I Spirituality

Soul Of The Shul

Beth Ahm's energetic ritual director calls it a career after 52 years.

W

o to by Ang ie Bean

David Sachs
Senior Copy Editor

ith his trademark white hair and white shirt,
Rev. Joe Mermelstein has been the most col-
orful figure on the bimah for the past five

decades.
As the longtime ritual director at Congregation Beth
Ahm in West Bloomfield, Joe could be blunt and gruff
— yet very outgoing and lovable.
A prodigious scholar who memorized the Tanach (Bible)
by age 9, Joe has been a persistent, but patient teacher of
thousands of b'nai mitzvah throughout the community. He
is also an exuberant prayer leader, an unabashed kibbitzer
and a warm, engaging friend.
And for a remarkable half-century, Joe and his wife,
Ruth, were the glue that held their shul together.
For 52 years, Joe has led the daily services, read Torah,
assisted mourners at shivahs and at the Beth Abraham
Cemetery in Ferndale and basically helped keep the syna-
gogue running day to day. Ruth assisted, providing refresh-
ments for every minyan and Kiddush.
But when Joe retired Sept. 13 on his 85th birthday, he did
so as a widower — his beloved Ruth died last year.
"My life has had a lot of humor, hard work and teaching;
and I was always busy assisting the rabbis and the can-
tors — anything that came up," said Joe. "And I feel very
depressed by losing my dear Ruth."

Rev. Joe Mermelstein in the Beth Ahm sanctuary

"I have a deep affection for the man — his
warmth, openness, honesty, charisma and
On Sunday, Oct. 21, Beth Ahm will
scholarship': said Howard Davis of West
mark the end of an era with 12:30 p.m.
Bloomfield, who davened in the minyan daily
luncheon honoring Joe and Ruth's life-
with Joe while mourning the loss of his father
time of service to the congregation.
in 1960 and his mother in 2002. "I had never
"We are really going to miss Joe," said
heard megillah read the way Joe read it at
Rabbi Steven Rubenstein. "He has been
Purim. It was exciting, it was moving, it was
a model for what a religious life should
penetrating
be — which is consistent. He and Ruth
Joe specialized in teaching b'nai mitzvah
anchored people's lives"
their maftir portions and haftorot. Despite his
The Mermelsteins arrived at the
heavy accent, Joe's high-spirited and unrelent-
Orthodox Congregation Beth Abraham
ing personality struck a chord with children.
on Linwood in Detroit in 1955. Since
It's estimated he's shepherded about 3,500 chil-
The late Ruth Mermelstein
both Joe and Ruth were Holocaust
dren into adulthood. He had the ability to work
survivors who lost most of their own
with all kids, especially those with learning dis-
families during the war, they embraced the congregation as
abilities and special needs.
their new family and the congregation returned their love
"I had students in all the synagogues," said Joe. "I had
in kind. Ruth and Joe became part of the extended families
space in Birney School in Southfield and Norup School in
of many members of the synagogue.
Oak Park. I had whole blocks of kids who came to me to
In their years serving the synagogue, the couple also cre- learn. There were bar mitzvahs all over town. There were
ated their own family of four children, which now extends
times I was teaching from noon till 10 at night. I never
across the country to include 18 grandchildren and 15
turned down anybody for teaching a bar mitzvah."
great-grandchildren, all of whom embrace the Orthodox
The loss of Ruth has left a huge void in his life.
Judaism of Joe and Ruth.
"My wife was a great help. She told me when I did right
Over the years, the Mermelsteins have worked with six
and when I did wrong."
rabbis and 32 presidents. Beth Abraham moved to Seven
Beth Ahm board member Risha Ring of Farmington
Mile and Greenlawn in Detroit in September 1955 and in
Hills grew up at the synagogue. "Ruth was a sweet nurtur-
the 1970s merged with two other Detroit shuls, Beth Hillel
ing mother." Ring said. "Her joy was feeding people.
and Beth Moses, to establish the Conservative Beth Ahm on
"When my kids would go to Beth Ahm they would run
Maple near Inkster.
through the social hall, grab a cookie, give Ruthie a kiss and

Luncheon Tribute

wish her a good Shabbos. When I was a youngster, I did the
same thing at Beth Abraham on Seven Mile."
Ruth was a survivor of Bergen-Belsen concentration
camp in Germany. Joe, a native of Czechoslovakia, describes
his own survival as a series of miracles.
Once, as a slave laborer, the Germans would not shelter
him in a bunker during an Allied bomb attack so he dove
into a ditch. The bunker then received a direct hit leaving
Joe the only survivor. Another time, he was scheduled to be
executed the next morning but survived by switching iden-
tities with a man who had died during the night. Still later,
he survived during a time when bunkers were being built
by fooling the Germans into thinking that he was a master
carpenter.
In 1945, Joe wound up in Mauthausen death camp in
Austria. "There were more dead people than alive;' he
recalled. "We had no food, and I was dying, too. Then we
were freed by the Americans in May 1945."
Joe's faith never wavered during his ordeal in the labor
and death camps. "I put my tefillin on every day, very fast,"
he said. "When we traveled to work, we davened. I did the
best I could."
Although Orthodox in his personal practice, Joe adjusted
in his job as the Conservative congregation became more
egalitarian. "Things changed, but I was always there to
help': he said. "When there were problems, I tried to face
what I could and help what I could."

Moving On

In the months before leaving, Joe groomed several lay
members to lead the daily minyan including Nancy
Kaplan and Bob Levine, both of West Bloomfield.
Professor Howard Lupovitch of West Bloomfield is the
chief Torah reader.
Joe also thinks the shul is in good hands with Rabbi
Rubenstein.
"He is a great rabbi, a great speaker and a BIG davener,"
said Joe. "He has a beautiful voice. He knows what he is
doing. His Friday night services are better than any cantor's.
"I'm just tired, not retired. I'll be here for teaching and
helping. If they need me, I'll be there.
In addition to being a significant part of the Beth
Ahm family, Joe has also become a fixture at the Jewish
Community Center in West Bloomfield where he exercises
and participates in aerobics, yoga and spinning classes
under the guidance of instructor Arlene Agree. "I feel she
has had a big part in my being here," he said. He bursts
with pride at his achievement and does not hesitate to dis-
play his strength and fitness.
To celebrate his retirement, friends and congregants are
asked to submit stories and memories that will be com-
piled into a memory book for Joe. With 52 years of loving
memories, it should be a very thick volume. I 1

To attend the 12:30, Sunday, Oct. 21, luncheon at
Beth Ahm or to submit a Mermelstein memory,
contact the synagogue at (248) 851-6880. The
cost of the luncheon begins at $36.

October 4 • 2007

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