46 | JULY 23 • 2020 

I 

read in the JN about Michael Jacobson passing 
away on June 14, 2020. Jacobson was a well-
known Jewish musician and entertainer from 
Detroit, who spent the last 30 years of his career 
performing thousands of magic shows for a wide 
range of audiences, for children in 
particular. He is missed. 
Thinking about Jacobson the 
magician led to a question: Is there 
a historic connection between 
magicians and Detroit’
s Jewish 
community? After all, the word 
“abracadabra” comes from the 
Hebrew ebrah k’
dabri, meaning “I 
will create as I speak.”
Of course, I decided to seek an answer in the 
William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit 
History. Just making a simple search for “magician” 
yielded 3,523 pages where that term was used. In 
short, there is a wealth of information on Jews, 
magicians and Jewish magicians in the Archive.
There are citations regarding magicians in 
the early years of the Detroit Jewish Chronicle. 
Generally, these are references to magicians 
performing in Detroit, such as the famous 
“Thurston,” who brought his act to Detroit 
many times in the 1920s. Or, sometimes, there is 
reference to a literary work. In the April, 26, 1929, 
issue of the Chronicle, for example, one finds a 
story by J.L. Peretz, “The Wonderful Magician: A 
Passover Story.” 
Over the years, there have also been many stories 
about well-known Jewish magicians such as Harry 
Houdini, perhaps the most famous magician/
escape artist in history. Houdini, a.k.a. Hungarian-
born Erik Weisz, is cited on 192 pages in the 
Davidson Archive. He had one direct connection 
to Detroit: He died here on Oct. 31, 1946. 
Since the 1930s, magicians greatly increased the 
practice of their art form in Detroit, performing 
for children and adults, for clubs, for birthdays, 
at synagogues and other venues. The pages of the 
JN from the 1950s to the present are filled with 
announcements of performances by and stories 
about local magicians. It would be a rare Jewish 
Detroiter who has not experienced the thrill of a 
live magic act.
It is the home-grown Jewish magicians, like 

Jacobson, who really interested 
me. In the Oct. 20, 1939, issue of 
the Chronicle, for example, editor 
Philip Slomovitz wrote about “Nate 
Leipzig – Greatest Prestidigitator.” 
Yes, I had to look-up the meaning 
of that word — a prestidigitator is a 
great sleight-of-hand artist. 
More recently, along with 
Michael Jacobson, a number of 
Jewish magicians have local roots. 
First, there is Jacobson’
s son, 
Matthew, an accomplished magician at an 
early age. The Nov. 24, 1989, issue of the 
JN has a story about 18-year old Matt and a 
photo of him in action. I 
found a photo of “Wild” 
Bill Schulte in action 
in the Feb. 14, 1997, 
issue of the JN. Another 
favorite local magician, 
Howard Faber, was 
featured in the Aug. 31, 
2001, issue of the JN. 
And, it’
s not just 
men who have been 
magicians. See 
“
Abracadabra” in the 
March 3, 1987, issue 
of the JN about June 
Warsaw Horowitz, who 
had been practicing 
magic for 73 years at that 
time. She was the first female 
president of the International 
Brotherhood of Magicians.
Jewish magicians have a 
long and rich tradition in 
Metro Detroit and Michigan. 
If only one of them would tell 
me the magic word that would 
make me rich, I would be very 
grateful. 

Want to learn more? Go to the DJN 
Foundation archives, available for free at 
www.djnfoundation.org.

Abracadabra

Mike Smith
Alene and 
Graham Landau 
Archivist Chair

Looking Back

From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History

accessible at www.djnfoundation.org

d
y 

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ee at

