DETROIT

Council Assembly Will Discuss
Changing Jewish Community

NOAM M.M. NEUSNER

Staff Writer

A

The old Shaarey Zedek on Winder Street.

Former Synagogue
Destroyed By Fire

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM

Assistant Editor

O

nce a grand building
where men wore silk
top hats, the old
Shaarey Zedek on Winder
Street was for many years a
shell of its former self after
being abandoned by its last
owner, a church.
In November, a fire gutted
virtually all that was left of
the old Shaarey Zedek, leav-
ing toppled bricks covering
the front steps and the
building's inside black from
smoke.
A spokesman for the
Detroit Fire Marshal did
not have information about
the case. Earlier fires in the
abandoned building had
been attributed to vagrants.
Congregation Shaarey
Zedek was formed in 1861,
when 17 members withdrew
from Temple Beth El to es-
tablish an Orthodox con-
gregation. Their first home
was a rented hall on Mich-
igan Grand Avenue (today
Cadillac Square).
By 1887, Shaarey Zedek
had laid the cornerstone for
its own building, the first
synagogue to be built by
Detroit Jews. The facility
was located at the corner of
Congress and St. Antoine
streets. .
Some 350 attended the lay-
ing of the cornerstone, which
included among its contents
the constitutions of the
United States and of Mich-
igan, coins dated 1877, and a
list of the congregation's
membership.
Still unfinished, the syn-
agogue was rocked by a blast
in 1880 which virtually
destroyed the building.
Damage was estimated at
$4,000. Police suspected ar-
son.

14

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1991

The congregation sold,
then repurchased the
building in 1884. The syn-
agogue was formally
reopened on Jan. 17, 1886.
Sixteen years later, on
June 15, 1902, Congregation
Shaarey Zedek laid the
cornerstone for a new home
at 554 Winder Street (now
on the north side of the
Fisher Freeway), between
Beaubien and St. Antoine,
on a parcel of land donated
by Samuel Ginsburg. The
Detroit Free Press recalled
the afternoon:
"(There was) a hot sun that
shot its rays downward mer-
cilessly alike upon the just
and unjust . . . a score or
more of American flags
flapped ambitiously in a
breeze that did nothing
whatever toward the cooling
of the atmosphere."
Rabbi Yehudah Leib
Levin, founder of Detroit's
first Jewish day school, gave
an address, as did Rabbi Leo
Franklin of Temple Beth El.
The Winder Street syn-
agogue, which included. an
oak auditorium that seated
750, was dedicated in March
1903. The congregation's
new rabbi was Rudolph
Farber of Austria, who
stayed until 1907. That year,
Rabbi Abraham Hershman
took over the helm of
Shaarey Zedek.
In 1910, Congregation
Shaarey Zedek purchased a
new home at the corner of
Willis and Brush streets,
which it dedicated in 1915.
The Winder Street property
was sold to Congregation
Beth David, today B'nai
David, which occupied the
building until 1924. The
facility was then sold to a
church.
Its last occupant was the
Greater Olivet Baptist
Church.

❑

t a Dec. 16 delegate
assembly at Temple
Beth El, Detroit's
Jewish Community Council
will discuss the Jewish fami-
ly, Jewish institutions, Jew-
ish political life as well as
the future needs of the Jew-
ish community. Although
three speakers will be on
hand, the program will focus
on questions and answers.
Jeannie Weiner, the Coun-

cil's president, will moderate
discussion.
The assembly, said Rabbi
Daniel Polish, "is part of the
process of educating the
community."

Rabbi Polish is one of the
speakers. He said the Jewish
community has changed
dramatically in the last 40
years, especially in the rise
in the number of single
parents and intermarried
couples raising families.
Without proper outreach
and support, he said, not
only will Jewish spirituality

suffer, but so will Jewish in-
stitutions.
"The Jewish community
needs to take an honest
reading of where we are, and
I think we're in the process
of doing it," he said.
Other leaders who will
field questions are Mark
Schlussel, president of the
Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit, and
State Rep. Maxine Berman.
The 7:30 p.m. assembly is
for Council delegates, who
represent Jewish agencies
and organizations, but is
open to the public. ❑

Jewish Federation Preparing
For Move To New Offices

NOAM M.M. NEUSNER

Staff Writer

T

he Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan
Detroit plans on mov-
ing uptown this month, but
the building is far from fin-
ished.
Undergoing close to $2
million in renovations, the
Max M. Fisher Building,
located on Telegraph south
of Maple Road, is currently a
picture of disarray.
Plaster, piping, lighting
and carpet are strewn
everywhere on the
building's first floor.
But, say contractors and
Federation officials, much of
the chaos is cosmetic. The
building, said a manager

with Kendall General Con-
tractors, had not undergone
repairs in over 15 years.
Before changing the facade
of offices and lobbies, the
contractors had to fix the
building's roof and founda-
tion.
The building is scheduled
to open Dec. 18. The new ad-
dress is 6735 Telegraph,
Suite 30, PO Box 2030,
Bloomfield Hills, 48303-
2030 (telephone 642-4260).
The renovations are being
paid with funds privately
raised among both Detroit
and outside contributors.
The money for the renova-
tions was given solely for
that purpose, said Bob Aron-
son, the Federation's ex-
ecutive vice president.
"These are not dollars that

would have been expended
anywhere else," he said.
Besides, he added, the
renovations were completed
under budget, and the
building itself will save the
community in the form of
operating costs, parking and
travel time.
Most of the money is going
towards refurbishing the
building's first floor, which
will house the Butzel Con-
ference Suite, a Complex of
conference and boardrooms.
The second floor, where
most of the Federation staff
will have its offices, is not
being altered dramatically.
The third floor of the
building will continue to be
rented to commercial
clients. ❑

The Diaspora And Israel
To Be Subject Of Role-Playing

AMY J. MEHLER

Staff Writer

L

evi Tonkin, new ex-
ecutive director of the
Detroit branch of Aish
Ha'Torah, hopes to break
new ground with Common
Ground, a seminar probing
the relationship between
Diaspora Jewry and the
State of Israel.
The seminar, starting Jan.
8, uses role-playing tech-
niques with which par-
ticipants step into the shoes
of Israeli and Palestinian
leaders. Based in Jerusalem,
a team of North American
writers and researchers
have examined key docu-
ments, interviewed military

and political experts and
compiled their data into two
modules. The seminar,
originally developed by
Arachim, an organization in
Israel, is open to the public.
"The program equips
Diaspora Jewry _with a_
framework to make inform-
ed decisions about the Arab-
Israeli conflict," said Mr.
Tonkin, 31, a management
consultant and former
marketing and advertising
director. "It works to
strengthen and nurture our
commitment to the State of
Israel —our common
ground."
Aish Ha'Torah, with 10
branches in the United
States and Canada, began 14
years ago as an adult

Levi Tonkin

