16 | JULY 7 • 2022 

OUR COMMUNITY

I

n 1922, the first insulin injection was 
given, the Lincoln Memorial was dedi-
cated, the British Mandate for Palestine 
began — and the Saturday Luncheon Club 
was started.
Now celebrating its centennial, the 
club is perhaps the best-kept secret in the 
Detroit Jewish community, with barely a 
mention in the Jewish News’ archives.
Most of the 55 club members, along with 
a few guests, gathered at the Village Club 
in Bloomfield Hills June 18 for a celebra-
tory luncheon that also recognized Sally 
Schottenfels, 87, as the club’s longest-ten-
ured member.
The origins of the Saturday Luncheon 
Club, where members take turns present-
ing research papers at meetings, are lost in 
time. There are two versions of its begin-
nings. 
One account is that Ruth Franklin 
Einstein, a Vassar graduate and daughter of 
Temple Beth El’s Rabbi Leo Franklin and 
his wife, Hattie, was looking for a way to 
use her college education in an era when 
proper young ladies did not work outside 
the home. Her parents suggested she invite 
some friends to form a club where they 

could meet monthly over lunch to build 
friendships and present papers on topics 
that interested them.
The other version is that a similar group 
was already in existence, with older mem-
bers. They invited Ruth to join because she 
was the daughter of the city’s most promi-
nent rabbi, but they weren’t keen on bring-
ing other young women into the group. So 
Ruth started her own group, with six of her 
friends. The older club disappeared as its 
members died off.
Ruth’s co-members in the Saturday 
Luncheon Club were Regene Freund 
Cohane, Carolyn Epstein, Rae Finsterwald 
Steele, Minnie Goldsmith Rand, Della 
Imerman Meyers and Irene Rosenberg.
Though it has grown since then, the 
club’s structure has changed little since its 
early days. Members meet at a restaurant 
or club eight times a year. The gathering on 
the third Saturday of June is purely social. 
On the third Saturdays of September, 
October, November, December, March, 
April and May, members take turns deliv-
ering research papers on subjects of their 
choosing. 
New members must be invited to join, 

said past president Sharon Alterman of 
West Bloomfield, and the bylaws cap the 
number of members at 55. That’s large 
enough so members don’t have to prepare 
a paper more than once every seven or 
eight years but small enough so they don’t 
have to wait 12 or 15 years for their turn to 
present, Alterman explained. The youngest 
member is 29; the oldest is 97. Though 
there’s nothing in the bylaws about reli-
gion, all current members are Jewish.
Most new members are in their 50s, 
joining when their children leave the nest 
and they have more time. Those over 
80 are not required to present papers — 
though many choose to do so, Alterman 
said. 
The Leonard N. Simons Jewish 
Community Archives at the Jewish 
Federation building in Bloomfield Hills has 
minutes of club meetings and papers dat-
ing back to 1943.
Reading some of the old papers can 
be chilling, said Robbie Terman, archive 
director. The oldest paper, by Josephine 
Weiner, was titled “Disposed” and con-
cerned the slaughter of Jews in Europe. 
The author said perhaps a million Jews 

BARBARA LEWIS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Saturday 
Luncheon Club

100 years of food, friendship and study.

Luncheon attendees: Sharon Alterman, Robbie Terman, Arlene Gould, Joyce Blum, Edwina Davis, Laura Gottlieb, Carol Ogusky, 
Dorothy Collens, Jeannie Weiner, Wendy Goldberg, Adrienne Magidson, Leslee Magidson, Audrey Sobel and Aimee Ergas. 

ARNIE COLLENS

