An Enduring Institution SHUL IN THE CM' from page 7 Today, membership dues do exist but are a modest $60 per year. While those who can afford to give more are encouraged to do so, the dues are quickly lowered for anyone who says he or she cannot afford them. "If you have the means you give more and if you don't, at least you can say you're a member of a syna- gogue," said Felsot, the synagogue president. Its nice to say you belong and if you have a death in the family or simcha in the family, you can call on the rabbi or can- tor and feel no hesitation." For the High Holidays, the synagogue draws more than 500 people to its services at the Millennium Theater, near the Northland Mall in Southfield. Contributions are requested, but not required, and no one collects tickets at the door. It was the High Holiday ser- vices that initially attracted Felsot, 56, a salesman, to the synagogue seven years ago. He and his wife had just moved back to Detroit after years in other cities and they did not have time to look for a synagogue to join before the holi- days. When they heard the Downtown Synagogue didn't require tickets, they checked it out and liked the mix of people there. Soon, Felsot was attending more regularly, even though he could have afforded the Conservative congregations closer to his home in Farmington Hills. "When I was a kid growing up, my parents never had the resources to join a synagogue," he said. "It seemed to me at the time that you had to have a certain income to afford the luxury of joining a syna- gogue, and that places weren't inter- ested in encouraging membership of people who couldn't contribute to the building fund. "So when I attended services at the Downtown Synagogue and saw a lot of Jews there who didn't look like they would belong in West Bloomfield, I thought it was great there was a place like this that people could go to and not be intimidated by fur coats and fancy cars. Like Felsot, Dr. Martin Herman could easily join a suburban syna- gogue. In fact, the retired Wayne State University professor was a long- time member of Adat Shalom Synagogue. But when his parents died 10 years ago, the resident of the Curtis-Livernois section of Detroit (he remembers when )3 4/2 1999 10 Detroit Jewish News there were six synagogues within walk- ing distance of his home) found it impossible to make it to suburban syna- gogues each day to say kaddish. "I felt that because the Downtown Synagogue was there when I needed it, I should become involved and be helpful," he said. Each week Herman gives a ride home to Julius Garber, a somewhat Louis Nino said it was "beshert" when he got a job working on the Detroit trolley, just around the corner from the Downtown Synagogue. cantankerous 90-year-old who insists he attends services regularly only to make sure there's a minyan. A Dublin native with a distinct Irish brogue, Garber "got talked into coming" to Detroit in 1950 and then ended up staying. Now the diminutive, blue- eyed man lives a few blocks from the synagogue, in a small apartment with no telephone or television. He spends most of his time read- ing James Joyce novels and taking long walks around the city. On nice days, he can wander as much as 10 miles, along the riverfront and to a thrift shop where "sometimes I get one hell of a bargain," Garber said. "I don't always feel safe, but I keep my head up as if I'm a busy man," he said of his journeys on foot. Garber is pleased the congregation encourages him to do things like open the Ark and take out the Torah. But he frequently complains about the melodies the congregation uses, Money raised will enable the syna- gogue to invest in its building, says Felsot, who would like to see the eleva- tor fixed and the top two floors — long unused — converted into study space or even an apartment for people who don't want to travel on Shabbat. The fundraiser may also heighten the visibility of the shul, which has been all but forgotten by many in the suburbs. Board member Cynthia Leven, who lives in Huntington Woods but prefers the "camaraderie" of the Downtown Synagogue to its suburban counterparts, wants to lure more suburbanites down- town. To that end, the board is trying to reach out more to the once-a-year worshippers and is thinking of organizing special Shabbat events — such as a group trip to the Detroit Institute of Arts — to encourage more reg- ular attendance. Leaders are also hoping Detroit's long-awaited casinos At the synagogue's Purim party, eight-year-old and new stadium will bring Yahcub McGee checks out the refreshments more Jews into the city, and are while his dad, Jimmy, talks to Sylvia Idelsohn. even talking about eventually setting up some sort of "Jewish c_ \ club" where gamblers or sports fans year-old chazzan, who often sports a might stop in first for a meal, shmooz- necktie with the names of famous opera ing or a holiday service. composers, performed in choirs and " Once they build the ballparks and operas before joining the Downtown casinos, it will bring more Jewish Synagogue 18 years ago. Asked what people back — not just on Shabbat changes the Southfield resident has seen but during the week, too," said in his years at the synagogue, he says Gamze. "I just hope it happens while sadly, "a lot of people have died." I'm still young enough to enjoy it." The Future Gamble Richard Agree, Isaac Agree's great- Despite losing members to cemeteries grandson and the last remaining and the suburbs, the Downtown Agree descendant on the synagogue Synagogue's leadership is mobilizing board, is rooting for the family shul, to reverse the trend. where he remembers his grandfather They are organizing the congrega- Nathan spending morning and night. tion's first fundraiser in over 30 years, a His hope is that "anything that June 27 dinner at Congregation Beth helps downtown will bring people to Shalom honoring Gamze and Idelsohn. the synagogue." 17 which are different from the "classics" he heard as a child in Ireland. To demonstrate, Garber belts out a few operatic-sounding lines, but then declares, "Not here! You might as well be talking to the table. The melodies are upside down here." Garber's objections aside, most con- gregants seem pleased with Cantor Idelsohn's traditional melodies. The 84- Cover Photos: clockwise from upper left-hand corner A The doors of the synagogue. Dr. Bruce Friedman and Rabbi B Noah Gamze roll up the Torah. Martin Herman and Nubia Pelaez C at the congregation's Purim party. Sylvia Idelsohn, wife of Cantor Israel D Idelsohn, talks with David Powell. E Nubia Pelaez talks with Ann Gamze, wife of Rabbi Noah Gamze. Jimmy McGee and his F eight-year-old son, Yahcub. G Julius Garber examines the picture of a former. congregant. Outside the synagogue.