You are cordially invited
to attend the
Gala Testimonial Dinner
honoring
Cantor Louis Klein

Canton Congregation
Begins Religious School

on the occasion of his retirement

JILL DAVIDSON SKLAR STAFF WRITER

S

tarting a synagogue was
a little more difficult for
Congregation Bet Chaver-
im in Canton Township
than for most metro Detroit con-
gregations.
One challenge began with an
article in a Canton newspaper
which described the new orga-
nization and invited interest-
ed residents to call a
congregant's beeper number for

Sunday, October 22, 1995 28 Tishrei 5756

Congregation B'nai Moshe
6800 Drake Road, West Bloomfield

Cocktails: 5:30 p.m.

Program: 6:30 p.m. Dinner Following

Couvert $150 per person Black Tie Optional

Dinner Chairpersons:

Sharon & Jerome Horwitz Agnes & Bernard Klein
Magdalene & Marcel Thirman

R.S.V.P. 788-0600 for reservations and ad journal information.

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Inside the Orchard Mall 0 6337 Orchard Lk. Rd.

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rented a local church, Cherry
Hill United Methodist, to hold
their services and began to offer
classes in the home of member
Amy Rose, now the congrega-
tion's education director.
"We had to start somewhere
and this is where we started,"
Ms. Rose said.
Now the congregation has
rented a subdivision clubhouse
where it plans to hold more for-
mal classes. The Ten
Commandments,
Hebrew and temple
life will be taught to
as many as 30 stu-
dents this fall when
the 28-week curricu-
lum begins.
Although the
school is organized
and prepared to kick
off the year, the con-
gregation continues
to face challenges.
First, being in a
traditionally non-
Jewish area, it is dif-
ficult to attract
members.
"We don't live in
an area where every
other neighbor is
Jewish," Ms. Sadler
said. The general
population of the
Canton area is ex-
pected to increase by
45,000 in the next
few years when
Wendy Sadler, Sue Miller and Amy Rose prepare to
housing develop-
start Bet Chaverim's school year.
ments are completed,
information.
she said, which should add more
The day after the publication Jewish residents to the few Jews
of the article, a 1-800 number who live there today.
flashed over and over on the
"To establish a positive Jew-
beeper. When called, an infor- ish attitude is a little tough here
mation line for a white su- because you come up against a
premacist organization spewed few challenges. But that doesn't
out hatred. "That wasn't exact- mean that you can't do it," Ms.
ly pleasant," said Wendy Sadler, Sadler said.
president of Bet Chaverim.
A second challenge: since
But neither that pitfall nor nearly 90 percent of members
others organizers met along the are intermarried, it is difficult
way deterred members from for interested parties to commit
forming the Detroit area's to a membership. The problem
newest Jewish congregation.
arises when one of the partners
With a mailing list of 60 fam- has to justify the cost of joining
ilies, mostly in the Plymouth- a congregation.
Canton area, the congregation
To deal with this hurdle, the
has grown considerably since it members work together to keep
first took shape two years ago.
costs down, offering programs
Then, members of a class of- in their homes and pitching in
fered to intermarried families, where needed. -
Stepping Stones to a Jewish Me,
`We have to be able to provide
decided to organize a chavurah an education program and ser-
to meet in their homes. After the vices and not have a member-
class ended, the families con- ship cost $800 to $1,000," Ms.
tinued to gather.
Sadler said.
Eventually, interest was
Third, man;. of the members
strong enough to start a con-
gregation of their own. Members
CANTON page 22

