Jewish History of Detroit Bicycle Tour Announced.

I received notice of this Sunday, August 21 event from my friend Jerry Cook, Board Member of the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan and one of the forces behind the tour. Details and sign-up can be found through their website http://www.michjewishhistory.org.

Here is a snippet:

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Hop on! The Jewish Historical Society of Michigan, the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue and the Reconstructionist Synagogue of Detroit are leading the way through the streets of Detroit for a fun-filled morning of cycling, learning and bonding. Our tour travels from the beautiful, new Milliken State Park on the Detroit River, along the Riverwalk and through the Dequindre Cut, a landscaped bike path once the Grand Trunk Railroad line and through the city to see such sites as the Hank Greenberg statue at Comerica Park, numerous former synagogues and buildings built between 1902 and the 1920s such as the United Hebrew School building built in 1922 and the new Moishe House on Ferry Street and the Oakland Avenue Schvitz. Don’t miss this first-time event!
Some of our tour stops include:

• The Hastings Street, Oakland Ave., Boston/Edison areas
• Lafayette Park neighborhood
• Early United Hebrew School building [[1922)
• New Moishe House on Ferry St.
• Ford Motor Company's Piquette St. Plant [[1903)
• Max Jacob's 19th century home on the campus of Wayne State University
• The Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue
• The Reconstructionist Congregation of Detroit
• Our thanks to Wheelhouse Detroit and M. Jacob and Co

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Jerry said event close to half subscribed and advises those interested to sign up soon. All are invited regardless of faith or belief. However the event is limited to the first 150. Online registration can be made here.

Jerry also updated me on youthful Jewish activities in reviving downtown Detroit that includes the formation of a second congregation, in addition to the recently re-energized only-remaining Isaac Agree Synagogue, the Reconstructionist Congregation of Detroit. The latter is, interestingly, shares quarters in the historic Christ Church at 960 E Jefferson Ave.

I say interesting because this is a bit of a role reversal as almost all of the former synagogues of Detroit are now churches. For those unfamiliar with this Detroit story, I invite you to take my "The Lost Synagogues of Detroit" virtual tour at www.shtetlhood.com.

Looks like a great event. They should do a second tour of northwest Detroit and the 1950s-1960s Jewish hotspots.

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Originally Posted by cmubryan

Looks like a great event. They should do a second tour of northwest Detroit and the 1950s-1960s Jewish hotspots.

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Already being considered.

Wow, awesome. I second the NW Detroit part. I will plan on attending this one.

However, something about this one:

Of course I know the reason this is on a Sunday rather than a Saturday, but this is an extremely religious[[largely Protestant Christianity for the blacks and Catholicism for the whites that remain) city, and if anything I think a lot of non-Jews could get a lot of benefit from attending this and understanding Jewish history and culture. This city is also rife with anti-Semitism, in my experience. I would hate to see Gentiles decide not to come because of religious obligations.

Of course, I guess I don't know when it would be held then if you rule out both Saturday and Sunday mornings, since unfortunately the weekend is only two days long. Perhaps a Sunday afternoon bike ride? Or is this event designed to be a primarily Jewish fellowship event?

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Originally Posted by DetroitPole

Or is this event designed to be a primarily Jewish fellowship event?

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Jerry said event close to half subscribed and advises those interested to sign up soon. All are invited regardless of faith or belief.

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The Jewish Historical Society of Michigan has done a lot of outreach with the current church congregations of the former synagogues, arranging past tours of the them and more.

This tour seems to focus mainly on the older, pre-1940's and pre-westside areas of Jewish residence and activity.

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Originally Posted by DetroitPole

Wow, awesome. I second the NW Detroit part. I will plan on attending this one.

However, something about this one:

Of course I know the reason this is on a Sunday rather than a Saturday, but this is an extremely religious[[largely Protestant Christianity for the blacks and Catholicism for the whites that remain) city, and if anything I think a lot of non-Jews could get a lot of benefit from attending this and understanding Jewish history and culture. This city is also rife with anti-Semitism, in my experience. I would hate to see Gentiles decide not to come because of religious obligations.

Of course, I guess I don't know when it would be held then if you rule out both Saturday and Sunday mornings, since unfortunately the weekend is only two days long. Perhaps a Sunday afternoon bike ride? Or is this event designed to be a primarily Jewish fellowship event?

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The Catholics can go to Mass on Saturday. Most Protestant faiths have evening services that can be attended. The website shows this bike ride is to go from 8 am to 1:30 pm.

I don't see anything about a fee. ???

Is the registration just to limit the number of participants?

OT and I know its outside of the general migration pattern, but did Rosedale Park/N. Rosedale ever have a significant Jewish population?

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Originally Posted by detroitjim

I don't see anything about a fee. ???

Is the registration just to limit the number of participants?

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Once you fill out the registration you will see a fee of $20 for the tour and $15 for picnic only.

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Originally Posted by DetroitPole

OT and I know its outside of the general migration pattern, but did Rosedale Park/N. Rosedale ever have a significant Jewish population?

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I don't think so. The nearest synagogues would have been Beth Moses on Evergreen near 7 Mile [[see shtetlhood.com), and Beth Hillel on Outer Drive near Sinai Hospital.

This sounds like fun, the only thing more I would ask is for Jjaba to be one of the tour guides.

Just a heads up for next Sunday 8-21 ! Plenty of spots still available.

Great tour!

Thanks a lot to everyone who organized it. We had a lot of fun and learned a lot. The pace was leisurely... about 7mph average, so we got to enjoy a lot of the scenery and historical spots. Stopped inside the Downtown Synagogue and the Reconstructionist, too. Had a great lunch afterwards in Milliken Park.