Looking Back
From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History
accessible at www.djnfoundation.org
94 | MARCH 30 • 2023
The ‘Jewish Catskills’
T
his past Jan. 3, our intrepid
reporter Danny Schwartz swung
his “Synagogue Spotlight” onto
First Hebrew Congregation Synagogue
in South Haven, Michigan. First Hebrew
has served the small local Jewish com-
munity since 1928. Moreover, it has
served annual contingents of religiously
diverse Jewish tourists.
As Danny reported, “Jewish life in
South Haven started with
the arrival of farmers from
Eastern Europe,
” who soon
began making a few dol-
lars on the side by provid-
ing rooms for vacationers.
This was the origin of
South Haven’s extensive
system of resorts. In the
early 20th century, when many hotels
and rooming houses would turn away
Jewish travelers, South Haven gave them
a warm welcome. At its peak, there were
about 80 resorts in the area that catered
to Jewish tourists.
The roots of the local Jewish resort
community in South Haven run deep.
For just one example, the family of
Barry Fidelman, current board mem-
ber and past president of First Hebrew
Congregation, operated “Fidelman’s
Resort” for many years.
I was inspired by Danny’s article. I
knew about Charlevoix’s reputation as
a summer resort area for Jews, the sea-
sonal synagogue on Mackinac Island,
and other synagogues that have served
northern Michigan and the Upper
Peninsula. I must admit, however, I did
not know about South Haven. So, natu-
rally, I decided to see what I could find in
the William Davidson Digital Archive of
Jewish Detroit history.
I was a bit surprised at what I found.
Using combination search term “South
Haven” and “Resorts,
” raised only a mere
1,464 pages!
Many early mentions of South Haven
resorts are in the society news columns
of the Detroit Jewish Chronicle. The social
media of its day, these listings often
cite where local Jewish families were
spending their holidays in the 1920s.
Advertisements for particular resorts also
began to appear in this decade. One of
the first was: “For a Delightful Vacation,
Come to Hotel Wayland” (June 8, 1928,
Chronicle).
The heyday of South Haven
Jewish resorts was the 1930s to
1950s. Hundreds of ads are in
the Davidson Archive for such
resorts as “Fidelman’s,
” the “Hotel
Biltmore,
” “Levin’s,
” and “Baron’s,
”
along with “Steuben’s,
” which
billed itself as “The Host to the
Most.
” I also liked the small arti-
cle in the June 16, 1939, Chronicle:
“Vacation Dreams Come True
at Fidelman’s Resort in South
Haven.
”
Eventually, there were so
many Jewish resorts in South Haven that
the area was billed as the “Catskills of
the Midwest.
” Proof of its impact upon
Jewish tourists can be found in sever-
al retrospectives in the JN. See “South
Haven Sunset” in the July 3, 1987, issue,
or the review of “
A Time to Remember:
A History of the Jewish Community in
South Haven” by Bea Kraus (Oct. 29,
1999). “Happy Memories” is about an
exhibit at the South Haven Center for the
Arts that was on display for the 350th
anniversary of Jews in America (June 16,
2005, JN).
South Haven is still a resort area. You
can book hotels, motels and B&Bs in
South Haven and visit the First Hebrew
on Shabbat. As nice as they might be,
however, the names of the chain lodgings
just don’t have the same ring to them as
“Fidelman’s Resort” or “Stueben’s — the
Host to the Most.
”
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