Currently, Laura Gottlieb, the temple’s
director of cultural resources, serves that
role.
According to Gottlieb, college students,
professors doing research for books,
architectural researchers interested in Albert
Kahn (a Temple Beth El board member)
and Minoru Yamasaki, the famous architect
who designed the current temple, use the
Archives, as well as those with genealogy
questions or an interest in Michigan Jewish
history.
The Leonard A. Simons Jewish
Community Archives (JCA) were
established by the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit in 1991 and named
after advertising executive Leonard A.
Simons, who was devoted to Jewish history
and collected rare books. Robbie Terman,
an archivist who previously worked at the
Wayne State University’s Walter Reuther
Library, has been the JCA director since
2015.
Until recently, the two archives were kept
in separate locations. The JCA was located
at the Walter P
. Reuther Library — an
arrangement developed when the archive
outgrew available space at Federation
headquarters. Terman says that Federation
has had a “wonderful partnership” with the
Reuther Library that they hope to continue
although the collection is no longer
maintained there.
Temple Beth El’s Archive has been kept
at the temple in Bloomfield Township. But
now the two archives have been relocated
together in the new Joan Meyers Jampel
Center for Michigan Jewish Heritage that
has been built adjacent to Temple Beth El’s
main sanctuary.
BRINGING TOGETHER TWO
MAJOR JEWISH ARCHIVES
“The idea behind the Center for Michigan
Jewish Heritage is to centralize our
community’s history,
” Terman explains. “It is
not a merger between our archives; we still
legally remain separate entities working in
collaboration under the unified name.
“While the initiative is being led by
Federation and Temple Beth El, it is
important to understand the Center itself is
an umbrella model that welcomes inclusion
of other organizations in the community
OUR COMMUNITY
ON THE COVER
continued from page 15
Additional Jewish
History Resources
The William Davidson Digital
Archive of Jewish Detroit
History encompasses all of
the issues published by the
Detroit Jewish Chronicle from
1916-1951 and the Detroit
Jewish News from 1942-2021.
Visit djnfoundation.org to
access the archive.
The Michigan Jewish
Historical Society (jhsmichi-
gan.org) provides educational
programs and research about
Michigan Jewish history and
publishes Michigan Jewish
History, a quarterly journal.
The archives of a number of
important Jewish individuals
and organizations, including
the late Max M. Fisher and
the late Judge Avern Cohn,
are held at Wayne State
University’s Walter Reuther
Library. Visit reuther.wayne.
edu.
Terman and Gottlieb look at
correspondence between Albert
Kahn and Rabbi Leo M. Franklin
from the Congregation Beth El
Collection.
16 | APRIL 20 • 2023
continued on page 18