Rabbi Spectre points to
programming and education
as the denominator for Adat
Shalom. Its United Hebrew
Schools branch is the largest
in the_ system with nearly
600 students, and its nurs-
ery school has been a
magnet for young Jewish
families seeking synagogue
affiliation.
The rabbi admits that
"location has not hurt us,
but some people go great
distances — passing other
synagogues — to bring their
children here . . . We have
some three-times-per-year
Jews, too, but not too many."
Asked about low atten-
dance at the UHS branch,
Rabbi Spectre says his syn-
agogue works with the
school to develop standards
"Sometimes people have
problems with carpools,
sometimes people think they
have muscle and believe the
standards don't apply to
them. But there are none
`more equal than others' at
Adat Shalom and, if
anything, people see that it
works here."
At Beth Abraham Hillel
Moses, Rabbi A. Irving
Schnipper has seen a steady
membership between 650-
700 families. Things might
have been different, he be-
lieves, if the synagogue —
the first to move to West
Bloomfield — had had strong
youth and school programs
from the beginning.
Rabbi Schnipper believes
his young members are
dedicated to the synagogue.
On the more traditional
scale, he has not had much
pressure for a larger role for
women. But he is concerned
about the future of Conser-
vative Jewry because of a
change in commitment by its
members.
"The amount of ritual
observance is a far cry from
what it was when all these
institutions were estab-
lished," he says. "We don't
have the same fervor of
observance."
He remembers as a youth
when adults worked six days
.
28
FRIDAY, MAY 8, 1992
SYNAGOGUE MEMBERSHIP
1992 1988
ORTHODOX
a week and spent the
Sabbath in the synagogue.
"We didn't have people com-
plaining then about the
length of the service or 'How
do we shorten it?'
"It's convenience, not
commitment. With inter-
marriage being what it is,
the non-Jewish mate will be
as Jewish as the Jewish
mate, and that's not too Jew-
ish."
The Conservative move-
ment allowed people to drive
to the synagogue on Shabbat
and go home and put the car
away. "But what has
happened?" he asks. "They
drive and do other things.
"There's no ruach, no
spirit of Shabbat. How many
even observe the Shabbat?
How do you get the spirit of a
Shabbat or yom toy if you're
doing all the mundane
things you do on regular
days?
"In the home, is there a
Jewish spirit? I don't get
that sense.
"I'm very, very pessimistic
when it comes to obser-
vance," he says. "People are
not committed to the ideol-
ogy of Conservative
Judaism. It is one thing to
modify and another thing to
abrogate."
For all these reasons,
Rabbi Schnipper is pes-
simistic about the future of
the Conservative movement.
"If this is all just from the
heart, and no observance is
needed, then what do we
need a shul for?" he asks. "Is
it the edifice that makes us
religious?"
"If we don't educate
ourselves to a certain level,
we beCome religious
secularists. Our kids can
marry Jewish kids, but is
that the extent of Jewish
life? We can be biological
Jews, lacking the theology
that goes along with it."
Rabbi Schnipper believes
that changing ritual for the
sake of gaining adherents
"is just a numbers game. If
people come regularly to
they share the
shul,
camaraderie, the intimacy,
the religiosity of being Jew-
ish."
Rabbi Spectre is not as
pessimistic as his colleague,
and takes a wait-and-see ap-
proach. He says, "I was a
rabbi for four or five years
when the hippie generation
came along. Now there is
another change: Jewish con-
sciousness, militant Or-
thodoxy, chavurot. We too
are looking and evolving."
He says there is better at-
tendance at Adat Shalom's
college campus programs, at
adult education classes, in
Israel programs.
"We're raising a more-
informed laity, a very good
group who will lead. There's
a great unwashed mass out
there, too, who will be at-
tracted by what we have to
offer."
❑
Bais Chabad of
Birmingham / Bloomfield Hills
Bais Chabad of
Farmington Hills
Bais Chabad of
N. Oak Park — F.R.E.E.
Bais Chabad of
West Bloomfield
Bais Moshe
Downtown Synagogue
Huntington Woods Minyan
Young Israel
of Greenfield
Young Israel
of Oak Woods
6
35
na
80
na
85
na
30
12
135
150
107
100
350
400
1208
1150
680
72
480
648
75
340
450
1900
650
70
600
600
na
400
500
1800
125
1351
29
700
2400
455
590
172
1650
na
700
2000
350
327
115
TRADITIONAL
Binai David
CONSERVATIVE
Adat Shalom
Beth Abraham
Hillel Moses
Beit. Kodesh
Beth Achim
Beth Shalom
Beth Tephilath Moses
B'nai Moshe
Downtown Synagogue
Shaarey Zedek
(including B'nai Israel)
REFORM
Beth El
Beth Isaac
Emanu-El
Temple Israel
Kol Ami
Shir Shalom
Shir Tikvah
HUMANISTIC
Birmingham Temple
425
RECONSTRUCTIONIST
T'Chiyah
51
SEPHARDIC
Sephardic Community
of Greater Detroit
83
na
Orthodox congregations not listed did not respond to The Jewish
News survey.
na = not available
= not in existence