26 | MAY 2 • 2024
J
N
A
manda Igra, a native of Chicago,
found a new life in Traverse City.
“
After I graduated from the
University of Michigan in Ann Arbor,
I wanted to do something different and
move somewhere different,” she said. “I
had never been to Northern Michigan, but
I thought it was beautiful and a great place
to be. I’m really glad I moved there.”
Igra, the granddaughter of two
Holocaust survivors, is an accomplished
pianist and guitarist, and was employed
for six years as an elementary school
music teacher in Traverse City. That’s a bit
different background than most students
who go directly from college to law school.
“My parents had enrolled me in piano
lessons from a young age,” she said.
“In college, I started performing more
regularly. Now, it’s my weekend job and
something I do for fun. I play and sing
around Michigan, in Traverse City and
Grand Rapids. I’ll go wherever.”
Amanda Igra is one of two second-
year law students who will be honored
at a May 23 dinner by the Jewish Bar
Association of Michigan. Igra of Michigan
State University Law School is the winner
of JBAM’s $1,500 Charles J. Cohen
Scholarship. Hannah Passer of University
of Detroit Mercy School of Law will be
awarded a $500 scholarship from JBAM.
Also being honored at the dinner are
Oakland County Circuit Court Judge
Lorie Savin, who will receive JBAM’s Ruth
Bader Ginsburg Champion of Justice
Award, and Judge Mark Goldsmith of the
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District
of Michigan, who will receive the Avern
Cohn Lifetime Achievement Award.
The awards will be
presented at JBAM’s Annual
Awards Dinner, at 6 p.m.
Thursday, May 23, at the
Somerset Inn in Troy.
For tickets, visit jlive.app/
events/6150.
During the pandemic, Igra
decided to do something
different with her life. “I love
teaching music, and I still
teach piano lessons on the
weekends,” she said. “But I
felt I wanted to do something
with the other side of my
brain.
“There were a lot of people in my
synagogue in Traverse City who are very
politically active. So, I worked in politics
for a year. Through that, I met a lot of
lawyers, and several of them said to me,
‘Have you ever considered going to law
school? You’d be really good at it.’
“I never had considered it. But I
took a risk, and it really paid off. I love
everything about law school,” she said.
“
At MSU, I got involved with Moot
Court, where we argue legal issues like
we’re in a model Supreme Court. I was put
on the Native American law team. And
it was so shocking that almost all of my
mentors were Jewish. In my synagogue
in Traverse City, there were three lawyers
who do Native American law. And
another Jewish lawyer from the state
Attorney General’s office also provided us
with help. It’s been meaningful to learn
about that area of law, and it’s something
I’m going to be taking classes in next year.”
Igra has been very active in her
synagogue, Congregation Beth Shalom in
Traverse City - led part-time by former
Troy Shir Tikvah Rabbi Arnie Sleutelberg.
“We love Rabbi Arnie,” Igra said.
“
Amanda is very committed to her
Jewish community,” said the rabbi.
“My commitment to my Jewish faith has
been strong from a young age,” Igra added.
“I served on the board of Beth Shalom
for two years, including one year as board
president. I also volunteered as the Sunday
school teacher during the pandemic
because I felt that the children should not
suffer a lapse in their Jewish education.
“Based on my experience as a teacher,
Changing careers, a former elementary school
music teacher scores a law school scholarship.
Music
Class
to
Moot
Court
DAVID SACHS CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
OUR COMMUNITY
Amanda Igra
COURTESY AMANDA IGRA
Lorie Savin
Mark
Goldsmith