Spin Cover Story BERMAN from page 65 . . a lot of; „. there y . . aritiSeintastii on the 13arri -citk. leaders who , . ..didn't . there," he recalled. 71.1ey . .„ Want i00:144hy finally' relented when one city councilman .told" me Chapel's presence -[alludi n g • Southfield] .• "If we can • hurk ern . :here; I guess we can mar ry 'em here.;'". ecial writer . 0 y, es ecially in Jewish educ ft! in his career asparmer and president of Bert L. Smokier & Co., a Detroit-based nationally known building firm. H e saw action on Okinawa while in the Navy during World War He recalls that he mustered about 100 Jewish military men to attend services on a muddy hill in the rain while in danger mese anes. M. • „ ❑ Driving Down The Debt Members step up to tackle synagogue's deficit. BILL CARROLL Addressing Finances Special to the Jewish News New donations by the current genera- tion of leaders will help pay off the interest and the principal on a bank loan the synagogue needed to keep operating during recent bleak years. Weisberg explained that a slight drop in membership and growing expenses led to reduced revenue from members. In addition, a poor econo- my resulted in a reduction in proceeds from the endowment, which is based Davidson on stock market investments. The endowment annual revenues fell to $500,000 from a high of $1.5 million. "The combination of these fac- tors created a huge deficit for the synagogue that needed to be cor- rected immediately," Weisberg said. "Spending is driven by payroll and programs. And it was difficult to cut various programs that were so important to our membership. We can't eliminate Hebrew school and services." Severance payments for five key Naftaly employees who left the synagogue — including two rabbis, a cantor and two past executive directors — totaled about $250,000, but "did not cause our deficit," he said. Rabbi Leonardo Bitran headed Shaarey Zedek's B'nai Israel Center in West Bloomfield, for 11 years before leaving to become a senior rabbi in San Antonio, Texas, in May 2003. "We lost about 20 members because of this, but we've also gained about 60 new members in recent months, and some who left have rejoined because of Rabbi Yanoff, " Weisberg said. In the synagogue's latest pending personnel move, longtime member Leonard Baruch, 81, of Southfield, a former executive director, will assist the synagogue during the search for a permanent executive director, hopefully to start in the spring. The current executive director, Richard Rosenberg, a former K-Mart executive, said he will return to the private business sector. A Nov. 10 dinner honoring Mandell L. "Bill" Berman is expected to raise signifi- cant money to help retire Congregation Shaarey Zedek's debt, but the real story is what's been happening even before the dinner. "By Nov. 10, we will have reached 75 percent of our goal of wiping out our $3 million debt," said synagogue President Steven Weisberg of West Bloomfield. "This is thanks to the generosity of some of our prominent members who want Shaarey Zedek to move forward in this new era. It's the same type of spirit displayed by our officers and board members, who are business people and entrepreneurs and always provide us with new ideas." At a recent "parlor" meeting at Berman's home, 18 congregants announced they're giving $100,000 to the synagogue, and a few more are close to doing so, which will add about $2 mil- lion to the coffers — leaving a $1 million debt. Their names will be listed on a lobby plaque. Last year, Willliam "Bill" Davidson gave a $1 million gift, and additional funds were realized from the estates of the late Jack Prinstein and Max Shaye, including scholarship funds from the latter. "I consider it to be a happy responsibility to ask people to contribute money to the syna- gogue," Berman said. Also, Weisberg revealed that Shaarey Zedek is on the verge of selling about 35 acres of land it owns at the northeast corner of 12 Mile Road and Meadowbrook in Novi to a home developer, probably for $5 million. The money will be put into Shaarey Zedek's Endowment Fund, created 30 years ago by another generation of synagogue leaders. Bylaws stipulate that only 5 percent, or $250,000 now, can go right into the operations of the synagogue. "The endowment shomrim (guardians) wanted us to manage money responsibly," Weisberg pointed out. "They wanted their funds to live in perpetuity, not just be used for debt reduction." 11/ 5 2004 68 "But I feel good about Shaarey Zedek now," Rosenberg said. "There's an exciting environment with programs for all age levels." In other personnel matters, Weisberg told members in a letter that the synagogue is looking for a cantor to join the clergy team. In Rosh Hashanah remarks to the congregation, Weisberg amplified by telling Cantor Chaim Najman: "Cantor, we look forward to having you on the bimah and serving our congregation for many years to come." Cantor Najman, who this year marks 25 years with Shaarey Zedek, has a contract that runs through the middle of 2006, when he turns 69. "At that point, I hope to continue with the synagogue," he said. "I have no retirement date in mind. I'm confident Shaarey Zedek will treat me with the appropriate respect and dignity as shown Rabbi Groner." Cantor Najman and his wife, Dr. Sherrell Najman, will be honored at the synagogue's Israel Bonds dinner next May. Anita Naftaly of West Bloomfield has been a board member for 15 years. Citing her education duties at the Jewish Federation, she recently stepped down as a Shaarey Zedek vice president, even though she could have become the syna- gogue's second woman president ever. The first was Dottie Wagner of West Bloomfield. She's excited about Shaarey Zedek's new direc- tion. "I'm pleased to see there's a new synergy and resurgence at the synagogue, thanks mainly to the young rabbinic team," she said, "and I'm proud of the great strides the synagogue has made in recognizing the role of women, including bat mitzvahs, counting women in minyans and giving them aliyahs. Rabbi Groner was very instrumen- tal in accomplishing this." ❑