Where Did People Go? Jews who came to Michigan spread out throughout the state, heading to places such as Hancock, Republic and St. Ignace in the Upper Peninsula and Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, Petoskey, Alpena and Bad Axe in the Lower Peninsula. Many worked as peddlers and shopkeepers, with customers in rural areas, mining and lumber towns. Many of the early Jewish settlers in Detroit were German Jews, but the 1880s-1920s saw an influx of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe.
Jewish Detroit by the Numbers There were: • 1,000 Jewish Detroiters in 1880 • 10,000 in 1910 • And 35,000 by 1920 They came for religious freedom and economic opportunity. Flash forward! As of 2018, there were some 71,750 Jews in Metro Detroit and 41 synagogues. Today, Detroit has Jewish communities in Oak Park, Southfield, Huntington Woods, Farmington Hills, West Bloomfield, Bloomfield Hills, Detroit and beyond. There are lots of synagogues around the communities, religious day school systems, and places to buy kosher groceries and baked goods.
! e r o M r e Discov
troit? ewish De J t u o b a arn more oint! Want to le starting p d o o g a bsites are : These we f Michigan o ty ie c o S istorical • Jewish H ichigan.org www.jhsm ns Jewish o im S . N ard on’s Leon ives • Federati it.org/arch o tr e d h is : jew y Archives William Communit ndation’s u o F s w e ewish N etroit • Detroit J f Jewish D o e iv h rc Digital A Davidson n.org foundatio jn .d w w w History: Preschoolers at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield take part in a tashlich ritual at the temple’s pond.
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OCTOBER 28 • 2021
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Zeman’s Bakery is the oldest kosher bakery in Metropolitan Detroit. It was established in 1927, making it 94 years old!
