S. Senate for the
next 36 years. Because of his knowledge and
leadership in America’s military and foreign
affairs, Levin even has a warship named after
him.
But Levin was a fledgling senator in 1978.
I found a great article in the Nov. 10, 1978,
issue of the JN, published shortly after his
victory. He is front-page news.
I was also thinking about another aspect
of the recent elections regarding the name
Levin. Sander Levin, Carl’s older brother,
is retiring after 36 years as a Jewish
Congressman from Michigan. Next year,
Sander’s son Andy Levin will continue the
tradition, having won his father’s seat in the
midterms.

y in tehe
ve
ved
v
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o the scene
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t e riot
riotss and
n wa
nd
w a s
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ey
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t the
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h ome
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a nd
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sai
s sa
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a
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wou
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pag
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n p

5

g be
p
wi it
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me
m e express
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mili
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j e wi
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t o r
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u.

6

i is s

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con
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4 4 a dem
demo
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rst
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at
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ma
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oint
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n
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c carl
car
ca
arl
a
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r l levin
lev
l le
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e
vin
v in
i n u uncle
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cl le
l e th
theo
theodo
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the
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od
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pag
page
pa
age
a
ag
ge
g e 14
con
contin
c co
conti
ontin
onti
ont
on
o
n
nti
nt
ntin
t in
ti
tin
n ued
u ed
ue
e d o
on
n p
1 4

The Levin brothers have served Michigan
well. Carl is still an active lawyer and man-
about-town, and there is a center named
after him at the Wayne State University
Law School. Sander will be teaching at the
University of Michigan once he concludes his
congressional career. If you would like more
stories about the Levins or politics, there
are plenty in the Davidson Digital Archive
(djnfoundation.org). ■

