OCTOBER 26 • 2023 | 61
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his past Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023, was a moment of happiness for the
staff of the JN. Mark Davidoff received the Fred M. Butzel Award, the
Jewish Federation of Detroit’s highest honor.
For the past three years, we have worked closely with Mark in his role as
senior adviser to the board of the Detroit Jewish Foundation. He’s a great
colleague, and we send him a warm mazel tov.
My archival friend Robbie Terman, director of the Leonard
N. Simons Jewish Community Archives, succinctly
summarized the meaning of the award: “Fred M. Butzel
spent a lifetime in service to others,
” she said. “The
Butzel Award embodies the spirit of its namesake by
honoring community members for their distinguished
service to the Jewish people.
”
The list of awardees includes prominent community
leaders such as Max Fisher, William Davidson and
Doreen and David Hermelin, and now Mark, to name just a very few.
I thought it might be good to remind ourselves about Fred M.
Butzel (1877-1948). Although Butzel passed away 75 years ago, his
legacy still shapes the modern Detroit Jewish community.
First, just “Google” his name to find plenty of media stories about
Butzel, ranging from the Jewish Telegraph Agency to the Michigan Daily at the University of Michigan.
Closer to home, Butzel has a massive presence in the historic pages of the Jewish Chronicle and JN in the
William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History. He is cited on nearly 3,000 pages; the list of
his accomplishments is a massive one.
Born in Detroit in 1877, Butzel studied at the University of Michigan and the Detroit College of Law
and began practicing law in 1899. He was a tireless promoter of social welfare and civic good for his
entire life.
By the 1920s, Butzel was arguably Detroit’s most prominent Jewish leader. For evidence of this, see
“Builders of Detroit” in the June 10, 1927, Chronicle or “Know Your Leaders,
” the “One Man Institution”
(Aug. 27, 1935).
Over the years, Butzel led the American Jewish Committee and was a leader of the Jewish Welfare
Federation (now the Jewish Federation of Metro Detroit). During WWII, Butzel chaired the Detroit
Community War Chest and the city’s important Interracial Committee, which was tasked with easing the
tension between white and Black citizens.
Butzel was also one of the founding directors of the Detroit Jewish News. He was quoted on the front
page of the first issue (March 27, 1942).
Butzel was a staunch Zionist and raised millions of dollars for the cause. He was a friend of Israel’s first
president, Chaim Weizmann. In 1937, the Jewish National Fund planted the Fred M. Butzel Forest in
British Mandate Palestine in his honor. At the time, the only other American so honored was Supreme
Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis.
When Butzel passed away, an article in the June 4, 1948, JN began “Jewry Delighted to Honor This
Great Man.
” The issue is full of tributes to Butzel from around the nation. Butzel never married; JN editor
and publisher Philip Slomovitz stated that Butzel was “wedded to his people.
”
It was natural that, three years later, the Federation named its most prestigious award after him.
Butzel was legendary and exemplified the best of Jewish Detroit. He set the standard by which public service is still measured.
Want to learn more? Go to the DJN archives, available for free at thejewishnews.com.
LEONARD N. SIMONS JEWISH COMMUNITY ARCHIVES
Fred Butzel Set
a High Standard
Mike Smith
Alene and
Graham Landau
Archivist Chair
Looking Back
From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History
accessible at thejewishnews.com