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