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SOUTHFIELD
A FAMILY AFFAIR
So Downriver Jews have
learned to depend mainly
on themselves, he said.
Those who belong to Beth
Isaac have found a close-
knit Jewish family, Mr.
Freeling said. He
discovered that a few years
ago when his father died in
New York. Coming home
to Lincoln Park shortly
after the funeral, Mr.
Freeling was greeted by 28
people at his home who
wanted to participate in a
minyan for him. "We had a
minyan for the next four
nights."
That togetherness,
however, has not been uni-
versal.
After longtime lay leader
Ralph Aaronson moved in
1965 to Niles, Ill. return-
ing only for High Holy
Days services and occa-
sional bar mitzvahs, Beth
Isaac tried to manage,. The
congregation hired two
rabbis in the late 1960s
and early 1970s, but soon
reverted to lay leadership.
That was fine for a while,
said Mr. Freeling, who
often conducts services us-
ing a Baille prayer book.
But synagogue members
felt they needed more spiri-
tual guidnce and exper-
tise which could only come
from a rabbi. With only 40
families, the synagogue
could not afford a full-time
rabbi.
In May 1989, after three
years of discussions, Beth
Isaac affiliated with the
Reform movement because
it best met the congrega-
tion's needs and would
provide a student rabbi,
Mr. Freeling said.
While the synagogue still
uses Conservative prayer
books and retains a kosher
kitchen, the decision
meant the loss of six
families. Most left the con-
gregation because they did
not like the new affiliation.
Phil Ellias, a longtime
Beth Isaac member, said he
attended a service led by
student rabbi Debbie Pipe-
Mazo, but felt it was too
watered down. He now at-
tends Congregation B'nai
Moshe and has strong ties
to Detroit's central Jewish
community.
But those who stayed at
Beth Isaac couldn't be
more pleased with the
leadership of Ms. Pipe-
Mazo and her successor,
Ruth Alpers. Services are
,
held every Friday night,
with the student rabbi
coming once a month from
Cincinnati. Congregation
members lead the remain-
ing services. The Sunday
school has 17 students,
although that will drop
when the four D'Loss chil-
dren move this summer.
Like any synagogue,
there are devoted core
members. "The young peo-
ple are just as active as we
were, maybe more so,"
Mrs. Blumberg said.
That includes many of
the non-Jewish spouses.
The Downriver area has
always had a high percen-
tage of interfaith couples,
Mrs. Blumberg said.
Revelyn Chernoff, who
shares her Downriver
home with her two sons,
knows there is a good
chance they will marry
non-Jews. After all, in re-
cent years, few Downriver
Jews have married within
the faith.
"Because of the number
of interfaith couples, we try
to make them as welcome
as we can," Mrs. Blumberg
said. "Most of the time, the
non-Jewish partner is just
as interested."
Mrs. MacNicol's hus-
band, Nelson, has no plans
to convert, but he is an in-
tegral part of the congrega-
tion. In May, he will
become the synagogue's
vice president, even though
as a non-Jew he will not be
able to serve as president.
"It's hard to have the
same people do all the
work," Mr. Freeling said.
"Without new blood, it will
be difficult."
"We have tried to get
other Jews in the
Downriver area to join the
synagogue, but we've
never really been suc-
cessful," Mrs. Blumberg
said.
Despite the difficulties
facing Downriver's Jewish
community, few plan to
leave.
"When I first moved
Downriver, it might as well
have been Kalkaska," Mrs.
Blumberg said. "But there
is nothing I miss. My life is
Downriver. This commun-
ity has given me every-
thing I need because my
children were also able to
get a Jewish identity. If
that were impossible, I
would feel differently."
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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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