Southfield At 50 ON THE COVER Spiritually Connected The range of Southfield's synagogues. Shelli Liebman Dorfman Senior Writer F or some synagogues, Southfield was the end of the line; for others it was a stop on the way to anoth- er locale and for still others, it's a place of longtime permanence or new beginnings. Today, Southfield is home to synagogues of various denominations and sizes, span- ning most of the city, with more congrega- tions still forming and moving in. In April 1958, the same month Southfield was incorporated as a city, the Conservative Congregation Shaarey Zedek was making plans for construction of its new building on land purchased in 1954 on Bell Road, where it remains today. The sanctuary was officially dedicated in a 1962 ceremony during Shabbat services attended by 3,900 individuals. The late Rabbi Morris Adler, who served the congregation when it arrived in Southfield, was tragically shot during Shabbat services in 1966. Both he and his assailant, who also turned the gun on himself, later died. When Shaarey Zedek moved to Bell Road, Rabbi Irwin Groner was assistant rabbi. He was named senior rabbi in 1967 and has been rabbi emeri- tus at the synagogue since 2003. Current clergy also include Rabbis Joseph Krakoff and Eric Yanoff, Cantor Meir Finkelstein, Assistant Cantor Leonard Gutman and Cantor Emeritus Chaim Najman. In 1958, Congregation B'nai David, which remains this area's only Traditional synagogue, moved into its building on Southfield Road, on land it had purchased in 1954. Services were conducted there by the late Rabbi Chaim Halevy Donin, who served the congregation until his fam- ily moved to Israel in 1973, and the late Cantor Hyman Adler, who retired in 1978. In the mid 1960s, B'nai David expanded the building's size with a new sanctuary and school addition. In 1967 the school building was dedicated in memory of Samuel Lieberman and the student enroll- ment had grown from the original to 29 students to 600. In 1989, B'nai David sold its 47,000-square-foot building and the surrounding 10 acres to the city of Southfield for $1.45 million. In 1997, the A32 April 24 • 2008 building became the Centre for the Arts. In recent years, the congregation has exist- ed without a permanent building, renting space in cities including Southfield, to conduct regular Shabbat and holiday ser- vices under the leadership of Cantor Ben- Zion Lanxner. They currently operate out of the Hadassah House on Orchard Lake Road in West Bloomfield. Mergers And Acquisitions In 1966, the Orthodox Congregation Beth Jacob-Mogen Abraham moved into the Yeshivah Beth Yehudah school building on Lincoln Road in Southfield, under the leadership of the late Rabbi S.P. Wohlgelernter. Today, the Orthodox Agudas Yisroel-Mogen Abraham — a name formed when the synagogue joined the national Agudath Israel movement about 10 years ago — is headed by Rabbis Dov Loketch and Asher Eisenberger. In 1968, Congregation Ahavas Achim and Congregation Beth Aaron merged into what would become the Conservative Congregation Beth Achim, led by Rabbi Milton Arm, who served the congregation until his retirement from the synagogue in 1990. Also in 1968, the congregation moved to its new location, in the former Northbrook Presbyterian Church on 12 Mile Road, which had been purchased by Ahavas Achim. The next year, Beth Achim announced it would construct a mikvah, which in more recent years was renovated and is in use as the Orthodox Southfield Mikvah. It is located on the north side of Yeshivat Akiva, whose school is now run out of the building that was once used by Beth Achim. In 1970, with membership close to 800 families, Beth Achim renovated its build- ing and broke ground for an expansion that would include a 750-seat sanctuary. In 1991, the boards of the then 500- member family Beth Achim and the 300- member family Congregation B'nai Moshe, which was located in Oak Park, and is now in West Bloomfield, voted to merge. A vote among members of each congregation several months later defeated the proposal. What's New? Also in 1972, the Orthodox Shomrey Emunah held a groundbreaking ceremo- ny for a new building on Southfield Road. Until it was constructed, religious services were held in the home of the synagogue's rabbi, Shaiall Zachariash, who remains spiritual leader of the congregation today. Rabbi Yechiel Morris at the 2007 Young Israel of Southfield annual dinner with youth honorees Cara Kleiman, now 19, Hallie Platt, 18, and Vicki Beneson, 18, along with Dr. Larry Brown and President Barry Eisenberg, all of Southfield That same year, the Orthodox Young Israel of Southfield was formed and Shabbat services were held in the Adlai E. Stevenson Elementary School on Lahser Road, later moving to a small home on the same street. In 1977, the cornerstone was laid on an adjacent lot where their current synagogue building stands. The congrega- tion is now served by Rabbi Yechiel Morris who came to Young Israel in 2002. At that time, Rabbi Elimelech Goldberg became rabbi emeritus when took the position of serving as national director of Kids Kicking Cancer. In 1972, Congregation Beth Tefilo Emanuel Tikvah, led by the late Rabbi Leizer Levin, moved from Detroit to Greenfield Road in Southfield and is now headed by his grandson, Rabbi Yisroel Menachem Levin. In 1973, Shaarey Zedek's board of trustees approved an abbreviated Torah reading on Shabbat mornings, becoming the first Southfield synagogue to read the entire Torah over the course of two years instead of one. In 1981, women were given the honor of opening the ark at Shaarey Zedek during High Holiday services for the first time. In 1994, Rabbi Herbert Yoskowitz came to Beth Achim. That same year, the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly sanctioned counting of women in a minyan and Shaarey Zedek joined in. In 1998, Beth Achim merged with Adat Shalom Synagogue at its current location in Farmington Hills and Rabbi Yoskowitz joined the Adat Shalom clergy team. The Beth Achim building on 12 Mile Road was purchased by the United Jewish Foundation and was renovated into the new home of Yeshivat Akiva, where cur- rently religious services are held twice a day during the week, and are open to the community. Still Sprouting In addition to the larger, formal syna- gogues in Southfield, several groups gath- er for services on Shabbat and holidays in various parts of the city in individual homes for lay led services. The Secular Humanistic Sholem Aleichem Institute on Southfield Road in Lathrup Village meets for Friday night oneg Shabbat programs, holiday observances and cultural events. New synagogues are still forming in Southfield with the more recent addi- tions of the Orthodox Congregation Yagdil Torah on 10 Mile Road, headed by Rabbi Eli Yelen and the Orthodox Ahavas Yisroel Society at 10 Mile and Fairfax roads, led by Rabbi Sender Babayov. Fundraising toward construction of an expansion at Young Israel of Southfield has reached the halfway mark. It will include youth rooms, an enlarged social hall and library, an outside deck and playground and bet midrash (house of learning) for a learners minyan that will take the latest additions to Southfield synagogues into the next 50 years. ❑ Some of the historical facts in this article were based on information originally published in "Echoes of Detroit's Jewish Communities: A History," by Irwin J. Cohen of Oak Park.