Looking Back
From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History
accessible at thejewishnews.com
Hail to the Victors Valiant!
“H
ail to the victors valiant.
Hail to the conquering
heroes. Hail! Hail! to
Michigan, the champions of the west!”
In 2024, the famous University of
Michigan fight song, written in 1898,
could read champions of the U.S.A.
Unless you’ve not been on
social media, not watched
television, read a newspa-
per or listened to the radio
… or heard your neigh-
bors talking about the big
game, you know by now
the U-M football team beat
Washington University for
the national championship
on Jan. 8. It is Michigan’s first national
title since sharing one with Nebraska in
1997, and its first outright since 1948.
(To be fair, it should be noted that, in
between those years, the school in the
north, Michigan State University’s grid-
iron heroes, represented our state with
awesome teams and national champion-
ships in 1951, 1952, 1955, 1957, 1965 and
1966).
The 2023-2024 U-M team is indeed a
great team. But I think it’s time to honor
the other heroes of the day, those who
think about U-M’s success every day of
every year, and whose toil and sweat will
the team to the championship — the fans!
Properly enthused and basking in
the team’s glory of this year’s victors, I
looked into the William Davidson Digital
Archive of Jewish Detroit History and
read about U-M fans. I found plenty of
evidence there are serious U-M fans in
our Jewish community.
You may know some of these fans. I
learned that famous community leader
and U.S. Ambassador to Norway David
Hermelin was a big U-M fan. It is said
that, when he was in his “office” (an eat-
ery on a Sunday morning), he was always
ready with a story of the U-M football
team (Nov. 21, 1997, JN).
In the March 11, 2010, issue of the JN is
a photo that suggests U-M fandom. The
engagement photo for Lindsey Weinberg
and Sam Grossman was taken at U-M’s
stadium, the “Big House.”
The supreme U-M fan, however, might
be Ira Jaffe. His tailgate parties before
U-M football games are the stuff of leg-
ends. Jaffe was a bona fide true blue (or
Go Blue!) supporter. The doorbell to his
house plays “Hail to the Victors” and his
basement is a shrine to his team.
His tailgate parties at U-M games are
nothing short of legendary. His sumptu-
ous pre-game banquets would feed 2,000
people with food hauled to the sites in his
especially modified Dodge van painted in
the school colors, maize and blue.
It should also be noted that Jaffe’s close
friend and partner in tailgating was Dr.
Melvin Lester. Also a huge U-M fan,
Lester was a longtime friend and a com-
munity leader like Jaffe. His son, Matt,
now carries the U-M football for the
Lester family.
The JN documented these legendary
tailgate parties. The Nov. 3, 2000, issue
has a three-page spread with lots of pho-
tos about the feasts including a list of fare
(lox, cream cheese, tomatoes and onions
to go with the fried chicken, roast beef,
cheeses, chips, cookies, salads and donuts,
to say nothing of coolers of ice cream
and the popcorn machine), and a recipe
for Grilled Vegetable Pasta Salad. Umm-
Umm.
Yes, it’s a good year to be a Michigan
fan. Apparently, it’s always been a good
year to be one.
Want to learn more? Go to the DJN archives,
available for free at thejewishnews.com.
Mike Smith
Alene and
Graham Landau
Archivist Chair
62 | JANUARY 25 • 2024 J
N