Synagogues

Above, Ernie Scher, at Ellis Island

Left, Anita Graber makes a presenta-
tion to the Shir Shalom group at the
Eldridge Street Synagogue on New
York's Lower East Side.

Below, Rabbi Michael Moskowitz
leads a Havdalah service on the
Temple Shir Shalom group's trip to
New York.

SAM ENGLAND

Editorial Assistant

he first time Ernie Scher came
to Ellis Island was as an immi-
grant, 70 years ago. "Entering
this country without knowing
the language and not knowing what to
expect" was more than difficult, he
recalled. "I was so frightened that it is
impossible to put into words."
Last month, Scher returned to Ellis
Island but under
very different cir-
cumstances. This
time his trip was
organized by
Temple Shir
Shalom of West
Bloomfield.
Scher was one of
four senior temple
members who traveled to New York
with 22 high school upperclassmen and
Rabbi Michael Moskowitz for a week-
end of sightseeing, discussion and a visit
to local Shabbat services.
But some emotions were familiar for
the 82-year-old West Bloomfield resi-
dent.
Standing with his fellow passengers
on the ferry, he was moved again by the
beauty of the Statue of Liberty reigning
over New York Harbor.

T

When the ferry reached Ellis Island,
"at the first sight, I started crying. I
couldn't help it," he says.
Coming off the boat, Scher had a
surprise. "After a few minutes of search,"
he says, "I found my name on the wall
at Ellis Island. It was plaque 558. I can't
begin to tell you what that meant to me.
It is the first time that I have seen (the
plaque) and it indicated to me what a
great country this is, that a little immi-
grant boy's name will be put on a wall at
Ellis Island to
honor us who
came to this coun-
try.
Ellis Island was
the high point of
the March 19-21
trip, which took
the group to a host
of Jewish points of
interest. These included Temple
Emanuel and New York's Lower East
Side and such popular tourist locales as
the NBC studios and Chinatown. But
other moments were also moving, says
Scher, such as the services the group
attended at B'nai Jeshurun.
"The two cantors were from South
America, I believe, a lady and a gentle-
man, and they were wonderful," says
Scher. "Their voices were great and their
songs and prayers were very, very strong

Mt the fi rst sight,
I started crying.
I couldn't help it."

4/9
1999

54 Detroit Jewish News

and, oh, they
were wonderful."
Scher related
some of his won-
der to the teens
on the trip,
detailing his
experience as an
immigrant not
yet in high
school. He said
he was struck not
only by the teens'
kindness but
their keen curios-
ity as he recalled
his bewildered
first arrival at
Ellis Island.
"It is almost like telling a young
child, 12 and a half years old, to go
into an enormous black dark room,
not knowing whether there was a floor
there, a ceiling there, whether there
were walls or just nothing," he says.
"As to what it was, I had no idea what
I was entering, but when I saw that
Statue of Liberty arriving here, I knew
it was beautiful. To this day, that is
what it is."
"And I must mention one thing,"
Scher adds. "On the ferry, I, Ernie, have
very big problems with my legs. I can't
stand up too long. A lot of strange peo-

ple were sitting down who had boarded
ahead of us. And they were gossiping
and not wanting to do anything. Rabbi
Mike said that if anybody would give
their seats to the senior, it would be very
nice."
A woman, maybe in her 60s, got up
then and gave Scher her seat. "I didn't
want her to but she insisted," Scher sayk-
The woman, he discovered, was on the
boat by mistake, having intended to
catch the ferry to Staten Island, which
leaves from the same terminal.
"We were talking and she was saying
how she didn't mind making the error of
getting on the wrong ferry," he said,
"because she met us.