Metro

Carol Miner of Southfield and Nancy Braun of Farmington Hills greet each other at the concert.

Joshua Nelson, an Orthodox Jew, sings "kosher gospel music."

Rockin' The Hall

FIBA's gala
concert offers
spirited good will.

Keri Guten Cohen

Story Development Editor

A

near-capacity crowd of
almost 2,000 evangelical
Christians — along with Jews
of all streams — rocked Orchestra Hall
Sept. 14 during a gala evening of music
and fellowship that featured fiery
gospel and rousing traditional Jewish
songs performed by two choirs and

Cantor Michael Smolash of Temple

Israel performs.

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September 21 0 2006

local and national entertainers.
The evening was a celebration of
Israel by both groups that love the
Jewish state and who spent two days
brainstorming ways to work together
during a national summit on black-
Jewish relations organized by the
Plymouth-based Fellowship of Israel
and Black America.
The event began with the blowing of
a shofar, a call to action for this newly
formed alliance.
Like two talk-show hosts, Pastor
Glenn R. Plummer of Redford and
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein of Chicago,
FIBA co-founders, sat on stools in
their tuxedos and told stories about
how they met and began to work
together for the common good of

Israel. Videos about FIBA filled in any
voids.
But there weren't many voids as
music flowed through Orchestra Hall
and got people to their feet, clapping
and swaying and singing.
Perhaps the most popular performer
was Joshua Nelson, a lively black
Orthodox Jewish entertainer with
an impressive voice. He sounded like
Mahalia Jackson singing what he calls
"kosher gospel music." Back home in
New Jersey, he is music director at a
Baptist church and teaches Hebrew at
his synagogue.
Another group that got the crowd
moving, especially the evangelicals
who were familiar with their music,
was Israel Houghton and the New

Israel Houghton and the New Breed get the crowd rocking.

Breed, a "praise and worship" band
from Houston.
Other performers included Cantor
Michael Smolash of Temple Israel,
along with cantorial soloist Neil
Michaels and his wife, Stephanie
Michaels, and the Temple Israel Kol
HaKahal choir; Dorinda Clark-Cole and
her Singers & Musicians Conference
Choir from southeast Michigan; and
singer Shawn McDonald of Ann Arbor.
"It was phenomenal; I'm exhausted,"
Lila Zorn of West Bloomfield said at
a reception after the concert. "It was
amazing to see and feel. For those who
feel something should be done on this
issue, it should spur them on knowing
FIBA is such a driving force."

Jacqueline Bernhardt of West Bloomfield and Bill Braun of

Farmington Hills react to the rousing music.

