Looking Back

From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History 

accessible at thejewishnews.com

Y

eshiva Beth Yehudah will hold its 
annual dinner on Nov. 3 this year. 
The featured speaker will be for-
mer United Kingdom Prime Minister, Boris 
Johnson, and 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 
Yehuda Leib Levin opened 
his after school Jewish educa-
tion program for boys at the 
Mogain Avrohom Synagogue 
in Detroit. The Yeshiva was 
named for him after his pass-
ing in 1925. The Beth Jacob 
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 insti-
tutions. It now features a preschool, a girl’s 
school, a boy’s school, “Partners Detroit,” a 
Scholar’s Kollel, as well as summer camps, 
special education and enrichment pro-
grams 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 over-
all educational programs. If the dinner is 
anything like those held over the last few 
years, well over 2,000 supporters will attend. 
As I researched the history of the Yeshiva 
Beth Yehudah annual 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 speak-
er was Gov. Josh Shapiro of PA, who was 
introduced by Michigan Gov. Gretchen 

Mike Smith
Alene and 
Graham Landau 
Archivist Chair

YESHIVA BETH YEHUDAH

34 | NOVEMBER 3 • 2024 Yeshiva Beth Yehudah Special Edition J
N

 A Brief History of the 
Yeshiva 
 Beth Yehudah 
 Annual Dinner