OUR COMMUNITY
26 | DECEMBER 9 • 2021
L
aura Gottlieb spends her days
combing through archives that
contain decades of Metro Detroit
Jewish history, much of it seldom told.
Yet the 28-year-old director of
cultural resources at Temple Beth
El, who oversees the Rabbi Leo M.
Franklin Archives and the Prentis
Memorial Library, wants to change that
by bringing those stories to the public.
Through Out of the Box, a program
launched by Temple Beth El during the
COVID-19 lockdown in spring of 2020,
Gottlieb shares bits and pieces of local
Jewish history through Facebook Live
segments, where she presents interesting
or unusual information that she finds in
the archives.
Founded in 1850, Temple Beth El
houses one of the most robust Jewish
archives in the U.S. and the largest
of its kind in Michigan. In Gottlieb’s
day-to-day job, she answers research
requests, works with volunteers to bring
information online and helps people
study genealogy.
ALL ROADS LEAD BACK TO
TEMPLE BETH EL
“I actually grew up at Temple Beth
El,” says the Southfield resident, who
graduated from the temple’s high school
program in 2011 and has worked
there since 2017. In addition to her
role managing the archives, Gottlieb
also oversees a book club and an early
childhood program.
Her Jewish identity was reinforced
in middle school, when she spent her
summers attending Tamarack Camps
(she would later go on to work there
as a counselor and
supervisor).
“My connection was really through
camp and through temple,” Gottlieb says.
“They were important lifelines to me
and to our community.”
Gottlieb’s interest in Jewish history,
however, blossomed during her time at
Michigan State University, where she
received a bachelor’s degree in social
sciences with a specialization in Jewish
studies.
“I was in a Jewish history course
that led me back to the archives here at
Temple Beth El, which I didn’t know we
had growing up,” she explains, having
learned about the vast collection through
the course. She also grew a passion for
libraries and archives, continuing her
education at Wayne State University,
where she received a master’s of arts in
library and information science.
Her world having come full-circle,
Gottlieb kept learning about Jewish
history, specifically Metro Detroit Jewish
history, which she and her family have a
personal connection to. She also worked
at the Holocaust Memorial Center as a
membership coordinator prior to Temple
Beth El.
“My family has a classic generational
story,” she says. “We’ve been in Detroit
for a long time, and I feel a really
deep connection to the Jewish
community here.
“As I’ve been learning the
history, it feels both personal and
interesting. It keeps me hooked.”
BRINGING DETROIT’S JEWISH
HISTORY TO THE PUBLIC
When COVID-19 hit Michigan in
March 2020, Temple Beth El needed
to find new ways to connect to their
congregation while people stayed at
home to quarantine. Facebook Live was
brought up as an initial suggestion, but
Gottlieb wondered what she could talk
about each week.
“I was a little nervous with the idea,”
she admits. “Then the idea came to
talk about things in the archives. What
might I tell [people] about what’s in the
archives that I just found?”
That idea was the beginning of
Out of the Box, which now releases
episodes weekly on Facebook Live.
In the short segments, Gottlieb talks
about everything from the Fresh Air
Society (now Tamarack Camps) to the
connection between Prohibition and
Passover.
“It happened organically,” she says
of the program falling into place.
“Fortunately, we have a lot of different
pictures and documents that have been
digitized onto our servers throughout
the years.”
Gottlieb begins most segments
Archivist keeps Michigan’s most
fascinating Jewish stories alive with
Facebook Live history show.
Out of the Box
ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
as a counselor and
supervisor).
deep connection to the Jewish
community here.
“As I’ve been learning the
history, it feels both personal and
interesting. It keeps me hooked.”
Laura
Gottlieb