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Touching People Spiritually

itcher rebbe, Menachem Mendel Shneerson, who
Its a story about spirituality; promise and faith.
said,
"You will be successful — materially and
It's the story of the Sara Tugman Bais Chabad
spiritually
— more than you can imagine."
its
25th
year,
the
shul
has
Torah Center. Now in -
Although he grew up and was ordained as a
served as a beacon of hope and a source of inspi-
traditional Orthodox Jew, the Bronx-born Sil-
ration for Orthodox Jews in West Bloomfield.
berberg says the rebbe's beliefs about Jewish
Under the wing of Rabbi Elimelech Silber-
outreach enlightened
berob , the Torah Center has grown from
him. "The rebbe's
35 member families to 125. It's now the
approach was that any
biggest Chabad house in metro Detroit
and every community,
with widespread support and soul-search-
even assimilated ones,
ing impact.
could be penetrated
The building itself at 5595 W. Maple
with
the true warmth
Sunday's festivities at the
has grown along with membership and
of
the
holy Torah."
Sara Tugman Bais
programming.
Time
has proven the
Chabad Torah Center
At free public festivities Sunday,
rebbe
prophetic.
will follow observance of
starting with a 2 p.m. reception, con-
Over time, Torah
Selichot, the holiday
gregants will dedicate a $450,000 expan-
Center
classes caught on
that
prepares
us
for
the
sion and renovation project that has dou-
and
an
afternoon
High
Holy
Days.
bled the size of the shul to 20,000 square
Hebrew school was
It's
during
Selichot
feet.
begun. The first Shabbat
(Hebrew for forgiveness)
The dedication will honor the memo-
Mincha minyan met in
that, through
ry of Sara Tugman,
March 1976, an hour
prayer, we ask
whose son Martin Good-
before a tornado roared
God to pardon
man is a Bais Chabad
through the Maple-
our sins and end
benefactor and leader,
Orchard Lake area; for-
our
suffering
—
and the construction
tuitously, no home of a
and
help
us
focus
assistance of congregants
congregant was darn-
on
repentance
Sam and Sara Green, Eli
aged.
and develop a
and Phyllis Rashly and
In 1981, congregants
genuine feeling
Alex and Sara Skoczylas.
launched
a fund-raising
of remorse. "God
The keynoters — Rabbi
drive
for
a
permanent
will never turn
Moshe Kotlarsky, the
building.
On
Shabbat
away a person
Lubavitch Outreach
Shira in February 1982,
who
is
truly
International executive
the first minyan met in
repentant," says
director, and Gov. John
the new shul. A year
Rabbi
Elimelech
Engler — will speak at
later, the Chabad Corn-
Rabbi
Silberberg.
approximately 3:15 and
munity Mikvah was
Elimelech
The Torah Center
4:40 p.m., respectively.
added. Soon after, the
Silberberg.
ushers in Selichot early
How fitting that the
A.I.
Morrison library,
Sunday with a 12:30
festivities fall on the same
the
largest
Judaica library
a.m. showing of a new
week as the 300th anniversary of the
of
its
kind
in Michigan,
video
on
the
teachings
birth of the Baal Shem Toy, the 18th-
opened.
of
the
Baal
Shem
Tov
century founder of Chasidic Judaism.
A daily minyan, Min-
and how they inspired
Says Silberberg: "He believed that even in
cha
and Maariv
the Lubavitch Move-
an area devoid of Torah-observant
minyans,
and twice-year-
ment to worldwide
Judaism, you could reach out and touch
ly
Singles
Shabbatons
activity. Services follow
people spiritually. He believed that every
featuring
professional
at 1:30 a.m.
Jew was inherently good, inherently a
matchmakers followed
believer, inherently spiritual — and that,
in the midst of construc-
through the proper mechanism, every
tion the last two years.
Jew had a desire to connect to God
The last two years also saw introduction of an
through the holy Torah somehow, some way."
eruv, "junior congregation" Shabbat services,
The Torah Center began simply enough with
weekly kosher dinners, and bus service to the day
a 1974 call to the Lubavitch Foundation in Oak
schools in Oak Park and Southfield.
Park to create an Orthodox minyan in West
The Torah Center — from lectures and
Bloomfield, then the far western reaches of Oak-
classes
to the library and mikvah — has
land County. The first year, a rabbi came out
become
an invaluable resource for the entire
from Oak Park to lead the weekly minyan, held
Detroit
Jewish
community, regardless of affilia-
first in a basement, then in a school.
tion or level of observance. Were he alive
With the future of the minyan bright, Silber-
today, the rebbe surely would be proud that his
berg arrived from Brooklyn with his wife, Chaya
blessing on a 26-year-old rabbi 23 years ago
Sora, and two babies in November 1975 to
was fulfilled in the form of the Sara Tugman
become the Torah Center's first full-time rabbi.
Bais Chabad Torah Center. E
He was armed with the blessing of the Lubav-

IN FOCUS

Seeking
Forgiveness

Making Way For The Mikvah

Rabbi Shaiall Zachariash of Shomrey Emunah synagogue in
Southfield speaks at last Sunday's groundbreaking for a new
mikvah behind the Jimmy Prentis Morris Jewish Community
Center in Oak Park. With three-quarters of an acre donated by
the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and money
raised privately in the Orthodox community, the mikvah will
help accommodate the nearly 4,000 women who observe the
laws of family purity. Construction is expected to begin after
Sukkot and to take roughly a year to complete. The original
mikvah, on Ten Mile Road adjacent to the JCC, will continue
to be used by men. D

LETTERS

Federation Should Aid
Non-Orthodox Education

I am delighted that Federa-
tion has decided to focus
more funds on education. I
support even more allocations
for education, both for day
and afternoon schools, and
trust that this is a signal that
Federation will once again
really concentrate (as opposed
to talking about concentrat-
ing) on its core missions.
My hope is that it will
finally begin to repair the dis-
astrous effects of the Giles
Commission's actions many
years ago. However, I note
that this focus on education
has produced some decisions
with potentially far-reaching
implication.
It is clear that Federation
has decided that a day school

education is a necessity in the
Orthodox community. So
much so that it has decided to
support Akiva to a very signif-
icant and disproportionate
degree, including the gift of a
building.
This is not new. The virtu-
al gift of a building to Beth
Jacob (so how much rent do
they pay anyway?), loans to
Beth Yehuda and other deci-
sions support the point of
view that Federation supports
day school education as a vital
aspect of the Orthodox com-
munity.
All very commendable.
However, on the other side
of the coin is that Federation
appears to have decided that a
day school education in the

9/1 1

1998

Detroit Jewish News

31

