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