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A Sparkling Star
DAVID SACHS
Senior Copy Editor
s
9/28
2001
118
ince 1953, Temple Israel mem-
bers have benefited from the
brilliance of Sonia Syme — the
beloved temple leader, teacher,
scholar and wife of the temple's equally
beloved Rabbi M. Robert Syme.
"She had such a quick and probing
mind," recalls Rabbi Paul Yedwab of the
West Bloomfield temple. 'And there was
always a sparkle in her eye.
"Even if she were disagreeing with
you, there was always that sparkle. I
loved to learn with her and I loved to
watch her teach."
Even the temple's 12th-grade classes
sensed her brilliance -- having the pop-
ular Mrs. Syme as a teacher was an
incentive for religious school students to
stick it out to the senior year and gradu-
ate.
"She taught back in the years when
everyone was so concerned about their
children going off to college and being
grabbed up by a cult," said past sister-
hood president Carol R Cooper of
Bloomfield Hills. "She taught a class to
these high school seniors on cults. They
would later call her from college and say,
`What do I do about this?"
Mrs. Syme, 83, of West Bloomfield,
died Sept. 25. She had been house-
bound for several years with multiple
physical ailments.
"Through the years of her illness, one
could not help but be impressed with
her incredible courage," said Temple
Israel Rabbi Harold Loss.
"Clearly, it was the support of her
family that kept her alive. Our congre-
gation and community will truly miss
her."
Sonia Hendin was born in a small
town in Russia and her family fled to
Canada during the 1917 revolution, set-
ding in Winnipeg. She later earned a
bachelor's of science degree from the
University of Manitoba and moved to
New York with her husband, a fellow
Winnipegger and a rabbinical student at
the Jewish Institute of Religion in New
York City. They had married secretly
because, at the time, the rabbinical stu-
dents were given stipends and were not
permitted to marry. Before the Symes
settled in Detroit, Mrs. Syme worked as
a laboratory technician and chemist.
"She was the smartest one in our fam-
ily — I'm serious," said her son, Rabbi
Daniel Syme of Temple Beth El in
Bloomfield Township.
"First and foremost, however, she was
a mother who protected and cared for
my brother David and me with an
unconditional love.
"When it became apparent that
David had musical genius, she began to
teach public school as a substitute and
put aside S20 a day until she could buy
him his first grand piano. When I was
stricken with cancer at the age of 20,
she scoured the medical journals and
found the one person in the world who
was pioneering a treatment. That was
the kind of mother she was.
"She was a gifted classical pianist,"
said David Syme. "She gave me my first
exposure to the piano and I was actually
seeking ro emulate her when I began to
play.
"When I went to Poland for the
Chopin International Competition in
1975, she went with me," he said.
Daniel Syme eulogized his mother at
services Wednesday at Temple Israel and
David Syme played a Chopin piano
piece as part of a musical tribute to her.
In addition to her devotion to her
family, Mrs. Syme was a powerful force
in both the temple and the
community.
She taught adult education
classes for the Reform move-
ment's former cirvwide
College of Jewish Studies and
was director of religion and
My Beloved
Mrs. Syme
ROBERT A. SKLAR
Editor
E
very once in a while, someone
comes along who inspires you
to search deep within your
soul to find the passion to
learn Jewishly and the vigor to live as a
Jew.
For me, Sonia Syme was such a per-
son.
Mrs. Syme was one of my teachers
during the 1960s at Temple Israel, locat-
ed in those days in Palmer Park area of
northwest Detroit. And more than any-
one besides my parents, she made me
want to study my religious history and
heritage.
She had a special knack for connect-
ing to teenagers. Those were highly
education for the temple's sisterhood.
She planned its retreats for more than
25 years.
She was an expert on responsa — the
scholars' method of exploring Jewish
answers to modern ethical dilemmas.
"It was everything from biomedical
ethics to whether a man who has a
toupee is also required to wear a yarmul-
ke," said her son, Daniel.
