to the old Shir Shalom in the office build-
ing on Maple Road or to various spots along
the route. Once participants are situated,
the Holocaust Torah will be passed from
the old building to the new one. The tern-
ple's other Torahs will be walked, under
a chuppah, along the same route, chang-
ing hands nine times so different temple
affiliates can participate.
Once the Torahs are placed in the ark,
Rabbi Schwartz will place the mezuzah on
the doorpost and conduct a brief dedication
ceremony in the new sanctuary.
"When we first began, this was a dream,"
Rabbi Schwartz said. "Now it's a reality.
"Our game plan was to do this in 10
years. We beat that by three. Part of me is
proud of our accomplishments and part
of me is humbled. I got what I dreamed of.
I want parents to tell their children this
story and I want the kids to be able to say,
`If he can, why shouldn't I?"' El
A Long Haul,
A Short Road
JENNIFER FINER STAFF WRITER
0
n more than one occasion, skeptics
said they couldn't do it.
On more than one occasion they
did, causing many to refer to Tem-
ple Shir Shalom as the miracle congre-
gation.
On Sunday, the temple that began as
a small group of families will host a com-
munity-wide dedication at Shir Shalom's
new 40,000-square-foot building in West
Bloomfield.
Shir Shalom was founded in 1988 by
a group of Temple Beth El members who
left that congregation after the temple
board voted not to extend Rabbi Dannel
Schwartz's contract.
After the rabbi's departure, 30 former
Beth El families formed a chavurah and
asked the rabbi to step up to their birnah,
"We were very unhappy about what
happened," said Alan Mindlin, temple
president. "Six of us, who wanted to form
our own congregation, spread into a core
group of 30 and the rabbi said to us, 'If
you can get 100 we can talk about another
congregation.' We were naive and didn't
think it would be a problem, and fortu-
nately it wasn't. We got tremendous re-
sponse and that was the genesis of our
temple."
The congregation doesn't have to say,
We told you so.' The numbers speak for
themselves. In a time when temples and
synagogues are struggling for member-
ship, Shir Shalom continues to grow.
Since its inception on June 20, 1988, Shir
Top left:
The expandable sanctuary.
Above:
Windows will become
stained-glass murals.
Left:
The temple was designed to
look like an unraveling
Torah scroll.
Shalom membership has grown to 680
families.
"When we first started out we didn't
have a clue as to what was going to hap-
pen," said Robert Fineman, Shir Shalom's
first president. "From early on, we had
the belief we could succeed. But you
would have to have been considered a lit-
tle odd to think it could happen as quick-
ly and completely as it did.
"Right from the beginning there was
obviously a need that was felt by people
who came to Shir Shalom in that first
summer. Our first High Holiday service
attracted several hundred members. It
was larger than anyone imagined pos-
sible. This gave us credibility and a rea-
son for being."
By word of mouth the congregation
without walls began to grow. An office
in Birmingham was donated for the tem-
ple office.
'We were selling air and we were sell-
ing a dream and people were willing to
take a chance," said Bunni Lieberman,
who has been active in the temple from
the onset.
By the High Holy Days in 1988, the
congregation had established a perma-
nent location, a 9,000-square-foot office
building on Maple Road, east of Orchard
Lake Road. For seven years, the build-
ing has housed classrooms and a sanc-
tuary. -
As membership continued to grow,
talks about building a temple became
more serious and a property search was
completed in 1990. Last year, congre-
gants gathered at that site, at the cor-
ner of Orchard and Walnut Lake roads,
for a symbolic groundbreaking ceremo-
ny. On Sunday, they will gather again
to dedicate their new building. El