SYNAGOGUES

House Of

1RACLE S

PAULA KIRSCH

Special to The Jewish News

T

he Livonia Jewish
Congregation is a
synagogue in tran-
sition — and some-
times turmoil.
Two years ago, the board of
directors voted not to renew
Rabbi Martin Gordon's con-
tract. Before the general
membership could vote on the
issue, Rabbi Gordon procured
a pulpit in Texas. The con-
gregation was without a
religious leader for more than
a year.
Yet the congregation has
pulled together. Friday night
and Saturday morning mi-
nyans have rarely been lack-
ing. Synagogue membership
— about 68 families — has re-
mained steady. A dedicated
core of workers continues to
run the congregation's main
fund-raiser, the Thursday
night bingo at the Wayne
Civic Hall.
The once-defunct sisterhood
has resumed meeting and 32
ladies recently attended a
meeting and then enjoyed a
hula dancing presentation.
Some members fondly refer
to the Livonia Jewish Con-
gregation as "The House of
Miracles." It is now the only
synagogue in western Wayne
County.
Established in 1959 by 10 or
12 families meeting in their
homes, the congregation grew
quickly in the "new Jewish
area" — Livonia. As the
membership increased, the
congregation rented the old
Pierson School on Seven Mile,
then purchased a farmhouse
at Seven Mile and Osmus.
The farmhouse was still too
small for holiday services, so
tents were set up at Botsford
Inn to accommodate more
than 200 people for Rosh
Hashanah and Yom Kippur
services.Eventually, the con-
gregation settled in their pre-
sent location, at 31840 W.
Seven Mile Rd., about a half-

Synagogue president Milton Goldman and
Rabbi Craig Allen.

40

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1991

Paula Kirsch is a member of
the Livonia Jewish Congregation.

mile east of Farmington Rd.,
an old United Hebrew School
building rented from the
Jewish Welfare Federation.
In time, the "new Jewish
area" of Livonia fizzled.
Several families moved to
Southfield or Oak Park. While
some families remained in
Livonia, it never became the
large Jewish community fore-
seen by some. The Livonia
Jewish Congregation,
however, survived.
Survivors — that is the im-
age the congregants pride
themselves on. President
Milton Goldman says the con-
gregation has survived the
constraints of a declining
Jewish population in the area,
an often difficult working rela-
tionship with their ex-rabbi,
and the petty bickering that
seems to prevail in any
institution.
"We have survived insur-
mountable odds," says Phyllis
Lewkowitz, the synagogue's
treasurer, "but now we need to
grow — not so much growth in
numbers, although that would
be nice too, but in con-
sciousness. We need to expand
our thinking, be less self-
involved, more oriented to the
Jewish community, the com-
munity as a whole."
As a step in that direction
the synagogue donated a few
High Holiday tickets to JARC
this year and also made a
small contribution to a non-
Jewish needy family seeking
help from area churches.
"The synagogue must find
ways to promote itself," says
religious chairman Jeff
Kirsch, "while interacting
with and helping the Jewish
community as a whole. Isola-
tion from the rest of the com-
munity causes stagnation and
right now we need a breath of
fresh air."

There is a growing recogni-
tion that change is in order for
the synagogue. The first step,
a change in the religious
leadership, has taken place
with the arrival of Port Huron
native, Rabbi Craig Allen
from Houston.
"It is my job," says Rabbi