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Sharon Alterman and Rabbi David Nelson outside the new Beth
Shalom religious school.
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It's not uncommon for a
synagogue to follow
congregants to a growing
area; Oak Park's only
Conservative synagogue
not only stayed,
but also made a major
financial commitment.
LISA FEIN
Special to the Jewish News
A
new educational wing
highlights a major capital
drive undertaken at
Congregation Beth
Shalom, the only remaining
Conservative synagogue in Oak
Park.
No longer will children have to
cross busy Lincoln Boulevard to
attend religious school. And no
that led the $2.5-million capital
campaign — 40-year members
Suzanne and Burton Shifman
of West Bloomfield and 17-year
members Sandy and Dr. David
Kirsch of Huntington Woods.
In addition to the new
school wing, renovations have
upgraded the social hall, foyer,
lobby, restrooms and bridal
rooms. The sanctuary has new
carpeting and fresh paint. Also,
the roof was replaced, the exte-
rior entryway redesigned and
the parking lot enlarged.
\_
place in January 1996, Alterman
said.
"The capital campaign assured
the congregation of a nice future,"
said Rabbi David Nelson, Beth
Shalom's spiritual leader for 28 years.
"We were not prepared for the 21st
century. We did not have a
preschool. Because of the Shifmans
and Kirsches spearheading the effort,
members were willing to stretch for
the future of Beth Shalom."
The rabbi said Beth Shalom helps
to anchor north Oak Park, the por-
tion of the city located north of 10
Mile Road. It is a heavily Jewish resi-
dential area of Orthodox,
Conservative and Reform Jews. "We
provide a needed presence," Rabbi
Nelson said.
Shifman said, "We now have an
attractive place where
young families would
want to join our congre-
gation. We have a unique
situation — we currently
have a nursery school,
but fewer people are liv-
ing in the neighborhood
than have in the past."
That doesn't stop peo-
ple from sending their
children to school in
Oak Park. Shifman said
members who live in the
western suburbs like Beth
Shalom's heimish (warm, unpreten-
tious) environment. "It is the feeling,
the spirit of the membership, and
the ability to participate in the ser-
vice," he said. "Most of the members
pass two or three congregations on
their way to Beth Shalom. They
come not because they have to, but
because they want to. We also have a
large number of new Americans —
Russian immigrants — who we are
able to service."
U
COME TRUE
longer is the school a detached
home.
Enter the new wing and children's
artwork created from mosaic tiles
greets you — a tribute to how
warmly the youngsters feel toward
their new house of learning. Until
now, religious school classes were
held on the north side of Lincoln at
Avery Elementary School.
"For the first time in our history,"
said Franklin's Sharon Alterman,
president of the 46-year-old syna-
gogue, "we are able to have preschool
classes. In fact, we already have a
waiting list."
At a Sept. 17 dinner, the congre-
gation will honor the two couples
Time To Revamp
Three areas were identified when it
was decided to revitalize the syna-
gogue: general refurbishments, need
for a religious school and need for a
nursery school.
"We are a unique congregation,"
said Burton Shifman, a Southfield
attorney. "Economically, we are
mostly from the middle class. We are
more egalitarian. The last capital
campaign took place 30 years ago
when we were building the sanctu-
ary."
The first parlor meeting for this
latest fund-raising campaign took
A Team effort
Contributions from 70 percent of
the Beth Shalom membership helped
breathe new life into the building,
9/1
2000
41