Anchored For Now Sephardim find a temporary home at Congregation Beth Achim. It RUTH LITTNIANN STAFF WRITER Sasson Natan and Shirley Behar of the Sephardic Community. U) w U) LLJ - 3 CC H- LLJ LLJ 14 fter 75 years of home- lessness, the Sephardic Community of Greater Detroit continues its hunt for a place to call its own, but members may have found a stable, yet temporary, home at Congregation Beth Achim. "Up until now, we were like wandering Jews," said Sasson Natan, who serves as the Sephardic Community's first paid chazzan and spiritual leader. "I want people to know that this is our place right now. The next step will be to have our own synagogue," he said. Sephardim are Jews whose ancestors were forced out of Spain and Portugal at the end of the 15th century. These ex- iled Jews relocated to places like North Africa, Greece, Turkey, South America and Israel. Locally, Sephardim hope to carve out a niche for themselves by signing a month-to-month lease that would allow them to use a chapel, hallway and class- room at Beth Achim, the Con- servative synagogue on 12 Mile Road. Previously, the Sephardic Community has rented rooms in the Oak Park Jewish Com- munity Center and other Jew- ish facilities. Members are weary of schedule conflicts. They say they desperately want a place to call their own. For now, Beth Achim's Southfield location is ideal, Mr. Natan said. Local Sephardim live in West Bloomfield, Farm- ington, Oak Park and other sur- rounding suburbs. Beth Achim, though not within walking dis- tance for some Sephardi Or- thodox congregants, is at least central. The chapel affords congre- gants with environs conducive to prayer. A carved wooden arc and eter- nal light bedeck the bimah . Stained glass win- dows allow some light to shine in. "When you come into shul, you don't want to sit in a class- room," said Mr. Natan, refer- ring to previous prayer sites. "It's beautiful at Beth Achim. The minute you enter, you feel like you're in a synagogue." Aura is especially important to the Sephardic Community these days. The congregation is trying to build its membership by creating a sense of commu- nity, Sephardic style. Mr. Natan holds Torah classes before Sun- day morning services. He also teaches members traditional Sephardic songs and prayers. During services, which are held Saturday and Sunday mornings, he encourages con- gregants to participate. The chanting bounces from man to man, each wearing tefillin, each draped in a tallit. A mechitzah , made of white gauze, separates the men from the women. Mr. Natan predicts his con- gregation will stay at Beth Achim for a year, during which he hopes to recruit between 25 and 50 devoted families. He be- lieves many local Sephardim have lost their culture and have assimilated with other denom- inations. 'We're trying to bring them back, through song, through services, through the parties. Whatever it takes. We want tokeep the tradition alive," he said. In the upcoming 18 months, the Sephardic Community will continue its search for a plot of land on which to build a syna- gogue. Members have targeted locations in Farmington and "We want to keep the tradition alive." — Sasson Natan West Bloomfield. But some say their hearts are set on a half- acre of land on Lahser Road, be- tween 11 and 12 Mile roads. The location, next door to Young Israel of Southfield, is up for sale. Members of the Sephardic Community say their congregation's bank account is big enough to pay for it..But le- gal procedings have hampered them from securing a purchase agreement. "We will definitely have our own synagogue in about two years," Mr. Natan said. "Right now, the main question is where to put it." 11]