12/5
1997

70

Jewish community, and we gambled."
The rabbi doesn't think the depar-
ture of B'nai Moshe boosted his mem-
bership at all.
"What we always had at Beth
Shalom was a love of young people
and older people, a balance. We were
the first group in the city to have pro-
grams for seniors, 24 years ago, the
Enhanced Generation. And program-
ming for new Americans — we talked
about having a newsletter in Russian."
An effort last year to start young
adult chavurot has blossomed into two
thriving groups of young couples.
Beth Shalom was the first
Conservative shul in
Detroit to go egalitarian,
allowing women aliyot
and full inclusion in
Jewish ritual, almost
from the moment Nelson
took over in 1972, and it
was the first to have a
female congregational
president. Arid it has
never been too big (cur-
rently, approximately 750
families belong).
– The social hall, lobby,
entrances and bathrooms
were renovated and
expanded, with the idea
of bringing the building
into the public eye, says
Nelson. Previously, Beth
Shalom remained hidden
by trees from Lincoln
Road, which it faces.
"The renovation of
the synagogue has made
it more contemporary
and more inviting to the
younger generation," says
Jill Cody Dones, 37.
"That's very important. We're seeing
so many young faces come in now I
think that has a lot to do with it."
But Dones, a "friendship" member
and chairperson of the new members
committee, says new staff members
also have helped update the shul's
image.
"Barbara Cook [Beth Shalom's first
executive director] has been an unbe-
lievable asset to the synagogue with
her fresh ideas, which the synagogue
needed. And with the new school,
new teachers coming in are going to
be younger — it is going to set a
precedent for the entire area
Dones and her husband Aaron live
in Waterford, a 30-minute _drive from
Beth Shalom. But they make the com-
mute because of Rabbi Nelson.
"His up-to-date points of view, his

D'var Torahs are always relating to
current events, which draws everyone
in. We can all relate to what he's talk-
ing about. You just get a warm feeling
when you're around the people there,
and I attribute that to Rabbi Nelson
and [his wife] Alicia," Dones says.
Drawing new members from all
over the Detroit metropolitan area,
Beth Shalom runs the risk of pinching
other area Conservative shuls, like
Southfield's Shaarey Zedek or Beth
Achim — especially now that Beth
Shalom has plans for a nursery school
of its own.

Beth Shalom with my family, but
we've never been able to afford our
own membership anywhere and they
offered this free one," she explains.
"It seems like they have a lot of
new young families with young kids.
We went to a couple of activities there
for the holidays, because
close —
Shaarey Zedek is not as close as Beth
Shalom is for us."
Yet, if another shul had offered the
Ederys a free membership, they would
have given it a try, says Missy. "It was
an affordable way to be affiliated with
the synagogue."

,210.112.kA;.4,:m

Beth Shalom 4as always had a reli-
Missy Edery says her family is
gious school for kindergarten through
enjoying Beth Shalom and will consid-
8th grade, but never a preschool.
er joining when the one-year free
Oftentimes, families will enroll
membership expires. A major
their children at a synagogue
consideration for them is the
preschool and then end up
convenient
location and
Beth Shalom
joining after they become
promise
of
a
local nursery
straddles the
familiar with the shul.
Orthodox and school.
The decision to start a nurs-
Most of the 140 new fami-
Reform com-
ery school was part of the
lies to join Beth Shalom are
munities.
effort to save the synagogue.
young families "who are try-
"I didn't want to send con-
ing to figure out their priori-
gregants to other nursery schools and
ties," says Nelson. Ten percent of all
hope they'd come back in two years,"
Beth Shalom members have children
says Nelson. "That's what we call
enrolled at Hillel Day School.
institutional suicide."
In recent years, Shaarey Zedek, the
Missy and Gidon Edery,
largest Conservative presence in
Huntington Woods residents with
metro Detroit, has poured much of
their children, Maya, 4 1/2, and
its resources into outlying sites, like
Adam, 9 months, joined Beth Shalom
the Irving and Beverly Laker
this fall. Missy "grew up attending
Education and Youth Complex, the

B'nai Israel Center and the Eugene
and Marcia Applebaum Jewish
Parenting Center, all in West
Bloomfield. And Beth Achim does
not have a nursery program. The
Nelsons do not consider Beth Achim
a competitor.
At Shaarey Zedek, Rabbi Irwin
Groner isn't worried. He offers Beth
Shalom a loud mazel tov "for their
outreach to the Jewish community of
Oak Park and other suburban areas.
As they advance and strengthen their
own congregation, they help nurture
the growth of Conservative Judaism
throughout metro
Detroit."
And, Groner notes,
Shaarey Zedek does
have schooling in
Southfield. "Our nurs-
ery school is in West
Bloomfield, but we
have a branch of the
nursery school here
in Southfield at
Shaarey Zedek,"
Groner says.
And while many
Shaarey Zedek members
may live in the northern
suburbs, Groner says the
shul is staying put. "We
have a commitment to
this synagogue and this
community for the fore-
seeable future."
Incoming Shaarey
Zedek president Dottie
Wagner says there's
more than enough room
for different avenues of
Conservative Judaism in
the suburbs of Detroit.
"We have lots of pro-
grams in Southfield," she says. "I firm-
ly believe there's a place for everybody.
I feel very comfortable that another
shul is embracing the northwest corri-
dor. Shaarey Zedek is fortunate — we
have different points of entry."
Rabbi Nelson notes that "it's won-
derful to see the Orthodox strength
in this area, but it's not just the
Orthodox. We have equal strength in
terms of numbers of people buying
[homes] in Oak Park, Southfield. My
wife and I have served on every corn-
mission there is to serve on in
Southfield, it's a fully integrated city.
Huntington Woods has its own char-
acter and charm and tremendous
strength. All that combines to form
an area where, if you offer people
something of quality, they will
come." ❑