She studied Jewish law with renown
Rabbi Solomon Freehof of Pittsburgh
— and she was a lifelong student.
"Mom had students from every move-
ment, including many young men who
are Orthodox rabbis today," said son
Daniel. "That's how brilliant she was,
that they came to study with her."
Mrs. Syme also served for nearly three
decades on the board of directors of
Botsford General Hospital in
Farmington Hills, with stints as chair of
its professional affairs committee and as
vice-chair of the board.
Botsford President-CEO and temple
member Gerson I. Cooper said Mrs.
Syme's background in responsa prepared
her well to handle complex medical-eth-
ical issues.
A major accomplishment for Mrs.
Syme was the Institute on Judaism she
created and presented with the aid of
sisterhood volunteers. The yearly day-
long symposium has introduced
Judaism ro thousands of secular teachers
from Wayne and Oakland
counties for three
decades. Its purpose is to
enable teachers to better
understand and accom-
formative years for us; we
could be restless, suspi-
cious and unforgiving.
She knew that she had
only a moment to win us
over and that Sunday school was more
apt to be a turnoff than an inspiration.
Yet she persevered — always undaunted,
always animated.
Mrs. Syme had a commanding pres-
ence, but she got down to our level. She
taught us about biblical times, the holi-
days and sacred books in a way that I
could relate to — in a way that was, my
God, fien.
She was the wife of revered Rabbi M.
Robert Syme, a captivating speaker with
a loyal following. And they had three
sons on whom she doted. Yet she
savored her individuality and taught
others to savor theirs.
Talk about the impact of a Jewish
education! She gave me a love for
modate the needs of their Jewish stu-
dents.
Mrs. Syme was also a popular lecturer,
said sisterhood's Carol Cooper. "When
people knew she was going to speak, it
was a sellout."
Her 59-year marriage to Rabbi M.
Robert Syme was a full partnership,"
said their friend and temple member
Ph _ illip Bittker of Bloomfield Hills.
"The rabbi would always ask for her
opinion and she gave it like it was. Not
necessarily what you'd like to hear; it
made no difference. She saw it as she
saw it and said it that way. She was very
strong woman."
Said Rabbi Yedwab: "This is a soul
that simply will not die. She will live on
clearly in the hearts and the minds and
the intellects and the very souls of the
people that she's taught through the
years."
Sonia Syme is survived by her hus-
band, Rabbi M. Robert Syme; sons and
daughters-in-law, Rabbi Daniel and Dr.
Jill Syme of Farmington Hills, David
and Victoria Syme of West Bloomfield;
grandson, Joshua Syme; and brother
and sister-in-law, Nate and Eve Hendin
of Toronto.
She was the loving mother of the late
Michael Syme.
Interment was at Beth El Memorial
Park. Contributions may be made to the
Sonia and Michael Syme Memorial
Fund at Temple Israel, 5725 Walnut
Lake Road, West Bloomfield, MI 48323
and the Sonia Syme Memorial Fund at
Temple Beth El, 7400 Telegraph Road,
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302.
Arrangements by Ira Kaufman
Chapel ❑
Judaism and a desire to share its bounty
that later would lead me into Jewish
journalism.
One of my best friends growing up at
Temple Israel was Michael Syme, who
died at age 21 in 1975. I once asked
him during a rehearsal for the youth
group's annual Purim play what
prompted his mother to teach Sunday
school. He liked to explain things I
detail, but this time he answered simply:
"She knows we're the Jewish future."
Only then did I grasp her ultimate
gift to me. Without airs, she had taught
me that Jewish survival hinges on the
beauty, wonder and teachings of what it
means to be Jewish spreading from one
generation to the next.
I'm a better Jew, and a better person,
for having experienced the light upon
learning that was Sonia Syme — my
beloved "Mrs. Syme."
She'll forever be in my heart.
❑