22 | OCTOBER 20 • 2022 

OUR COMMUNITY

J

eannie Weiner, as pres-
ident of the Jewish 
Historical Society of 
Michigan (JHSM), oversees 
the organization that keeps 
track of individual and group 
achievements in the commu-
nity and lets the public know 
about what has been discov-
ered.
Weiner, who has been active 
in other Jewish organizations 
and endeavors, including 
helping Soviet Jews become 
established in Michigan, has 
spoken many times about 
the achievements of Jewish 
women and will do so again in 
a Zoom presentation for the 
Eleanor Roosevelt Chapter of 
Hadassah. 
The session begins at 
7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 26.
“Michigan Jewish Women 
Who Made a Difference,” the 
title of her talk and the title of 
a JHSM website with relevant 
information, will include the 
history of women who are 
known personally and women 
who came long before with a 
presence that had impact on 
an evolving geographical area. 
One of those women is 
Judith Levin Cantor, who pre-
ceded Weiner in her current 
JHSM position and developed 
bus tours of the former Jewish 
sections of Detroit among 
many other initiatives. Cantor 

died this year.
“I will talk about the first 
Jewish people who came 
to the United States just so 
everything is in perspective,” 
said Weiner, who was asked to 
include members of Hadassah. 
“The first Jewish woman is 
Sarah Cozens, a German Jew 
who first came with her family 
to New York and then came to 
Detroit. 
“She was an amazing per-
son. She ran a day school and 
taught Hebrew, German and 
English. She organized care for 
the sick. It was at her home, 
with her husband, that the 
first Jewish service was held 
in 1850. That group of people 
became Temple Beth El, the 
first organized Jewish congre-
gation in Detroit.
“I start with her although 
she predates Hadassah. 

Historically, she’s important to 
mention if you’re talking about 
Jewish women who made a 
difference in Michigan.” 
Weiner will have pictures to 
show as she provides enhance-
ments for the information she 
discusses.
“From there, I will talk 
about Dora Erhlich, an early 
graduate of the University of 
Michigan in 1902,” Weiner 
said about the woman who 
became a regional director of 
Hadassah and had national 
prominence in the organiza-
tion. “The Jewish newspapers 
called her the First Lady of 
Detroit Jewish Womanhood. 
She was born in Russia in 
1882, and she lived to the age 
of 86.”
Ehrlich, who taught before 
she married, served on the 
boards of many Jewish orga-

nizations and was the first 
woman to be given the Butzel 
Award for service to the Jewish 
community. 
Weiner will explain that it’s 
a very long process finding a 
sample of women to discuss. 
There are 60 or 70 women on 
the website, and the historical 
organization keeps looking for 
more to place. 
The project started with a 
book called Michigan Women 
Who Made a Difference and 
was organized by Aimee Ergas. 
She put together women in 
many aspects of society, cul-
ture, art and various other 
fields of attainment with dif-
ferent kinds of educational 
backgrounds.
“When we began putting 
women on our website, we 
used many of her profiles,” 
Weiner said. “We also wanted 
to include women who are 
living, so we just looked for 
people in a variety of fields 
who are prominent. 
“It’s a work in progress 
because we have a lot of 
women we want to include 
but have not yet gotten to the 
point of writing them up and 
putting them on the website. 
It takes a tremendous amount 
of time,” she said.
Before press time, Weiner 
said she had nine women to 
discuss and is planning on 

Jeannie Weiner of the Jewish Historical Society of 
Michigan to present Zoom program for Hadassah.

Impactful Michigan 
Jewish Women

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

ELAYNE GROSS

Jeannie Weiner 

Sarah 
Cozens

Judy 
Cantor

