JULY 6 • 2023 | 25
T
he Jewish Historical Society of
Michigan held its annual meeting
on June 4 at Congregation Beth
Ahm. It was a fine affair, with 150 mem-
bers and friends in attendance.
The program featured the JHSM
President’s Address by Jeannie Weiner and
a report from JHSM Executive Director
Dr. Catherine Cangany. Both reported
great progress over the past year; Cangany
noted that the JHSM five-year goals were
met a year early.
The highlight of the meeting was the
award ceremony. Dr. Mary-Elizabeth
Murphy received the Rabbi Emanuel
Applebaum Award; Michael G. Smith
was named the Outstanding Producer of
Historical Knowledge; and Elayne Gross
received the Outstanding Volunteer
Award (note: Elayne has also been very
generous to the Detroit Jewish News,
allowing us to use her great photos on
many occasions).
The Outstanding Ambassadors Award
went to the collective efforts of the DIA
Jewish Connections Tour docents: Barbara
Cohn (co-director), Sue Kalisky (co-di-
rector), Ron Elkus, Gail Fisher, Anne
Klisman, Linda Minns, Nancy Raimi,
Carolyn Tisdale and Rochelle Upfal.
The Leonard N. Simons History-
Maker Award is the JHSM’s most pres-
tigious honor. This year’s honor went
to Dr. Howard Lupovitch, professor at
Wayne State University and director of
the University’s Cohn-Haddow Center
for Judaic Studies. Dr. Lupovitch spe-
cializes in modern Jewish history and
recently completed a history of the Jews
of Budapest, Hungary. He is currently
writing histories of both the Neolog
movement (Hungarian Jewry’s progres-
sive wing) and Detroit’s Jewish commu-
nity after 1967, which will fill a large
gap in the historical literature of Jewish
Detroit.
Mazel tov to the JHSM and all the award
winners!
The Outstanding Ambassadors — DIA Jewish Connections Tour
docents
Outstanding Volunteer Elayne Gross
COURTESY OF JHSM
faces&places
Jewish Historical Society
of Michigan Annual Meeting
The 2023 JHSM Board of Directors
Outstanding Producer
of Historical Knowledge
Michael G. Smith
JN’s Mike Smith, JSHM President Jeannie Weiner and Leonard N.
Simons History-Maker Award winner Howard Lupovitch