Sunday, September 29, 2013
Holocaust Memorial Center
11:00 AM
Join us as our members who attended the IAJGS Conference on Jewish Genealogy this summer fill us in on what they saw and learned in Boston!
Read More...Sunday, October 13, 2013
Holocaust Memorial Center
11:00 AM
Please join us for a very special event.
In loving memory of Gayle Sweetwine Saini (z”l) we will rededicate the Library of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Michigan in her name. It will become the Gayle Sweetwine Saini Memorial Library of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Michigan. Our library is housed inside the library of the Holocaust Memorial Center.
In gratitude we will be honoring our founder, Betty Provizer Starkman, for her generous donation of genealogical materials to our library. Her numerous books, maps, postcards, family trees, pamphlets, periodicals, newspaper clippings, and other items will be known as the Betty Provizer Starkman Collection, and the items in that collection specially marked.
About the Honorees:
Gayle Sweetwine Saini (z”l)
A longtime member of JGSMI, Gayle tirelessly dedicated nearly 20 years as our Librarian, and was a regular speaker at the IAJGS International Conferences on Jewish Genealogy. There seemed to be little she didn’t know about, and she was always ready to offer her knowledge and research assistance. She had a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Wayne State University, and later joined a PhD program at the University of Chicago. She spent an academic year in India, absorbing the myriad cultures and languages of that nation. In 2010, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor. She fought bravely and never lost her upbeat outlook and sharp wit. She died in December 2012, at age 69.
Betty Provizer Starkman
A professional genealogist and the founder of JGSMI, Betty served as our first President and Editor of the newsletter, and continues to serve as a Board member. A formal social worker and counselor, she received BA and MSW degrees from Wayne State University and the University of Wisconsin, respectively. She has lectured, written and taught Jewish genealogy for over 20 years. She has visited Israel (at least 27 times), Poland, Russia, Hungary, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Great Britain, Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey, France, and the Czech Republic in search of Jewish records. An early childhood interest in China led her to an in-depth study of Jewish communities in China. After three journeys to China, she became a member of the Sino-Judiac Institute and attended their first conference at Harvard. She has been a frequent speaker at IAJGS conferences, and with her late husband Morris (z”l) have long sponsored the Morris (z”l) and Betty Starkman Annual Genealogy Lecture and Election of Officers, our annual meeting.
Mar
27
2013
The Worlds of Sholem Aleichem: The Remarkable Life and Afterlife of the Man Who Created Tevye
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
2:00 PM at the West Bloomfield JCC
7:30 PM at the Oak Park JCC
Please join JGSMI as we co-sponsor Jeremy Dauber, author of The Worlds of Sholem Aleichem: The Remarkable Life and Afterlife of the Man Who Created Tevye at the 62nd Annual Jewish Book Fair. This event is free.
Sholem Rabinovitch was 15 years old when he wrote his first book, a Jewish version of Robinson Crusoe. He became one of the founders of modern Yiddish literature, the man behind “Tevye” and the author of some of the most memorable stories about life in the shtetl.
Sholem Aleichem was the son of a successful merchant who lost all his money, leaving the family destitute. Sholem found work as a tutor – then wed his student. He became a writer who found tremendous success in both Europe and the U.S. When he died in 1916, more than 150,000 attended his funeral.
Jeremy Dauber is a professor of Yiddish literature at Columbia University, where he also serves as director of its Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies. He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard and his doctorate from the University of Oxford, which he attended as a Rhodes Scholar.
“Dauber brings to his task a comprehensive knowledge not only of Sholem Aleichem’s life but also of the contexts – historical and literary – in which he wrote and thrived. His prose is swift, clean, and clear, and the portrait that emerges is sharply focused.” – Kirkus Reviews (starred)
Co-sponsored by Jewish Genealogical Society of Michigan, The David-Horodoker Organization, IRP (Institute for Retired Professionals), Jewish Parents Institute, Jewish Senior Life, Workmen’s Circle/Arbeter Ring
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Sunday, November 24, 2013
Holocaust Memorial Center
11:00 AM
With Special Guest Ken Bravo
We all have ancestors came from somewhere outside of the United States. The difficulty is often determining exactly where that somewhere is. Often records such as Census records indicate only a country and family lore frequently identifies only a geographic area. Many of these ancestors who were part of the immigrants who came to the United States were naturalized. If that naturalization occurred after 1906, the process created records that contain a wealth of information.
