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