26 | JULY 27 • 2023
OUR COMMUNITY
A
love letter from the
1800s, held among the
expansive historic files
maintained at Temple Beth
El, was written to famed artist
Frederick Cohen, whose paint-
ings are in the collection of the
Detroit Institute of Arts. That
profession of love, written while
the artist lived in Michigan, was
emphasized with the inclusion
of a lock of hair.
There is no associated doc-
umentation revealing whether
the letter won over the artist,
but for later generations, the
letter gives a sense of the way
romantic feelings could be
expressed in days long before
cellphones.
Although that letter — and
the lock of hair — will not be
among the intriguing pieces
of memorabilia to be shown
and discussed the afternoon of
Thursday, Aug. 3, at the temple,
there are millions of items from
which presenters will choose for
the informative program hosted
by Eleanor Roosevelt Hadassah.
Presenters for “Out of the
Box: A Bisel of History” will be
the team in charge of the Jampel
Center for Michigan Jewish
Heritage, which joins two sep-
arate archival collections. They
are Robbie Terman, director of
the Leonard N. Simons Jewish
Community Archives of Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit, and Laura Gottlieb,
director of cultural resources at
the temple overseeing the Rabbi
Leo M. Franklin Archives and
Prentis Memorial Library.
“First, we will be giving a
tour of the Jampel space,
” said
Terman of the area named in
honor of Joan Meyers Jampel,
who has been active in the col-
lection of historical items from
the Detroit Jewish community.
“That tour will include a display
of Israel’s historical stamps col-
lected and donated by a Jewish
Michigan resident, Stanley
Out of the Box
Details
“Out of the Box: A Bisel of History” begins at 1 p.m. Thursday.
Aug. 3, at Temple Beth El, 7400 Telegraph, Bloomfield
Township. $20. Hadassahmidwest.org/RooseveltHistory.
See the Jampel Center for Michigan Jewish
Heritage, along with a ‘bisel’ of history.
SUZANNE CHESSLER
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Robbie Terman and Laura Gottlieb
The stamp exhibit, which
is called “Stuck on You:
75 Years of Israel History
Through Postage Stamps.”
JAMIE FELDMAN