Spirituality

Bus tour goers gather in the old Temple Israel — what is now St. Paul's Apostolic Church.

Historical Perspective

Temple Israel trip retraces synagogue's footsteps.

George Cantor
Special to the Jewish News

I

t was the plaque in the school wing
that got to Lee Trepeck.
Even though he was one of the
organizers of Temple Israel's "Routes to
Roots" retreat, he wasn't prepared for the
emotional impact of going back to the
temple's original building on Manderson
Road in Detroit's Palmer Park area.
"I saw my grandfather's name as chair-
man of the building committee, and it was
as if he were speaking to me Trepeck said
later. "I could almost hear his voice, asking
me how Temple was doing, if everything
was all right!'
The retreat was meant to link its past to
the future of the West Bloomfield congre-
gation. For most of the participants, mem-
bers of the board of trustees and commit-
tee leaders, many of them too young to
remember services and celebrations in the
old temple, the stop at Manderson was the
high point of the all-day program.
The visit became a journey through
time, as current members of the clergy
helped recreate the day the former temple,
which is now St. Paul's Apostolic Church,
was dedicated in 1951.
Rabbi Marla Hornsten stood at the
entrance, welcoming the group to their
"new" house of worship and handing out
replicas of the original dedication pro-
gram. Cantor Michael Smolash took the
place of the cantor of 56 years ago, Robert
Tulman.
Rabbi Harold Loss, who joined the
temple in 1971 when it was still situated
on Manderson, greeted the arrivals from

Rabbi Loss

Temple Israel was on Manderson Road in Detroit's Palmer Park area, 1951-1981.

the former bimah, assuming the role of its
founding rabbi, Leon Fram.
Older participants looked around with
a sense of wonder, recalling long-ago
holiday services that had been held here
and glancing up at the Star of David, still
in place high above the sanctuary. Later,
they crossed the vestibule to the for-
mer Fram Hall, and a few brides whose
wedding day was celebrated there were
placed in chairs and hoisted upon shoul-
ders once more.
"As we sat in the sanctuary, we looked
around and could just picture all the faces
that we had known there said Ida Nathan.
And I thought to myself how lucky we
were to have grown up in this place!"

She and her husband, Alan, are longtime
members of Temple Israel.
But the biggest surprise of the visit was
supplied by Bishop Benjamin Hoke, spiri-
tual leader of St. Paul's. While rummaging
around a storage room to prepare for this
day, Bishop Hoke discovered a 16-millime-
ter film of the actual dedication ceremony.
As everyone gathered around a projector
in Fram Hall, it was screened again; an
authentic image from the past in living
color. The temple structure now has been
officially designated a historic building by
the state.
The "Routes to Roots" day included a
bus tour of old Jewish neighborhoods in
Detroit, a visit to the temple's first home in

Rabbi Fram

the auditorium of the Detroit Institute of
Arts, and a concluding Havdalah service
back in West Bloomfield. But it was the
stop at Manderson that spoke to the heart.
"Rabbi Fram would have said that wher-
ever the physical structure may be, the real
temple will be inside its members:' said
Rabbi Loss. "But this was just a remark-
able experience for all of us!'
Temple Israel moved to its West
Bloomfield location in 1981. But decades
later, some of the time travelers who grew
up at the Manderson temple could still
locate the door on the second floor where
they could sneak onto the roof. They
recalled the clandestine visits to Biff's, on
nearby McNichols Road, when they were
supposed to be in Sunday school.
But as adults, the memories of what
they took away from this place were far
more meaningful.
"The building is still so beautiful," said
Bobbi Gordon. "And when the cantor
started to sing all the old songs with the
organ music, the words came back to me
as if it were yesterday. This was part of my
family's heritage and it was like reliving it
all." El

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October 18 2007

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