Allan Nachman
Interviewed by Stanley Meretsky
July 28, 2005
Max M. Fisher Federation Building, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Allan Nachman
Video 00:48:00
Allan Nachman
Audio 00:48:00
Abstract
In this oral history interview, Allan Nachman speaks about his parents and his upbringing. He mentions his parent met at a B’nai B’rith Yom Kippur dance and married and a year later he was born. Nachman talks about having an Orthodox father, and then living in a neighborhood that was becoming mostly Jewish right around 1940-1941. His father was one of the founding members of Northwest Hebrew Congregation, and he was raised in a Conservative Jewish environment, and received his Jewish education here.
As a young person, Nachman was started the Brandeis AZA chapter, was active in BBYO in High school, then became active in Hillel at University of Michigan. After graduating law school, he joined the Junior Division and became president in 1969.
Mr. Nachman then speaks about his elementary school days and talks about the schools that were predominantly Jewish back then. When asked about mentors, he mentions those at BBYO and in the Junior Division who had taught him lessons in life.
When asked about the Boesky Award and the Wetsman Award, Nachman talks a little about both awards. He mentions his work with het Young Leadership Cabinet of the United Jewish Appeal, and missions to Israel. Nachman tells the story about being captured by Egyptians in 1974 while in Israel.
Next, Mr. Nachman talks about meeting his wife, and his involvement with Adat Shalom synagogue and Jewish education, as well as being a part of the allocation committees for Federation. Secularly, he mentions being involved with the Hospice of Michigan and his hobby of woodworking.
Finally, Nachman speaks about his wife, his children and the importance of the relationships he has made over the years with clients while practicing law. He reiterates the importance of Jewish education.
History of Narrator
Allan Nachman was born in 1938 in Detroit, Michigan. He received his B.A. in 1960 and his J.D. in 1963 from the University of Michigan Law School.
Nachman holds a long and impressive record of volunteerism and leadership in the community. He has served on the boards of the Jewish Federation and United Jewish Foundation of Metropolitan Detroit, Hospice of Michigan and Adat Shalom Synagogue. He is a past member of the Board of Directors of United Way and Hillel Day School. A former president of Federation’s Junior Division, he is recipient of the 1969 William H. Boesky Award for Outstanding Leadership, as well as 1972 Frank A. Wetsman Leadership Award and in 2017 he was awarded Federation’s prestigious Butzel Award.
An ardent supporter of Tamarack Camps, Nachman is a past president of the Fresh Air Society (1980-83). A member of Federation’s Board of Governors since 1969, and on the Executive Committee since 1988, Nachman has held numerous leadership positions with Federation, including chair of the Planning and Allocations Committee. Nachman has also played an active role in the community’s missions to Israel, serving as chair of Federation’s Teen Missions (1988 and 2000) and as a bus captain on Federation’s first Michigan Miracle Mission to Israel in 1993.
Nachman is co-founder and executive director of Cabaret 313 and has been active in the Friends of Modern & Contemporary Art of the DIA, Hospice of Michigan, the Michigan Opera Theater, and a governing member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.Leonard N. Simons Jewish Community Archives.
Transcript
Important Subjects
Important Names
Credit as: Leonard N. Simons Jewish Community Archives. Allan Nachman Oral History Interview, July 28, 2005.