26 | MAY 2 • 2024 
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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