Early member Jo Anne Levy has been active since the congregation's early days.
Ed Witkow, president of Shir Tikvah.
Church and now at the
Norminster Presbyterian
Church. Its religious school
classes are at Costello Ele-
mentary School. There are
no typical flavors of Jewish
life in the bedroom commu-
nities east of Woodward, no
delis to be seen, no book-
stores or synagogue build-
ings. But as member Iry
Wengrow said, "You don't
need to have a deli to have
Jewish life."
Rabbi Sleutelberg knows
about being Jewish in a non-
Jewish area. He grew up in
Hudson, Mich., near Jack-
son, the son of Holocaust
survivors. A graduate of Al-
bion College, Rabbi Sleutel-
berg said he didn't need
exteriors to remind him of
his faith. His home was rich
in Jewish life. He was the
rabbi half-time for Shir Tik-
vah and for a congregation
in Traverse City when Shir
Tikvah decided it needed
him full-time four years ago.
The rabbi might be differ-
ent from most. His soft-spo-
ken and welcome approach
disarms the skeptic and
brings him closer to Ju-
daism. Rabbi Sleutelberg's
members call him "Arnie" or
"Rabbi Arnie." His services
reflect his love for music.
The prayers are largely sung
in the style of Chasidism
and classicism. Members
can learn the services from
cassettes and special sid-
durs recorded and produced
by the congregation. A new-
comer would soon forget he
was davening in a church.
But just in case, the congre-
gation covers all Christian
symbols in their meeting
place.
"We're unique on the Jew-
ish scene here in Detroit,"
said Rabbi Sleutelberg. "We
are it in our area, and we
consider our area to be Troy,
Rochester Hills, Rochester
and Royal Oak. We're a
small Jewish congregation,
but we feel like we're an ex-
tended family. People know
each other and want to be
with one another."
Rabbi Sleutelberg said
services are designed to al-
low a person to feel self-ac-
tualized through prayer. He
calls the service an art form,
and he sees it as his job to
create an atmosphere where
people can pray.
"The difference here is
that we're willing to create
our Judaism rather than
stepping into a form of some
sort," he said. "We want Shir
Tikvah to be an inspiration
for its members to find that
they can live fully as Jews
each and every day of their
lives. I think it's important
to realize that the Jews who
choose to live on the east
side are in many ways dif-
ferent Jews than those on
the west side."
Different, he said, because
many of the east siders
didn't follow the migration
patterns of most Detroit
to f tio
rfillAxte,c_+
b_
urbs. The Troy and
Rochester areas are more
transient with people mov-
ing in and out, based typi-
cally on business transfers.
"I think it's easier to be a
Jew out here," said Ms.
Wenig. "When you aren't
necessarily surrounded by
Jews, you don't take your
Jewishness for granted."
Her daughter, Cara, a 16-
year-old junior at Cranbrook
and the president of Troy
Area Temple Youth, said
she doesn't feel left out of
Jewish teen life by not liv-
ing elsewhere. She is also
active in MSTY, Michigan
State Temple Youth, so she
comes in contact with oth-
er Jews her age from all
over the state.
Congregation president
Ed Witkow agreed, saying
that living in Sterling
Heights has not produced
any negative effects for his
family. His wife, who is not
Jewish, has given presenta-
tions on Jewish holidays
such as Chanukah to her
children's public school
classes.
The rabbi isn't certain
how many Jews live in these
largely gentile neighbor-
hoods. Seventy percent of
his membership live east of
Woodward. The congrega-
tion does have members
from more traditional Jew-
ish areas such as Oak Park,
Southfield and West Bloom-
field.
Ben and Remy Sweet are
Oak Park residents. Ben
was a B'nai Moshe member
when it was located on 10
Mile Road. After it moved,
however, he felt disenfran-
chised and decided to go
shul shopping with his wife
Remy, who happens to be
Filipino. Mr. Sweet was
skeptical about Reform con-
gregations, but after five
minutes at Shir Tikvah he
knew he was home.
For Remy, a convert,
there was something miss-
ing at Shir Tikvah that was