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

