Cover Story

Making Their

Grosse Pointe Jews, though small in number,
thrive outside Detroit Jewry's core.

HARRY KIRSBAUM
Staff Writer

F

ar removed from the heavily-Jewish north-
west suburbs, the Jews who live in the Grosse
Pointes have created an east-side Jewish com-
munity that fulfills all their needs.
The group is not the typical Jewish congregation with a
building and full-time clergy, but they mark milestones
and holidays together, and they support a thriving Sunday
school. Representing all streams of Judaism, they've creat-
ed a sense of community that works well for them.
And they continue to grow. In the past 11 years, the Grosse
Pointe Jewish Council (GPJC) has nearly tripled in size
because of its adaptability and the closeness of its 175 families.

"The Grosse Pointe Jewish Council was founded
because we were isolated, and there was a common
interest of education, cultural interests and religion,"
said Jeff, the board's first president.
From Secular Humanistic to Orthodox, the GPJC
membership now includes most streams of Judaism and
reaches out to all five Grosse Pointes. With that diversi-
ty comes challenges to preserve the community and
maintain the needs of all, he said.
"We emphasize Judaism, but minimize the diversity
within Judaism, and everyone in the community has
accepted it wholeheartedly," he said. "We don't have the
luxury of having five or six different affiliations and
divisions in the area."
Interestingly, despite the diversity, everyone agreed the
first order of business was an educational program for
the children.

Serendipitous Beginnings

Opportunity brought Janet and Jeff Weingarten to the
Pointes from Chicago in 1989. Jeff, an ear, nose and
throat specialist, began a medical practice at St. John
Hospital and Medical Center. He met other Jewish doc-
tors who lived in the area and found they shared a com-
mon problem — they were forced to shuttle back to the
northwest suburbs to go to shul.
That first winter, Janet wanted to throw a Chanukah
party, and she decided to cast her net for other Jews in
the neighborhood. She asked her husband and children
to spread the word at work and at school.
"We didn't think anything was going to come from
this," Janet said. "I thought we were the only Jewish
people in town."
About 150 people showed up. Addresses were
exchanged, a list was drawn up and, within a few
months, the GPJC was formed with 63 families in 1990.

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2001

14

Sunday School Started

When first legally incorporated, the GPJC used part
of its $75 yearly dues from each family to form a
Sunday school, oriented toward "the enjoyment of
religion," Jeff Weingarten said. But they needed a
teacher willing to work one day a week to instruct a
small group of children who would eventually need
bar or bat mitzvah training.
They found Wendy Newman. She had taught for the
now-defunct United Hebrew Schools, but had to cut
back because the business she shares with her husband
was beginning to take off.
After a couple of phone calls, a match was made.
"It's good for my soul," said Newman, who, 10 years later,
still travels across town from Huntington Woods to teach

POINTE

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