N
CO V ER
Super Welcome
The Downtown Synagogue plays Jewish
host to Detroit's Super Bowl guests.
I Shelli Liebman Dorfman
I Staff Writer
•
s the only full-time
Jewish congregation
inside the city of Detroit,
the Isaac Agree Downtown
Synagogue may have diverse
responsibilities; but it also has
unique options.
"Because we're the only ones
around who can do it, we decided
to make ourselves the unofficial
`Synagogue of the Super Bowl:"
said the congregation's president,
Louis Antonino.
"Our doors are always open," he
said, and this week they will be
open a little wider to accommo-
date both locals and visitors in
town for the big game on Sunday
and related celebrations.
"We hope anyone who is down-
town for the festivities, whether
they're from here or just visiting,
will stop by;' Antonino said.
"Although we welcome visitors
year-long to Shabbat services as
well as the usual festival activi-
ties, we are planning daily min-
yan services this week," said
A
Clarice Thomas of Highland
Park, who has been involved with
the synagogue since 1992.
And that's not all, said
Antonino."We're here if you need
a place to get a drink of water or
a cup of coffee or a restroom. Or
if you want to say hi or if you're
just curious."
And that's the nature of the
synagogue on any given day.
"There is always somebody
here Antonin° said. "From
sunup to sundown. You just have
to ring the bell. There's always
something to eat, always a funny
tale to be told, always a prayer. We
run a soup kitchen of sorts:' he
said; referring to the way
strangers are received.
The welcoming character of the
congregation is, in part, due to
the way the late Rabbi Noah
Gamze served the Downtown
Synagoguefor nearly 40 years,
until his 2001 retirement. "He had
an ongoing tab at the restaurant
next to his synagogue where he
sent anyone who needed a meal;'
Rabbi David Nelson of
Congregation Beth Shalom in
Oak Park said at Rabbi Gamze's
2003 funeral.
With much diversity among
the Conservative synagogue's
membership, Rabbi Gamze was
known to be easily approachable
by both Jews and non-Jews. In
fact, Antonino was among the
first of those that Rabbi Gamze
influenced in conversion to
Judaism, a group that grew to
include some 100 individuals,
including many black Detroiters.
Currently, there is no rabbi at
the Downtown Synagogue; but
services are organized and run by
Cantor Usher Adler, baal koreh
(Torah reader) Howard Marcus,
cantorial soloist Neil Barris and
ritual director Dr. Martin
Herman.
Deep Roots
The Downtown Synagogue of
today evolved from the Isaac
Agree Memorial Society estab-
lished in 1921 by the Agree,
Canvasser, Kaplan, Rosin and
Zatkin families. In 1926, the soci-
Guess Who's Going To The Super Bowl?
"One of the oldest contemporary quips is that
two things can be found worldwide: Coke ... and
Chabad," said Rabbi Yudi Mann of the Shul-
Chabad Lubavitch.
With bases everywhere from Armenia to
Guatemala to Thailand, it seems natural to Rabbi
Mann that the next site of a Chabad project would
be at the Super Bowl.
So, just a football's throw from Detroit's Ford
Field, "Chabad at the Super Bowl" will greet party-
goers in a storefront at 1515 Woodward (between
Clifford and Park) in the center of the Motown
Winter Blast, a group
of Super Bowl-related
events.
Sponsored by the
Lubavitch Foundation
of Michigan, the
Jewish fan outpost
will serve visitors
"with food for body
and soul," Rabbi Mann said.
"We'll be asking people to put on tefillin, giving
out Shabbat candlesticks, brochures — all the
regular Chabad stuff — in addition to selling
kosher food and snacks and Judaic sifts," he said
"With the game-day crowd so immense as to
require 15,000 area police officers, there are sure
to be many Jews in attendance, which is exactly
where you'd expect to find Chabad — even if it's
only for the weekend."
Chabad will also host a tailgate party outside
the stadium at a cost of $5 per person.
For information,
call Rabbi Yudi
Mann, (248) 388-
1595.
- Sheili Liebman
Dorfman,
staff writer
Members of the Isaac Agree Downtown
Synagogue are ready to serve Jews and
others in town for the Super Bowl
ety built a synagogue and
Talmud Torah building in
Detroit, moving in 1939 to the
current location — 1457
Griswold, between Woodward
and Washington Boulevard, a
block south of Grand Circus Park.
But as the heart of the Jewish
community moved away from
Detroit, Antonino said, "We had
to reinvent ourselves:' The syna-
gogue came to serve not only
those who live close by — like
Antonino — but those who work
near the synagogue.
"And now, as people are start-
ing to move back downtown, we
are there for them. We are trying
to grow with the community. We
are the new regime?" •
The congregation hosts regu-
lar community events and
Saturday morning and holiday
services, with an occasional
Friday night oneg Shabbat
(Shabbat celebration).
"We have 15 to 25 regulars
who make it faithfully every
weekend," Antonino said. "And
more than 500 families con-
tribute to 'the synagogue
The congregation is now affili-
ated with Hillel of Metro Detroit,
with two of the college students
serving on the synagogue board.
Through the years, the syna-
gogue has become the place for
tourists staying in downtown
hotels as well as performers in
Detroit for stage and music pro-
ductions. They come to say
yahrtzeit or to pray or just be
with other Jews.
While not a full-time presence,
the Reconstructionist
Congregation of Detroit also
serves the downtown Jewish
community. They have been run-
ning religious services, educa-
tional programming and a weekly
Sunday school in rented space at
the Sibley House in Detroit since
May 2000.
"There is a much-needed
Jewish presence in the downtown
area to service the Jewish com-
munity who do not have trans-
portation to the suburban syna-
gogues," Clarice Thomas said.
"We are not like any other syn-
agogue," Antonino added. "We are
the flagship synagogue of Detroit.
We have been here a long time
and we're not going anywhere.
"So when something big hap-
pens in Detroit — like the Super
Bowl – we are not going to miss
out on being here to represent the
Jewish community?' ❑
Shabbat services at the
Isaac Agree Downtown
Synagogue are held each
Saturday at 8:30 a.m.
During Super Bowl week,
services were held daily at
8 a.m. and 5:15 p.m.; 6:30
p.m. Thursday, Feb. 2; 8:30
a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Friday
and Saturday, Feb. 3-4; and
9:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 5.
February 2 2006
17