This program is designed to assist the average researcher in locating and obtaining copies of these records and then following up on the results.
Ken Bravo is the Immediate Past President of the Jewish Genealogy Society of Cleveland and is a frequent lecturer on a variety of genealogy subjects. He has been searching his own roots since the mid-1970s and, in more recent years, has added the families of the spouses of his four children to his research. He is serving as a co-chair of the 2014 IAJGS Conference that will be held, from July 27 through August 1 in Salt Lake City.
In the community, Ken has served a President of the Bureau of Jewish Education; President of what was then the Great Lakes Region of the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs; Vice President and Board Member of the Gross Schechter Day School; Vice President and Treasurer of The Park Synagogue; and Member of the Board of Governors of the Ohio State Bar Association. He currently serves on the Board of Menorah Park Center for Senior Living where he chairs the Government Relations Committee.
Ken and his wife Phyllis have been married 49 years and are the parents of four children and eight grandchildren.
Read More...Sunday, December 15, 2013
Holocaust Memorial Center
11:00 AM likely start time
Under the Trees by Samuel Bak
National Center for Jewish Film
This documentary explores Bak’s work and life through the lens of his childhood experiences. Born in 1933 in Vilna, Poland, young Samuel was declared a child prodigy. The happiness of his childhood came to an end, however, the day his family was marched into the Jewish Ghetto, changing his life and his artistic vision forever. Saved from the death camps by his father, the miracle of his survival became and still is a recurring theme in his art. Insightful interviews with the artist, Holocaust scholar Lawrence Langer, and Pucker Gallery director Bernard Pucker explore the unique and powerful visual vocabulary and iconography of Bak’s work, which is held in museums, galleries, and collections worldwide.
Canada, 2003, 48 minutes, color
Read More...Sunday, January 12, 2014
Holocaust Memorial Center
11:00 AM
With author and JGSMI member Richard Jaeger
Over the course of twenty years of research, over 27,800 family members spanning over 2500 years were discovered and put into a database. While putting all of them into a family history would be an impossible task, some were of enough historical importance to deserve to be included; others had stories of interest, though not in the class of an Eleanor of Aquitaine, still were noteworthy of inclusion.
From Xerxes I, King of Persia and married to the Biblical Esther, Hadassah to Elizabeth II of England there were links to the same family. Included were George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Robert E. Lee who were all cousins. Their stories and how they related to maternal and paternal family of the author make for both fascinating reading as well as good cause to believe in the idea of six degrees of separation as it relates to genealogy.
Richard “Dick” Jaeger was born in New York and is a product of the New York City School System and the City University of New York where he got is BA in 1963. In 1971 he completed graduate work in Commercial and Insurance Law and Risk Management. For most of his working life he was an International Political Risks Analyst. In 1993 he began to research his family history in a project that still continues today. Dick is a frequent speaker at genealogy society meetings in Michigan and active in societies in various states and Great Britain. Dick is married to the former Caryn Brodie and they have three sons and five grandchildren.
Read More...Sunday, April 21, 2013, 11am
at the Holocaust Memorial Center
Lorraine Lotzoff will speak about her experiences guiding visitors of all ages and backgrounds at the Holocaust Memorial Center, her relationship with Holocaust survivors and about future plans to spread the knowledge of the Holocaust in the larger community.
Lorraine has a bachelor of science degree. After she raised her family, she became interested in the work of of the Holocaust Memorial Center. She has been an docent there for 26 years.
