Looking Back
From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History
accessible at www.djnfoundation.org
Detroit Took Center Stage in 1980
I
usually find my topics for “Looking
Back” columns during my cruises in
the William Davidson Digital Archive
of Jewish Detroit History. Whenever I
enter the Archive to do research for one
subject, I usually find interesting stories
or reports on another subject about
Jewish Detroit.
The idea for this week’s Looking
Back, however, is from my
friend, Allan Gale. Did I
know, he asked, that 40
years ago, Detroit was the
host for the Council of
Jewish Federation’s (CJF)
49th annual General
Assembly (GA)? Well,
I did not know that. So,
I dove into the Archive
and soon learned all about the GA from
reports in the November 1980 issues of
the JN.
Although the CJF had met before in
Detroit in 1940, 1946 and 1960, the larg-
est was the GA in 1980. It was held Nov.
12-16 at Detroit’s Plaza Hotel, the hotel
in the Renaissance Center at that time.
More than 2,500 delegates and guests, lay
leadership and professionals from 800
communities representing all 50 states
and Canada were in attendance. Detroit
Jewish leader Dulcie Rosenfeld was the
chairwoman of the Host Committee,
The GA opened with Rabbi Richard
C. Hertz from Temple Beth El delivering
the dvar Torah. Detroit Mayor Coleman
Young extended greetings to the audi-
ence. Detroit Jewish Welfare Federation
(now the Jewish Federation of Metro
Detroit) President George M. Zeltzer and
CJF President Morton L. Mandel led the
event.
Many leaders from Michigan and
Detroit’s Jewish community participated
in the GA. There were presentations
from Rabbi Irwin Groner of Shaarey
Zedek, Rabbi Efry Spectre of Adat
Shalom and Rabbi Daniel Allan of
Michigan State University’s Hillel.
Representing the CJF Women’s
Division were Detroiters Carolyn
Greenberg, the national vice-chairwom-
en, and Executive Committee members
Dulcie Rosenfeld and Shelby Tauber.
On Thursday, Michigan Gov. William
Milliken welcomed the delegates, and the
state’s junior senator, Carl Levin, was on
a panel (sure is hard to imagine him as a
junior senator!). To be sure, these are just
a very few of the many Jewish Detroiters
who contributed to the organization of
and programming for the GA.
The GA addressed a wide range of
topics such as the plight of Soviet Jews,
peace in the Middle East, Jewish educa-
tion, young Jewish leadership and health
care. The full program is on page 10 of
the Nov. 7, 1980, issue of the JN.
The recent U.S. presidential election
was another topic. Ronald Reagan had
just been elected to the presidency.
Reagan was nominated at the Republican
convention also held in Downtown
Detroit in August, another major nation-
al event for the city in 1980.
The highlight was the plenary speak-
er, Menachem Begin, prime minister
of Israel. Begin was introduced by Max
Fisher and spoke about the importance
of the Jewish diaspora and current affairs
in Israel.
A lot has changed since the GA was
held in Detroit in 1980. The Jewish
Federation moved to Bloomfield
Township in 1991. Detroit has endured
a bankruptcy. Instead of Max Fisher and
Al Taubman, Dan Gilbert is among those
now shaping modern Detroit.
Many of same issues discussed 40
years ago, however, are still important
for the Jewish community today. This is
interesting reading.
Want to learn more? Go to the DJN
Foundation archives, available for free
at www.djnfoundation.org.
Mike Smith
Alene and
Graham Landau
Archivist Chair
46 | MARCH 18 • 2021
Detroit Took Center Stage in 1980