OUR COMMUNITY
Editor’s Note: Look for a complete tribute to
Samantha Woll in next week’s JN.
S
amantha Woll, a Democratic activist
and prominent Jewish lay leader in
Detroit, was found stabbed to death
outside her home.
Police found Woll, 40, at 6:30 a.m. on
Saturday in the city’s Lafayette Park neighbor-
hood. She had been stabbed multiple times
and was unresponsive. A trail of blood led to
her home, which police believe may be the
scene of the crime. As of press time, police
said there was no evidence that Woll was tar-
geted because she was Jewish.
“There are no known threats to the com-
munity at this time,
” the Jewish Federation of
Detroit said in an alert to the community. “No
evidence has been shared to indicate this was a
targeted act motivated by antisemitism.
”
Woll was the president of the Isaac Agree
Downtown Synagogue. Since last year, she has
led an ambitious expansion of the synagogue
that aimed to make it a central part of the
renewal of Detroit’s Jewish community.
“We are shocked and saddened to learn of
the unexpected death of Samantha Woll, our
board president,
” the synagogue said in an
alert it sent its congregants.
In 2017, the Jewish News listed Woll as one
of its 36 Jews to watch under the age of 36.
She was noted for her role in co-founding the
Muslim-Jewish Forum of Detroit.
She was also politically active, having previ-
ously worked for U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, the
Jewish Democrat now running for Senate, and
last year on the re-election campaign of Dana
Nessel, Michigan’s Jewish attorney general.
Nessel, Slotkin and other Michigan political
figures paid tribute to Woll on social media.
Slotkin, writing on X, recalled a woman as
dedicated to her politics as she was to her
faith. Woll was Slotkin’s deputy district direc-
tor from 2019 to 2021.
“Separately, in politics and in the Jewish
community, she dedicated her short life to
building understanding across faiths, bringing
light in the face of darkness,
” she said.
Noah Arbit, a state legislator who was her
friend, wrote on Facebook that Woll “believed
in the city and the people of Detroit, and her
deep commitment to Judaism and the Jewish
people reflected in all of her work.
”
Andy Levin, the former Democratic con-
gressman, met Woll in 2016 when he helped
found Detroit Jews for Justice. The group
launched that fall with a retreat at a camp-
ground in Western Michigan. There was an
exercise where participants paired off for
“one on ones,
” where they exchanged insights.
Levin was paired with Woll.
“She was so full of idealism and passion
for justice, and so after that, we always stayed
close,
” he said. “I can’t process losing Sam Woll
at the age of 40. That’s not what’s supposed to
happen. I can’t believe I won’t see her. I cannot
believe I won’t see her when I go to a Detroit
Jews for Justice event or go to the Downtown
Synagogue or go to the Eastern Market.
”
Throughout her adult life, Woll was
active in the Jewish community, includ-
ing at the University of Michigan’s Hillel
and as a co-chairwoman of the American
Jewish Committee’s ACCESS Detroit Young
Leadership Program. She was also on the board
of the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan.
Our community mourns the loss of Samantha Woll.
Taken Too Soon
RON KAMPEAS JTA
Goodbye, Friend
Sam Woll had purple eyes and
wild black curls. She was very
beautiful.
She was the very definition
of life. If you met her once,
you remember.
Her laugh was a bit too loud
always, and she wore her
heart on her sleeve. It was a
huge heart. Room enough in
it for all the friends she col-
lected in her travels, for all the
injustices to be righted in the
world.
Sam brought a powerful
energy, an electricity, vitality
to any space. She argued
with everyone; she hugged
everyone. She held her opin-
ions strongly, articulated them,
stood by them. She was an
outspoken advocate for the
Jewish people and their right
to live in their indigenous
homeland, while soliciting,
deeply listening and validating
the experiences of others.
She knew clearly who she
was, and wanted to know who
others were. It was a talent
she had.
She wore brightly colored
tie-dyed T-shirts with the many
causes she supported ban-
nered across the front: flowers
for battered women’s shelters,
PRIDE shirts, friendship cir-
cles, danceathons, improving
education in urban settings,
for Israel, for Muslim-Jewish
dialogue, for peace. She was
an unwavering ally. She also
wore suits at city hall and in
her political advocacy. She
wore dresses to the weddings
of her friends — and to my
wedding where we danced
together until we glistened.
She prayed. Loudly and
fervently, over the Torah which
she loved, or over interfaith
gatherings, or sometimes
when it was needed, privately
with a friend, or alone in her
own space.
She struggled. Like we all
Samantha
Woll
ANDREW LAPIN/JTA
Samantha Woll welcomes
attendees to the
congregation’s centennial
celebration in August 2022.
RACHEL M. ROTH
TIMES OF ISRAEL