Members: Free
Guests: $5.00
Sunday, May 19th at 11AM
Holocaust Memorial Center
With local genealogist Diane Oslund
Researching in Detroit and Wayne County (MI) can be difficult, time consuming and overwhelming. This presentation gives tips on what can be done before you make the trip, where to go or if you need to go there at all. Find suggestions on what’s the best way to find what you seek.
Diane is a professional genealogist and speaker who began researching her own family lines many moons ago and professionally for more then 15 years. She is a past president and newsletter editor for the Ford Genealogy Club.
Diane has published the The Cryderman Family of North America. Diane provided much of the research for the privately published history of the Roberson family in Michigan. Diane & Karen Krugman transcribed and published Ford Family Cemetery which includes the final resting place of the auto manufacturer Henry Ford. She has also assisted the Lenawee County Family Researchers in transcribing cemeteries in that county.
Read More...Tuesday, April 9th at 8pm
Berman Center for the Performing Arts
West Bloomfield Jewish Community Center
JGSMI is proud to co-sponsor this film at the
15th Annual Lenore Marwil Jewish Film Festival!
What begins with the emptying out of a flat develops into a riveting adventure, involving unexpected national interests, a friendship that crosses enemy lines, and deeply repressed family emotions.
Arnon Goldfinger uncovers more than an apartment full of belongings when he begins to clean out his late grandmother’s flat in Tel Aviv. What unfolds is a history full of profoundly surprising stories and relationships.
“The Flat” is a documentary about a single family but also a community, secrets and the seemingly incomprehensible choices people make.
• Winner Best Editing, Documentary Feature Tribeca Rim Festival
• Winner Best Documentary Bavarian Film Awards
• Winner Best Documentary Awards of the Israeli Rim Academy
Following the film, please join us for a discussion with invited professors from Oakland University.
All Attendees: $10.00
Read More...We regret to inform you that for various personal reasons, Gil Marks is unable to make it to the United States in time for our annual meeting. Irwin Cohen, aka Mr. Baseball, has graciously agreed to take his place. If you are dissatisfied in any way and would like a refund, please contact Adina Lipsitz at president@jgsmi.org. Thank you for your understanding.
Sunday, June 16, 2013, 11:00 AM
Adat Shalom Synagogue – The Glass Room
$35 per person
RSVP required by Sunday, June 9
This is a glatt kosher event supervised by the Council of Orthodox Rabbis of Greater Detroit.
Little Known Facts of Jewish History – with Irwin Cohen
Irwin Cohen will entertain and delight as he reveals little-known facts of Jewish history, from his latest book, Jewish History in the time of Baseballs Jews: Life on Both Sides of the Ocean:
- The politician who went on to be president kept secret the hundreds of Jews he smuggled into the United States
- The mayor of New York’s brother-in-law and nephew were murdered by the Nazis
- The Jewish player who targeted Hitler’s top atomic scientist
- Sammy Cohen changed his name and had a 10-year career as a player
- The Jewish player who suffered a heart attack during a game and died shortly after
- The pitcher who was scheduled to make his first major league start, but was called home to sit shiva
- Which players became synagogue presidents
Mr. Cohen will have copies of his book on hand for purchase.
Proposed Slate
President: Adina Lipsitz
VP, Programming: Alexandra Goldberg
VP, Membership (Acting): Diane Freilich
VP, Publicity: David Goldis
Recording Secretary: Esther Allweiss Ingber
Corresponding Scretary: Diane Freilich
Treasurer: Irwin S. Alpern
Irwin Cohen is a nationally recognized baseball historian and lectures frequently on Detroit history, Detroit baseball, and the Jews of Detroit. He has authored several history books, including Echoes of Detroit: A 300-Year History. He worked as a photojournalist for national baseball publications, which led to interviewing numerous celebrity superstars including Hank Greenberg. Cohen also worked in the front office of the Detroit Tigers and earned a 1984 World Series ring. He is a member of the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan, which recently presented him with its 2013 Leonard N. Simons History Award, as well as the Society for American Baseball Research.
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