Evolving movement is adding youth group, camp and more congregations.

JULIE WIENER

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Philadelphia

he 450 rabbis and synagogue
lay leaders gathered here last
month from around the
country acted more like
young campers than participants in the
opening plenum of the
Reconstructionist Federation's biennial
convention.
Consistent with the announcement
of plans for the first Reconstructionist
summer camp, revelers at the confer-
ence snacked on camp favorites, bug
juice and s'mores — marshmallows and

Metro Detroit's
Reconstructionists

SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN

Staff-Writer

hen Detroit's first
Reconstructionist syna-
gogue was established,
it was named
Congregation T'Chiyah, for the
Hebrew word meaning "renais-
sance," like the nearby Center that
opened the same year.
ust as the Renaissance Center
symbolized a renaissance in down-
town Detroit, our dream was for a
rebirth of Jewish life there," says
Sandy Hansell, president of the syn-
agogue that began holding services
in Detroit's Greektown area in 1977.
"But as time went on, more of our
members moved to the suburbs," says
Hansell. The congregation found it
necessary to divide into two groups.
Twelve families remained downtown,
where they continue to hold services

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chocolate squares melted on
graham crackers — and sang
Hebrew songs with a guitar-
playing man dressed in shorts
and a bright yellow T-shirt.
Reconstructionism inter-
prets Judaism as an "evolving
civilization." But it finds itself
becoming more mainstream as
many of its practices, such as
making services more partici-
patory and inclusive, are being
adopted by established
Conservative and Reform syn-
agogues hungry for "renewal"
and "transformation."
MOVEMENT on page 86

at the Wayne County
Medical Society, and the 39
others moved to Royal Oak
last year.
"First we experimented with
once-a-month services in the sub-
urbs, then twice a month, then
three," Hansell says. "Then we
passed a resolution last spring, split-
ting into two groups. Some felt pas-
sionately committed to downtown,"
he says of those whose congregation
is now called the Reconstructionist
Congregation of Detroit, led by syn-
agogue president Matthew Schenk.
"I don't think we've missed a
Shabbos service in 23 years," Hansell
says of T'Chiyah, now meeting at the
Royal Oak Woman's Club, where they
also hold major holiday services. He
hopes to gain a permanent space in
that area as well as hiring a part-time
rabbi in the near future.
The synagogue has run an active
Sunday school since its founding,
with Judy Schreiber of Oak Park
having taught there for the last 15
years. Classes are currently held in

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Metro Detroiters are among

those attending the
Reconstructionist
convention in Philadelphia.

Sandy Hansell of Congregation T'Chiyah

Hansell's Southfield office.
The congregation also has b'nai
mitzvot, holds a congregational
seder each Passover and plans yearly
Mitzvah Day activities, working
together in the community for such
causes as Habitat for Humanity.
The congregation benefited from
the Jewish community when getting
started. "The synagogue community
was very helpful," Hansell says.
"Rabbi [Irwin] Groner at Shaarey
Zedek was very supportive and
Temple Israel lent us materials."
Some items of the synagogue came
from the Jewish community of the
past. When the city of Detroit con-
demned a church building that had
housed Congregation Mogen Abraham
until 1940, T'Chiyah purchased some
of its benches, sconces and a stained-
glass window, most of which are now
in use at the Reconstructionist
Congregation of Detroit.

Membership is currently comprised
equally of those formerly from the
Conservative and Reform movements
and previously unaffiliated Jews. In
the past, the congregation also attract-
ed a few members coming from the
Orthodox movement.
"We still have a great many mem-
bers who have been with us since
almost the start," Hansell says. He was
among the six founding members who
he remembers "meeting in somebody's
living room," including U.S. Sen. Carl
Levin, who at the time was president
of the Detroit City Council.
"We have an unusual cross-sec-
tion of members," Hansell says. "A
lot of them are teachers and profes-
sors. We have authors, lawyers — a
very intelligent group." Weekly dis-
cussions on the Torah portion and
how it applies to current life, are all
member-led, as are the services.
"The buzz word of our congrega-
tion is participatory," Hansell says.
"Our slogan is: 'Join Congregation
T'Chiyah, where Judaism is not a
spectator sport.'" El

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