40 | MAY 4 • 2023 

N

adav Pais-
Greenapple fills 
part of his present 
days speaking about artistic 
Jewish topics of the past 
and referencing language 
prevalent in days gone by. 
The history of Jewish theater 
in Detroit and translations 
of Yiddish literature hold 
important segments of his 
time. 
Although there is lots to do 
as he teaches Tanach at Hillel 
Day School in Farmington 

Hills and makes plans for 
his wedding in October at 
Congregation Beth Ahm 
in West Bloomfield, Pais-
Greenapple studies Yiddish 
and researches theater 
activities as experienced in 
the early 20th century.
He is happy that his studies 
are preparing him to take 
on a board seat this spring 
with the Jewish Historical 
Society of Michigan and 
helping prepare him for a 
2024 exhibit that showcases 

Detroit Jewish history as 
presented by the Detroit 
Historical Museum.
“I’m excited to bring my 
passion for Detroit’s Jewish 
history to an organization 
and to the people,” said Pais-
Greenapple, 24, named as 
one of this year’s 36 Under 36 
by the Detroit Jewish News. 
“It’s the first exhibit of 
its kind in the state to 
focus on Jewish history in 
Michigan. It’s about Jewish 
life around the Hastings 
Street neighborhood of 
Detroit from 1880-1930. The 
goal is to spin that out into 
a permanent museum in a 
dedicated space. There’s a 
model in Montreal.”

AN INTEREST IN YIDDISH
Pais-Greenapple said that 
his interest in Jewish history 
has been important as long 
as he can remember, and his 
interest in Yiddish began 
in college. In shul, reading 
stories, he wondered about 

his own family history. In 
college, a Jewish studies 
instructor made him aware 
of the Steiner Summer 
Yiddish Program, and he 
attended in 2019 to learn the 
language linked to Jewish 
history.
“There was definitely a 
knowledge of history in my 
home,” said the researcher, 
who has learned and 
imparted knowledge about 
the Littman’s People’s Theater 
of the 1920s. “My mom was a 
teacher, not a history teacher, 
and she did have a love for 
Jewishness. I grew up with 
a lot of Jewish knowledge in 
the house. There was a lot of 
support for the history I was 
interested in.
“Having to translate out 
of Yiddish, which is what I 
do, you need to have a little 
facility in other languages. 
I’ve had to learn the Cyrillic 
alphabet. It’s useful in 
surprising places. 
“I had a coworker give me 

Passionate
for Detroit
Jewish History

Hillel teacher and Yiddish 
expert researches early 
20th-century theater.

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

NEXT DOR
VOICE OF A NEW GENERATION

Nadav Pais-
Greenapple 
teaching 
Tanach at 
Hillel.