Metro

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The House

Reva L'Sheva brings the spirit
of Israel to Detroit.

Keri Guten Cohen
Story Development Editor

embers of the popular Israeli
rock music group Reva L'Sheva
(Quarter to Seven) culminated several
days in Detroit with a concert at
Congregation Beth Shalom in Oak Park
on Dec. 10. c
Their performance was part of the
Israel: Vision of Peace project, which is
under the auspices of Artists and
Musicians for Israel. Earlier in the week,
as part of the program, the musicians
held workshops with students at the

Hebrew Day School of Ann Arbor, Hillel
Day School of Metropolitan Detroit,
Yeshivat Akiva and at Congregation
Shaarey Zedek. Four students from the
Hebrew Day School performed with the
group.
"We had an extraordinary experience
with the schools, in homes and at congre-
gations," said band member Yehudah
Katz. "They gave something to us we'll
never forget."
In turn, said musician Chanan Elias, .
"They saw what Israel can bring into their
lives — Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael [the
Jewish people and the Land of Israel]—

Reva L'Sheva brought their brand of Israeli rock to Congregation Beth Shalom in

Oak Park.

this week was about sharing the
While they were here, Reva L'Sheva also
met and sang with a gospel choir from
New Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist
Church in Detroit.
The audience of about 400 at Beth
Shalom caught the spirit, especially a
group of about 100 Orthodox high school
students attending a Shabbaton from
Toronto, Cleveland and.Detroit. In two
separate circles, the boys and girls danced
with gusto and sang along with Reva
L'Sheva.
Opening for the band was Josh Lauffer,
nephew of Larry and Jackie Zeff of West

The First 30 Years

More work to be done for Rabbi
Elimelech and Chaya Sarah Silberberg.

Shell' Liebman Dorfman

Staff Writer

W

hen my parents came to visit us
shortly after we moved to West
BloOmfield [30 years ago], my
mother wanted to know,`Where are the
people?'",said Chaya Sarah Silberberg of her
first days in Michigan with husband Rabbi
Elimelech Silberberg and their family. •
"Nciw, Baruch Hashem [thank God], on a
Shabbos afternoon there are men and
women walking to classes and visiting
friends, children walking to youth groups,
teens taking a stroll. With four Orthodox
shuls, West Bloomfield has become a thriv-
ing Orthodox community."
For Rabbi Silberberg, a Dec. 3 celebration
marking the 30th anniversary-of their work
as Michigan-based Chabad emissaries was
a time to look at the significance of their
life's work and the history of their congrega-
tion, the Sara Tugman Bais Chabad Torah -
Center.
The, concept of being a shaliach (emis-
sary) "was an historic innovation" by the
late Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem
Mendel Schneerson, Rabbi Silberberg told
those at the event."In the past, established
Jewish communities would invite a rabbi to
accept a rabbinical position. The Rebbe

conceived the revolutionary idea of sending
out young couples to areas that had no
Torah community in order to establish such
a community.
"In our first years in West Bloomfield,
there was no daily minyan to be had, and
no one to celebrate with on Friday nights:'
the rabbi recalled. Some early study ses-
sions involved only a single student.
"To make Shabbos more lively and
appealing, I started the custom of dancing
Sholom Aleichem with my then 2-year-old
son, Eli Nossen," he said.
Gradually the dance circle grew, with a
few neighbors, some families and then
more. Today, the Torah Center has a congre-
gation of 230 individuals with another 200
community members attending classes reg-
ularly and still more who participate in pro-
grams, services and classes on a semi-regu-
lar basis.
"Rabbi and Chaya Sarah have established
a community here in West Bloomfield
Ivhere one did not exist 30 years ago',' said
Rae Sharfman of West Bloomfield, a mem-
ber of the congregation for more than 15
years. "They are not judgmental, and accept
with open arms every Jew who comes to the
Torah Center. Rabbi Silberberg is available
to help those in need always, and just does-
n't give advice or counseling, he follows up

Chaya Sarah Silberberg and Rabbi
Elimelech Silberberg display a photo of

themselves after first arriving in

Detroit.

and follows up. He stays is constant touch
with those who are ill or have other prob-
lems. He puts those who are in need up in
his home and they stay there as long as
needed. He is a force in the-Detroit area"
Sharfman added, "Rabbi and Chaya
Sarah are also ardent supporters of Israel.
The rabbi has led many shul trips to Israel
and as a congregation we have adopted
communities there, including the 400-fami-
ly city of EmanUel in the Northern
Shomron," she said.
At the 30th anniversary celebration,
Rabbi Silberberg shared the basic
approaches central to being an emissary: to
be welcoming, to see every person "as an
entire world" and "to tell the world about
the imminent arrival of the Mashiach [the
Messiah[:'

Bloomfield and cousin to Ronn and Beth
Nadis of Farmington Hills. His brother-
in-law, Itzchak Attias, with the same
Detroit ties, ably played the conga drums
and percussion.
"It was a great opportunity for kids to
see an Israeli band:' said Jim Koenig of
Harrison Township. He and his wife,
Jenny, were familiar with Reva L'Sheva
and liked their music. "The kids really got
into it and that added energy."
Co-sponsors of the event were
Congregation Shir Tikvah of Troy, the
Jewish News, Federation's Alliance
for Jewish Education and Aish Detroit. ❑

"[Chabad Houses] are homes and they
are open to everyone — not just the knowl-
edgeable, the supporters, those we have con-:
nected to',' he said. "But also the troubled,
the lost, the helpless, the defiant; especially
the troubled, the lost, the helpless, the defi-
ant."
With Chabad emissaries doing Jewish
outreach work everywhere from Estonia to
Thailand to Nepal, they are often among th
first Jews on the scene to help in disasters
like last year's Indian Ocean tsunami and
Hurricane Katrina.
Rabbi Silberberg shared the story of th
young Jewish children in Cordoba,
Argentina, living in a Christian institution
until the city's emissary Rabbi Yosef Turk
adopted them as his own — to live with his
other eight children — to make certain
they lived in a Jewish home.
As far as their own community, Chaya
Sarah said, "A family has developed around
our Bais Chabad. On the other hand, there is
still so much to do. Our shul is called a
Torah Center because our mission is Jewish
— Torah — education.
"Someone asked my daughter last week,
"By the way what exactly is Yom Kippur?' As
long as there is a single Jew who can ask
such a question, our work is not done. NA,Te're
not here to 'make people Orthodox. Our
purpose is to expose every Jew to the beau-
ty and richness of authentic Torah Judaism,
and to ensure that every Jew is knowledge-
able about his heritage and can make
informed choices based on that knowl-
edge."

December 22 2005

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