2 Friday, July 11, 1975 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Purely Commentary Synagogues and Bankruptcies: Many Sad Past Experiences, New Edifice Complex Lessons The local synagogue experience became a sensation. The New York Times picked up the story, from the syn- agogue itself and from The Jewish News. The Detroit News speculated whether it might be a first-time synagogue bankruptcy. The editor of the Cleveland Jewish News, Jerry D. Barach in his "Editorial Notes," wrote a column "On Synagogues and Bankruptcy." Barach, who is a devoutely dedicated Jew and a strict observer of Jewish traditions, wrote: It was bound to happen sooner or later. Over-ambitious building plans coupled with decreased commitment was bound to produce a con- gregation which has gone bankrupt. It has happened to a Conservative congregation in Detroit. Though believed to be a first in the nation for a synagogue, this type of thing could very likely happen elsewhere under like conditions. According to a New York Times story, Adat Shalom Congregation in affluent Farmington Hills, a Detroit suburb, filed June 5 under. Chapter XI of the Federal Bankruptcy Law when it found itself unable to pay $4 million in debts. The congregation was allowed to retain possession of its property while it works out repayment of its creditors. The story goes on to tell that the 840-family con- gregation was forced into bankruptcy because one of its debtors, the contractor for its new synagogue, re- fused to accept a $240,000 payment on the construc- tion, contending that it ought to receive an addi- tional $300,000 because of damages caused by synagogue delays. Without going into too many more details, I think the point is made that bankruptcy is the ulti- mate price that can be expected as the result of the churchification of institutionalization of Jewish re- ligious life. We have built beautiful, expensive edifices that everyone avoids like the plague most of the year. To spend millions for a huge synagogue building only to fill it two or three times a year is about as nonsensi- cal a waste of money as can be imagined. Judaism does not exist in cathedral-like struc- tures. It exists in one's "neshama," one's soul. And if it doesn't have a home there, it won't have one in a beautiful $4-million, $5-million or $6-million build- ing. Edifice Complex and Resultant Financial Crises for Syn- agogues Arouses National Interest . . . Story of Previous Experiences and Community's Mortar Problems 1850 as an Orthodox congregation. When Beth El intro- duced ritual changes at the dedication of its Rivard St. Synagogue in 1861, 17 members withdrew and organized a new Orthodox synagogue, Cong. Shaarey Zedek. The members rented a hall over Dr. Scherer's Drug Store at 39 Michigan Grand Ave. (now Kennedy Square) between Randolph and Bates Sts. In 1864, Shaarey Zedek purchased the modest frame structure of the St. Matthew Colored Episcopal Church on Congress and St. Antoine Sts. and remodeled it into a synagogue. synagogue goes broke, that there are great debts, that they'll be met. There was struggle, but the debts were met. And there was an Orthodox synagogue that was in much more serious trouble. The difficulties were adjusted, the obligations were settled, the name of the congregation was changed and it continues to serve this community. Synagogues are not the only sufferers from edifice complex psychoses. Caution must be demanded also in con- structing other public structures. Perhaps American Jew- ish communities should he made aware of the need for se' ice without resorting to the luxurious. It would be wise, L., example, for a community like Detroit and its suburbs, with difficulties for transportation especially for the elders, to have four or five community centers all able to reach ev- ery conceivable element of all ages. The difficulties are confronted in community planning which needs revision. If it starts with the synagogues per, haps the influence upon the general community will be ex- tensive. Synagogues Versus Centers In the fall of 1876, when the membership had grown to 68 families, the frame building on Congress and St. Antoine was torn down and the erection of a new syn- agogue, on the same site, costing $15,000, was begun. On July 4, 1877, the ceremony of the laying of the corner- stone for the new synagogue took place. When the building was completed in 1878, first syn- agogue edifice to be built by Detroit Jews, discussion over financial matters arose among the members which led to the disruption of the congregation. The result was that the members were unable to pay for the building and lost it by default. On April 1, 1879, the synagogue was taken over by the contractor, former Detroit Mayor Stephen B. Grum- • mond. The membership divided into three groups, one meeting in Kittelberg's Hall on Randolph St., another meeting at Funke's Hall on Macomb St., and the third meeting at the home of Mr. Kinsell on Gratiot Ave. In 1880 the membership of Shaarey Zedek dropped to 35. Late in 1881, however, a number of faithful Shaarey Zedek members, under the leadership of President Reu- ben Mendelsohn, undertook the task of rebuilding the membership. They rented the synagogue on Congress and St. Antoine which they were forced to give up, and finally purchased it for $10,500 and dedicated it on Feb. 5, 1882. The membership of Shaarey Zedek in that year was 53. The points advanced by Barach are well taken. There is need, however, for a realistic note, at the outset. The record may as well be set straight. Synagogues that are overluxuriated and even those constructed mod- estly are not necessarily immune from financial difficul- ties. There have been bankruptcies and near bankrupticies of synagogues. To historically-minded Irving I. Katz of Temple Beth El, who has accumulated a mass of historical data about Detroit Jewry, the Commentator is indebted for the follow- The second oldest Detroit congregation had serious dif- ing: ficulties in the early 1930s. Harry Brown was at the time Temple Beth El, Detroit's oldest Jewish congrega- the chairman of the building committee. He told a gathered tion now observing its 125th anniversary, was founded in group of congregants on Chicago and Lawton Ayes. that no A New York Times story from its correspondent in St. Louis, Mo., describes a conflict in membership appeals be- tween that city's Jewish Community Center and the syn- agogues. The story is headlined: "Jews in St. Louis Attend Centers . . . Some Say Synagogues Give Less, but Cost More." A problem is exposed which may not be limited to the Missouri community but could reveal a condition affect- ing synagogues in all major American cities. In St. Louis, the Jewish Center is referred to as the "J" and it is as such that it will be described here. The NY Times story tells about meetings held with the director of the "J" by St. Louis rabbis to discuss the prob- lem, as if there were a solution in facing up to a given situa- tion by tackling competitive developments in a community. A proposal for joint memberships certainly sounded utterly foolish, if the issue revolved around the costs rather than identifications. In the St. Louis dilemma it was indicated that less than half the city's 50,000 Jews belong to a synagogue and less than half of the 14,000 "J" members are congre- gational affiliates. Is this a St. Louis problem? Or will there be a fuller realization of a basic fact — that synagogues generally are losing numerical power and are confronted with serious problems. Jewish schools in all of the major American cities are suffering drastic reductions in enrollments, due to the low birth rate. It costs as much to belong to a Jewish center as to a synagogue, and the emphasis on the health club as the center's major attraction has provided a costly way of life for center-minded Jews. But the synagogue-minded are finding it more difficult to compete on that score and the problem is not one of "St. Louis Jews Attend Centers" (to repeat the major lines in the referred-to NY Times story) but whether the recreational and the health facility which provides swimming and hand ball opportunities for Jews is not exerting a greater influence upon the American Jewish community than the spiritual Jewish sanctuary. The rabbis have become worried about it but the problem can't possibly be tackled until the lay membership indicates concern. That's when some sort of solution may emerge for the de- clining synagogue. SS St. Louis Hurt America's Image as a 'Haven' in 1939 BY HERBERT G. LUFT (Copyright 1975, JTA, Inc.) Today we hear a great deal about the inscription at the foot of the Statue of Lib- erty. The words by poetess Emma Lazarus, written in the 1880s, are widely quoted to stress our tradition never to refuse shelter to those who seek freedom on the shores of these United States. Yet the sentiment was different a generation ago when America joined the world at large to close the doors to those who were condemned to die in Nazi Germany. The odyssey of the SS St. Louis and her homeless pas- sengers is but one example of the callousness of the Western world on the eve of a mass extermination un- precedented in the history of mankind. It was in May of 1939 when Jews were still able to exit Germany if they had valid papers and left their earthly belongings with the Nazi regime, that the trek of the SS St. Louis began in Hamburg. A group of 937 Jews boarded the boat seeking survival across the ocean. They had bought visas at Cuban consulates in Ger- many. Yet, when their ship arrived in Havana, the gov- ernment refused to honor the visas, though similar papers had been recognized as valid at many previous arrivals. The cause for the change of policy can be traced to the International Conference on Refugees held at. Evian-les- Bains in the fall of 1938. The ill-fated conference, called upon to help Jewish civilians to escape mass murder, made the civilized nations suddenly aware of By Philip Slomovitz an influx of newcomers from the continent. It trig- gered the decision not to gtarnt extraordinary privi- leges or simple protection, in fact to strengthen estab- lished restrictions. When the Cuban admin- istration turned away the SS St. Louis from her shores, the German cap- tain tried vainly to disem- bark his cargo of human misery off the Florida coast but the ship was forced back by U.S. gun- boats. The captain was reluctant to return his passengers to Germany. There were no funds for refugees except moneys col- lected by American Jewish organizations. The leaders of the Joint Distribution Committee contacted West- ern European governments and finally the small num- ber of 937 Jews was divided between England, France, Belgium and Holland. Some 750 that were taken to France, Belgium. and Hol- land wound up in intern- ment camps and were among the very first to be shipped to the East for mass extermination when the low-countries and France were overrun by the Ger- man Wehrmacht in the spring of 1940. The United States then favored a strict isolationist policy. Unlike today, labor unions were opposed to im- migration. The tedious proc- ess of receiving an Ameri- can immigration visa was made more diffucult when the newcomer was re- quested to prove that he was paying for his transporta- tion to the States with his own money — something not possible in German-oc- cupied Europe where all Jewish bank accounts were impounded. America was still at peace in 1940, but no ar- mada of ships was chart- ered to bring those who faced certain death into the freedom of this coun- try, as it had been done earlier when Ambassador Henry Morgenthau ini- tiated the transfer of hundreds of thousands of Armenians from Anatolia; as is being done now with the multitude of Viet- namese. In 1940, the government didn't pay to bring refugees to this country, but spent money to keep them away. England turned away many boatloads of unfortunate ones from Palestine. Where was the outcry of humanity, when the "final solution to the Jewish prob- lem, - the genocide of a whole people, was an- nounced brazenly at the "Wannsee" conference? Hebrew U. Adopts Academic Budget JERUSALEM — Hebrew University adopted a regu- lar budget for the academic year 1975/76 in the amount of $63.4 million which will be balanced with the help c increased contributions from the university's Friends Organizations from around the world. More than 70 percent of the budget will derive from public support. Also adopted was a building and development budget for the same period totalling $13.3 million. The university's develop- ment program for next year calls for continued work on the life sciences complex on the Givat Ram campus, for further work on the Rehovot campus of the faculty of agriculture and for work on the Mount Scopus campus. The university also an- nounced a five-year develop- ment plan for all of its cam- puses.