I
Spirituality
The Trick Of Guiding
A Synagogue
Brian Hermelin follows in father's footsteps in leading Shaarey Zedek.
The Way Up
Bill Carroll
Special to the Jewish News
Hermelin made a whirlwind tour of the
U.S. business world before landing at
Rockbridge, but he has always emulated his
father in his affection for Shaarey Zedek and
has maintained close ties to the synagogue.
Hermelin attended Hillel Day School of
Metropolitan Detroit before finishing his
religious studies at Shaarey Zedek, went to
high school at Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook,
then split his college education between
Tulane University in New Orleans and the
University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross
School of Business.
He held jobs on Wall Street in New York,
Washington, D.C., Philadelphia — where
he picked up an MBA at the University of
Pennsylvania's Wharton School — and
Los Angeles — where he met his future
wife — before returning to Michigan to
run Active Aero, an air cargo charter firm
at Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti for 13
years. He's still its chairman.
W
hen he's elected president
of Congregation Shaarey
Zedek of Oakland County
next Wednesday, April 22, Brian Hermelin
says he's tempted to mark the occasion
by performing some magic tricks for the
audience. It's a hobby he learned from
his father, the late Bingham Farms busi-
ness entrepreneur-philanthropist David
Hermelin, who wowed gatherings from
Detroit to Norway as an amateur magi-
cian.
But instead, Hermelin, who will be the
44th president in the synagogue's 148-year
history, is gearing up to perform a differ-
ent kind of the old Hermelin magic; the
kind he hopes will help put Shaarey Zedek
on a sounder financial footing, solidify
Shabbat services, continue innovative
programming, possibly increase mem-
bership and even begin planning for the
synagogue's 150th anniversary celebration
in 2011.
"My father always said that, of the
many organizations and charities he
was involved in, Shaarey Zedek was the
most important and the one he was most
proud of," reflected Hermelin in his office
at the Quicken Loans headquarters in
Livonia.
He's managing partner there in
Rockbridge Growth Equity, LLC, which is
a member of the Quicken Loans family of
partner companies, organized by entrepre-
neur Dan Gilbert of Franklin, founder and
chairman of Quicken Loans.
"Dan and I have been friends since we
were growing up in Southfield and attend-
ing Camp Tamakwa, and I started getting
involved in his various enterprises four
years ago',' explained Hermelin, 44, of
Bingham Farms.
Rockbridge, a private equity group,
invests in growing businesses in the finan-
cial services, Internet technology, con-
sumer direct marketing and sports and
entertainment sectors.
"Brian's the kind of guy whose energy
can lead a business project, a nonprofit
or even the conversation at dinner," said
Gilbert. "He's smart and 'gets' things
quickly"
Fatherly Influence
"When my father died in 2000, I said Kaddish
twice a day for one year and sort of reconnected
with religion and the synagogue. I realized what he
meant about the importance of the synagogue in a
person's life; its the core of the Jewish community.
- Brian Hermelin
"When my father died in 2000, I said
Kaddish twice a day for one year and
sort of reconnected with religion and the
synagogue," Hermelin observed. "I real-
ized what he meant about the importance
of the synagogue in a person's life; it's the
core of the Jewish community. I wanted to
follow in his footsteps to the presidency.
I was asked to serve on the board; I then
became an officer."
David Hermelin, who captivated the
world's Jewry as a communal leader and
philanthropist, then became a diplomat
and peacemaker in Norway, where he
was U.S. ambassador under President Bill
Clinton, died of brain cancer at 63 in 2000.
"It's hard to believe he left us at such a
young age:' said Brian Hermelin, "but he
passed on to us his energy, vitality, busi-
ness savvy and love for the Jewish people.
"He also entertained as a magician
everywhere and taught me how to do
magic," his son mused. "I did magic tricks
at my bar mitzvah, then began perform-
ing at children's parties for $20, wearing a
tuxedo. But I usually ate up all my profits
in pizza on the way home."
David Hermelin was full of surprises,
The Trick Of Guiding on page A26
April 16 • 2009
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