,
Ballroom
Special Report
ALL ABOUT FAMILY
Pillars Of The Temple from page 17
Choreographed by Dancing with the Stars, Louis Van Amstel
AUGUST 14, 2010
Top row: Rabbis
Hornsten and
Yedwab, Cantor
Smolash; bottom
row: Rabbis Bennett,
Kaluzny, Loss and
Cantorial Soloist
Neil Michaels
Starring
Gilles Marini
Co-hosted by
Mario Lopez
Trenyece Cobbins
American Idol
Finalist Season 2
Jonathan Roberts
S Anna Trebunskaya
Dancing with the Stars Pros
Finalist Season 2
David Hernandez
American Idol
Finalist Season 7
UND
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18
June 24 • 2010
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and Harold model love for each other,
for community and how to work hard
to build both for the future."
"Susan is a quiet force in the back-
ground:' said longtime Temple Israel
member Shelley Hutton, wife of Lenny
Hutton. "When you see Harold in our
congregation, you know Susan is there,
too. She is a nurse who now nurtures
the whole congregation."
Well aware of Rabbi Loss's schedule,
Techner said, "Susan is, and always
has been, his No. 1 support system. On
their way to dinner, it's not uncommon
for her to wait in the car while he vis-
its someone in the hospital. That's the
story of their life."
Said Cantor Smolash:"Everything
Harold is, Susan is. They work as
a team. She is involved in so many
aspects of Temple, making sure every
little thing goes well. The reason Temple
is so vibrant and holy is the relationship
between our colleagues and our congre-
gation. It is a community where there is
obvious love for one another and Susan
is at the heart of that. Together, they are
the spirit that makes Temple Israel as
incredible as it is."
she meet Rabbi Loss because they
both had Old English Sheepdogs. But it
wasn't until months after she converted
to Judaism and took an advanced
Hebrew class taught by the rabbi that
they caught up with one another. After
the class ended, they began to date;
on July 6, they will celebrate their 35th
wedding anniversary.
Having no family in Michigan, Susan
said, "Temple members became family."
With a strong commitment to tik-
kun olam (repair of the world), Susan
Loss has volunteered locally and in
various parts of the country, including
for Habitat for Humanity in Houston
and in New Orleans after Hurricane
Katrina. She volunteers at the
Friendship Circle in West Bloomfield
and at Bloomfield Open Hunt in
Bloomfield Hills, leading horses in the
handicapped riding program through
the Variety Club.
Within the synagogue building, Susan
Loss co-chairs, along with Janet Strote
of Bloomfield Hills, the Temple Israel
Judaic and Archival Museum, which
houses both a permanent historical col-
lection and traveling Judaic exhibits.
The Rabbi's Wife
"Growing up, I would never have imag-
ined in a million years that someday I'd
be married to a rabbi: Susan Loss said.
"I was not raised in a Jewish home,
but my best friends growing up were
Jewish and I always had an interest,"
she said. "I read about Judaism and in
college I taught a friend Spanish and
he taught me Hebrew.
"A turning point was when my father
died. I believed in God, but not in my
parents' religion, and I really needed
something to be there for me. I sent the
books I had been reading to my mother
and we talked about it. She said if I was
going to make another religion a part of
my life, I should do it right. I converted
to Judaism with her blessing."
While studying in conversion
classes at Adat Shalom Synagogue in
Farmington Hills, someone suggested
The Kids' Perspective
"My dad is like Bruce Wayne — and
Batman:' said the rabbi's eldest daugh-
ter, Jennifer Biegelsen."He's got his
superhero side and his everyday regu-
lar guy side, just staying at home to
barbecue and chill out."
Added the Loss' daughter Shayna
Levine of Huntington Woods, "There
are definitely two sides to him, includ-
ing the relaxed, goofy guy who makes
up crazy songs about every topic under
the sun."
As a child, Biegelsen said, "I always
knew there were other people who
needed him, but he led a public life and
a separate, private life."
"My dad is a great father and grand-
father',' Levine said. "Growing up, when
he was home, he was 100 percent
there."
Living in New Jersey with her hus-