Rabbi's Attempt to Organize Synagogue
`Mushrooms' into Community Problem
BY FRANS SIMONS
There will be only one Ortho-
dox service in the Sthaefer. Rd.-
Seven Mile area during the
High Holy Day season—a fact
that makes the work of the
Jewish Community Council eas-
ier and will please residents of
the neighborhood.
Not as jubilant, but satisfied
that his work in seeking to est-
ablish a new congregation for
Orthodox worship has seen a
s Rabbi Sholem
beginning,
Flam. -
The past few weeks have been
hectic for the young, Canadian-
born rabbi, 'who is a teacher at
the Yeshivath Beth Yehudah.
For some time residents of
the Dexter area, in which Rabbi
Flam lives, at 3032 Fullerton,
had spoken to him about the
lack of Orthodox facilities in the
far Northwest section, a fact-
they said was keeping them
from moving into the - area.
Why not organize a synagogue
there, especially now - that the
High Holy Day season was near-
ing and people were beginning
to think in. terms of attending
services? This was Rabbi Flam's
;thought.
He rented a double store,
using his own money, and thus
began Cong. Shomrey Emunah.
Ift was also the start of a series
of complications for Rabbi Flam.
Members of two neighbor-
hood associations protested
the synagogue's moving into
store-front quarters to the
Jewish Community Council.
After much negotiation, in-
cluding efforts to find other
quarters, the , results were
fruitless.
The Council then issued a
statement to the effect that the
new congregation was a "mush-
room synagogue," basing its
claim on assertions that: 1. it
has no previous history; 2. it
had no following in the area;
3. the arrangements appeared
temporary; and 4. the premises
were located in a commercial
area and were questionable con-
sidering the dignity and dec-
orum appropriate to the holiness
Of religious services.
The Council gave as its rea-
son that it "had aligned itself'
with the position of the Vaad
Horabonim that High Holy Day
worshippers be .urged to attend
existing year-round syna-
gogues ..."
However, a _meeting sched-
uled by the Vaad and Council
never came about, and the
Council acted independently on
the complaint of the neighbor-
hood groups by stating Cong.
Shomrey Emunah was a "mush-
room synagogue."
The Vaad Horabonim later
came to Rabbi Flam's defense
by telling The Jewish News
that it did not share the Coun-
ciPs • views and that its members
were in sympathy with Rabbi
Flam's efforts.
While these negotiations
and meetings were transpir-
ing, another factor entered in-
to the picture to add still
further complications. Young
Israel of Detroit announced
plans to hold auxiliary ser-
vices in the Labor Zionist In-
stitute.
Since the institute is directly
around the corner from the • site
Of Shomrey Emunah and be-
cause Young Israel has an est-
ablished following, ticket distri-
bution for Rabbi Flam's ser-
vices began to slow down.
At 'a meeting held this Tues-
day, it was decided to merge the.
services of Young Israel and
Shomrey Emunah. Rabbi Flam
will officate together with Rabbi
Joshua Sperka.
After the holidays there will
be further talks oh Rabbi Flam's
original proposal 'for a perma-
nent synagogue. The result may
be a new Orthodox congrega-
tion in the area under both
Young Israel a n d Shomrey
Emunah sponsorship.
Meanwhile, Rabbi Flam, eager
to clear himself of the Council
chargeS and more than a little
puzzled' over the Council label,
felt the term "mushroom syna-
gogue" should be applied more
carefully in. the future.
He pointed out that the group
had taken out a charter on July
26, had rented the building for
two months with an option to
buy or lease for three years,
was seeking to establish a syna-
gogue for people who wished to
move into the area but would
not as long as there were no
synagogues for worship.
The rabbi added that what he
was most ,concerned about in
the labeling was the connotation
it carried—that of being estab-
lished for financial gain,
Ile:said that he had used
only his own money in mak-
ing preparations, and, at best,
expected that he might come
out even after paying $800 fdr
rent and another $1,000 for
a mehitzah .(to separate the
men and women), religious
articles for worship and misc-
ellaneous items.
