The Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue is launching The Sam — a new platform for arts and culture, bold ideas and civic life.
In August 2023, Samantha “Sam” Woll z”l stood in front of more than 400 people gathered on Griswold Street and did what she always did: she made everyone feel like they belonged.
She was wearing a bright blue dress that matched the synagogue’s iconic stained-glass windows. It was the grand reopening of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue — a celebration of a $7.5 million renovation years in the making — and Sam, then serving as our president, was at the center of it. She spoke about what the building represented — not just a renovation, but continuity of community, tradition and showing up for one another across generations. She spoke about Detroit, being a good neighbor and being proudly, publicly Jewish here. She was joyful and energetic, beaming with pride for what we had accomplished and excitement for the community-building work ahead.
Two months later, she was tragically murdered. The community came together to grieve her loss with an overwhelming outpouring of support. The following August we named the building in her memory and installed a bright blue sign on its exterior: Samantha Woll Center for Jewish Detroit.
The grand reopening wasn’t just celebrating the renovated building. It was a a public declaration of a larger ambition: to reimagine the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue as a true hub for Jewish life in Detroit. The renovation gave us the space. The Sam will help us further bring it to life.
The Sam is a new community platform, housed in the Samantha Woll Center for Jewish Detroit. It serves as a complement to the Downtown Synagogue and an amplifier of the organization’s impact. The Downtown Synagogue will continue providing meaningful religious life and Jewish education; The Sam expands our reach through cultural programming, organizational partnerships and building activation.
What it Will Do
In a world that’s increasingly polarized, there’s a growing number of people hungry for nuanced, thoughtful, respectful dialogue about pressing issues facing our community.
Board President Andy Doctoroff explains: “One of the things I’ve come to appreciate as I’ve gotten older is that Judaism is a lifelong journey of learning, exploration and growth. My own connection to Jewish life has deepened over time, and many people are looking for opportunities to explore their identity in ways that feel authentic and meaningful to them.
“The Sam is built on the belief that people, young and older, should have opportunities to pursue that journey in community with others — openly, respectfully and without fear of asking difficult questions. Too often, people feel they must choose between belonging and intellectual honesty. We believe there is a deep hunger for a place where people can explore Jewish identity, spirituality, culture, and the issues shaping our lives while learning from those whose perspectives differ from our own. The Sam will be a home for that exploration and for the vibrant, welcoming Jewish community that our beloved Sam Woll envisioned for Detroit.”
Three programming pillars will shape our work: arts and culture, Jewish identity and ideas, and civic life and bridge-building. Arts and culture have the power to challenge assumptions, broaden perspectives and ground us in tradition while envisioning brighter futures. In Jewish identity and ideas, we’ll grapple with the real, unresolved questions and issues shaping Jewish life today — out loud, together and always with respect, choosing nuance over easy answers. In civic life and bridge building, we’ll show up as Detroiters, engaged as one community among many. Trust is built over time, one neighbor at a time, through shared tables and shared understanding.
Our block party on Aug. 23 will demonstrate The Sam in action. A sneak preview of just one element: a new exhibit, “Annotations,” will feature local Jewish artists responding to works from the Detroit Institute of Arts, in an artistic riff on Talmudic commentary. The block party will lay the foundation for our programming culture: consistent, values-driven, co-created with partners and community members, and designed to bring people into relationship with each other and with Jewish life.
A Strategic Turning Point
After the renovation was complete, our leadership spent nearly a year in strategic visioning. With the help of organization advisers ABW Partners, we engaged members, Jewish Detroiters, community leaders, partner organizations and funders across Metro Detroit to help us understand and envision what it would mean to truly become a hub for Jewish life. In October 2025, our board adopted a new strategic plan built around five priority areas: designing for resonance and reach, diversifying revenue, expanding visibility, aligning people and purpose, and launching The Sam. Downtown Synagogue has long been a home for Jewish life Downtown; this plan will help us strengthen our organizational core and deepen our impact.
The Sam will extend Jewish engagement beyond the synagogue — reaching those who seek a place to explore their identity, amplifying the work of partner organizations and making our building a vibrant center in the city. The long-term vision is ambitious: a nationally recognized model for urban Jewish engagement, with programming that is nuanced, largely offered in partnership and draws a diverse audience that spans Metro Detroit.
The Right Person to Lead It
When we began the search for a director, we knew we weren’t just hiring for a job description. We wanted someone who understood what we were trying to build and why it mattered. That search led us to Jacob Evan Smith.
A lifelong Michigander and Jewish leader who has lived in Detroit since 2012, Jacob served nine years on Federation’s NEXTGen Board and three years on the JCRC/AJC Board, where he regularly hosted programs focused on expanding scope of empathy and creating space for “productively uncomfortable” dialogue within the Metro Detroit Jewish community. He participated in Reboot and the Schusterman Foundation’s ROI Community, national networks recognizing grassroots leadership in Jewish public life. He co-founded the Coalition Series and co-led Project Understanding, two initiatives bridging Black and Jewish communities in Detroit.
Jacob brings a rare combination of strategic vision and operational depth, most recently as the director of Mobility & Health Innovation at TechTown Detroit, and previously as the founder of Collider, a community hub in Downtown Detroit that produced 200+ events over six years for an international consulting firm. He is a natural convener with deep connections across Metro Detroit; someone who knows how to build things and how to bring people along.
Jacob knew Sam well through volunteer roles in the Jewish community and civic engagement in Detroit. The values Jacob has set out to guide The Sam read almost like a portrait of Sam herself: we lead with warmth, generosity, and joy, leaving people more hopeful than we found them. We are proudly Jewish and deeply engaged with the broader civic world, drawing on Jewish wisdom while remaining open to learning from others. We engage ideas with humility and genuine curiosity — not to win, but to understand. And we cultivate lasting relationships across every kind of difference, trusting that authentic connection can hold steady even in the toughest moments.
For her family, the launch carries its own particular meaning. Sam’s sister Monica Woll Rosen shared, “Samantha lived with extraordinary compassion, courage and a strong belief that every person has the power to make a difference. We hope that The Sam will carry those values forward and that Samantha’s legacy will inspire acts of kindness, empathy and connection for years to come. For our family, knowing that Samantha’s life’s work will continue through The Sam is deeply meaningful, and we know it will help ensure that her memory remains a blessing to all of us.”
It’s a charge Jacob takes seriously. He recently spoke at the In Step with Sam Legacy Run and shared, “At a time when there is so much negativity in the world, so much division, and such a tendency to reduce one another to labels and assumptions, we have an opportunity to tell a different story. We have an opportunity to celebrate Jewish life in all its richness, diversity, creativity and humanity. Most importantly, we have an opportunity to transform an unbearable loss into an undeniable force for good.
“Sam was a dear friend and collaborator. In the wake of her death, I dedicated myself to stepping up in my own community work in her memory, letting her example be the catalyst. With The Sam, I want to help our whole community do that, together, and at scale. Sam’s spirit — joyful, open-minded, proudly Jewish, and in authentic relationship with people of every background and persuasion — is built into everything we do. My hope is that when people encounter The Sam, they walk away feeling more hopeful, more connected and more empowered to help shape what’s next for this community.”
The Sam is still taking shape, and that’s intentional. In the months ahead, we’ll continue meeting with community members, potential partners, artists, leaders and stakeholders to help define what it becomes. We want to build The Sam with the community, not simply for it. Together we are building something that would make Sam proud. Together we can turn her memory into a blessing.
Details
The Sam’s first season of programming begins this fall, with a sneak peek at the Block Party on Sunday, Aug. 23, from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
Register at: downtownsynagogue.org/blockparty.