24 | JULY 13 • 2023

OUR COMMUNITY

O

n June 28, leaders
from Detroit’s
Jewish and Black
communities came together
at the Detroit Opera House
to celebrate, connect and
share stories at the second
annual Motown Seder.
Hosted by the Motown
Museum and the Jewish
Community Relations
Council/AJC, the Motown
Seder once again brought
the two sides together using
the model of a traditional
seder dinner.
After a warm welcome
from Motown Museum
Chairwoman and CEO
Robin Terry and JCRC/
AJC Executive Director
Rabbi Asher Lopatin,
guests enjoyed and sang
along during performances
of “Hatikvah” and “Lift
Every Voice and Sing.”
Stevie Wonder’s version
of “Blowin’ in the Wind”
was played for attendees

to listen to and reflect on
while enjoying the provided
dinner buffet.
Lopatin says that while
the relationship between
the two communities is
sometimes based on how
they can help each other,
this event is centered
on simply enjoying each
other’s presence, finding
joy in connecting and being
together.
At the heart of the seder
was storytelling and the
importance of telling our
stories and passing them
down from generation to
generation so they aren’t
lost. Attendees from
both communities were
encouraged to share some of
their stories throughout the
night as well as sit at a table
with those they didn’t know
before and discuss topics
including the importance
of intergenerational
storytelling and

empowerment during
oppression relating to
Jewish and Black history
and present-day life.

TRANSCENDENT MUSIC
“Bringing these two com-
munities together — with
so much shared history and
really using this as a space for
conversation — is something
we’ve aspired to do,” Terry
said. “Motown music has a
transcendent way of breaking
down barriers, uniting people
and opening rooms up for
conversation around subjects
that sometimes are sensitive
to talk about.”
Motown alumni were in
the room and acknowledged.
In attendance was Jackie
Hicks of The Andantes, a
female session group for
Motown who provided back-
up singing for thousands
of Motown hits from Stevie
Wonder, Marvin Gaye, The
Supremes, The Four Tops,

The Temptations and more.
Morton Noveck, attorney
for the Motown Museum,
also attended. Noveck’s
family has a long history
with Motown — his father
also had been Motown’s
attorney and his uncle had
been its accountant.
Terry recalled, “My
grandmother, Esther Gordy,
who founded the Motown
Museum, would always
tell me it was your uncle
who she went to to find
out how you create wealth.
So, as a Black woman at
Motown, she went to her
Jewish friends and said,
‘How do you create wealth
and pass wealth down from
generation to generation?’”
Ethan Davidson, trustee
of the Motown Museum
and chairman of the Detroit
Opera, recalled the story of
how before the Holocaust,
one of the first things the
Nazis did after coming to

Intergenerational storytelling was at the heart of the seder
once again bringing together Detroit’s Jewish and Black communities.
Motown Seder Returns

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

PHOTOS BY ANDRE SMITH PHOTOGRAPHY

Ethan Davidson,
Robin Terry and
Rabbi Asher Lopatin

Guests enjoyed
a traditional
seder dinner.