70 | OCTOBER 31 • 2024 J
N

Looking Back

From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History 

accessible at thejewishnews.com
 An 
Annual Dinner 
 to Remember
Y

eshiva Beth Yehudah will hold its annual dinner on Nov. 3 this year. 
The featured speaker will be former United Kingdom Prime Minister 
Boris Johnson. Prominent Jewish Detroiter Matt Lester, founder and 
CEO of Princeton Enterprises, will receive the Outstanding Leadership Award. 
This year’s dinner will also mark 110 years since Rabbi Yehudah Leib Levin 
opened his after-school Jewish education program for boys at the Mogain 
Avrohom Synagogue in Detroit. The Yeshiva was named for him after his 
passing in 1925. The school for girls was added in 1954.
Since Rabbi Levin’s first class, Yeshiva Beth Yehudah has grown 
into one of Metro Detroit’s premier Jewish educational institutions. 
It now features a preschool, a girl’s school, a boy’s school, Partners Detroit, a scholar’s Kollel, 
as well as summer camps, and special education and enrichment programs for about 1,400 
students in K-12 grades; for 400+ children at the James Grosfeld Center for Special Education; 
and for 40+ scholars at the Kollel. 

It has also been noted that Yeshiva Beth Yehudah is much more than a school. Mark Davidoff, 
who received the Outstanding Leadership Award in 2018 — the Yeshiva’s highest honor — 
succinctly summarized the role of the Yeshiva in greater Detroit: “It’s like Abraham’s tent — 
welcoming to all with room for everyone.” 
The annual dinner itself is a bona fide “Big Deal” and another aspect of Yeshiva Beth Yehudah that has 
grown with its overall educational programs. If the dinner, led by Yeshiva Board President Gary Torgow, is 
anything like those held over the last few years, more than 2,000 supporters will attend. 
As I researched the history of the Yeshiva Beth Yehudah dinner in the William Davidson Digital Archive 
of Jewish Detroit History, I was struck by the number of outstanding annual speakers and awardees. They 
represent the best leadership of not only Michigan and Metro Detroit, but that of America at large (to say 
nothing of two UK Prime Ministers — Tony Blair was the first).
Last year, for example, the featured speaker was Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was introduced by 
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Shapiro spoke about the lasting effects of his Jewish education and his 
support for Israel and the Jewish people. For the oratorial icing on the cake, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan 
and U.S. Sens. Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow also made remarks.
To name all the featured speakers over the years would take most of my column, but I’ll give you a 
few examples: Presidents Joe Biden, George W. Bush, Gerald Ford and Donald Trump; Nikki Haley, U.S. 
Ambassador to the U.N. at the time; Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; U.S. Sens. Joe Lieberman, Charles 
Schumer and John Kerry; and U.S. Gen. Colin Powell.
We also should not forget the many Outstanding Leadership and Golden Torah Awardees such, as Mandell 
“Bill” Berman, Penny Blumenstein, Robert Naftaly and Nancy Grosfeld; business leaders Mary Barra, CEO of 
General Motors, Matt Simoncin, CEO of Lear Corporation, and Jerry Norcia, CEO of DTE; and Mayor Mike 
Duggan. 
Whew! And I’ve just named a few from the list of Yeshiva Beth Yehudah honorees and speakers. 
Congratulations to the staff and leadership of Yeshiva Beth Yehudah for more than a century of 
outstanding educational and community programming. You have an impressive record of achievement, 
indeed. Mazel Tov! 

Want to learn more? Go to the DJN archives, available for free at thejewishnews.com.

Mike Smith
Alene and 
Graham Landau 
Archivist Chair