Rabbi -Flam agreed that - a
store was not the most ideal
place for services, and claimed
he had repeated on several oc-
casions the temporary aspect
Stevenson Hits
Republican Stand
On Middle East
Of the store a§ a synagogue.
With .only limited assets,
however, he was- unable to ob-
tain anything more suitable. He
added that he thought those
making accusations of any "lack
of dignity" had not taken the
time or trouble to see how the
store had been prepared for
services.
While the- entire incident
seems to be ended, it points out
several basic problems in the
overall community which might
be aired:
1. The importance of clearing
all activities with the Council,
for had the Council known in
advance of Rabbi Flam's plans,
they might have advised him
and pitfalls might have been
avoided.
2. It brought out that auxil-
iary services in themselves
might be scrutinized in terms
of being considered "mushroom"
in nature.
3. The incident brought into
clear focus the problems created
for synagogues which are de-
pendent only on High Holiday
ticket sales for maintenance. By
our attending and becoming
members of synagogues, these
incidents could be avoided.
In all fairness to the parties
involved, the unfortunate oc-
curance might be described as
"understandable • confusion" re-
sulting in great measure from
the shifting of neighborhoods.
It offers an opportunity for
discussion, clarification and.. cor-
rection by our congregations,
the Vaad Horabonim and the
Community, Council.
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Rabbi Gets Tennessee Post
MEMPHIS, Tenn., (JTA)
Dr. James A. Wax, rabbi of
Temple Israel here, has been
reappointed to the board of
trustees of the Tennessee De-
partment of Mental, H e a lth,
policy- making body for the De-
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Libertyville, ill., (JTA) —
Adlai E. Stevenson, the Demo-
cratic presidential candidate,
sharply criticized the Republi-
can Party's platform plank on
the Middle East. He asserted
that "it ignores the Suez crisis;
it ignores the smoldering fires
of hatred - and mistrust that
menace the peace in the Middle
East."
An "analysis" of the Repub-
lican platform plank, made by
the Democratic National Com.:
mittee, accused the Republicans
of inconsistency. It said that
"although the G.O.P. platform
says that 'progress toward 4
just settlement' of the Arab-
Israeli conflict 'was upset by
the Soviet bloc sale Of arms to
the Arab s countries,' it recom-
mends no steps to redress the
imbalance, merely says • 'the
best hope for peace in the Mid-
dle East lies in the United Na-
tions."'
The statement then pointed
out that the Democratic plank
promised defensive arms to
Israel and other steps; including
security guarantees, to deter
aggression.
HAIFALL
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NEW YORK, (JTA)—A re-
port on the platform planks
adopted by the Democratic and
R e p u b lican national conven-
tions bearing on issues of spe-
cial interest to the Jewish com-
munity was issued by the Na-
tional Community Relations
Advisory Council..
The purpose of the report was
to review recommendations'
made on these issues by the
Jewish agencies, and to com-
pare them with the planks actu-
ally adopted by the convention.
The report does not analyze or
appraise the planks adopted.
• The report sets out the full
text of the planks proposed to
the conventions by the Jewish
organizations, d e a ti n g with
Arab discriminations against
American Jews, civil rights and
immigration. In adjoining col-
umns, for easy comparison, are
the planks on these subjects
actually adopted by the two
conventions.
Irving M. Engel, president of
the American Jewish Commit-
tee, in letters to the chairmen
of the Democratic and Republi-
can National Committee s,
thanked them for endorsing a
tri-faith appeal against resort
to bigotry in the impending
election campaign.
The Labor Zionist Organiza-
tion of America — Poale Zion
announced that it had decided
to call on all Labor Zionists to
vote for Adlai E. Stevenson and
Sen. Estes Kefauver.
The organization's executive
body declared that, as between
the major candidates, Gov.
Stevenson more closely "rep--
resents the best traditions of
HOLIDAY SPECIAL!
**RINGS FROM NEW YORK TO
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NCRAC Issues Report on Platforms
Adopted at Democratic, GOP Parleys
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