metro >> on the cover
A Chanukah celebration in the C4n
Louis Klein Chapel
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100 Years from page 1
Originally known as Congregation
Eliyahu, the then-Orthodox congregation
met in a variety of rented spaces before
buying a house on Elliot Street. By 1917,
with a membership of 70 families, the
congregation broke ground for a new
building at the corner of Garfield and
Beaubien streets.
To raise funds, renaming rights were
given to the highest bidder, which turned
out to be Morris (Moshe) and Johanna
Gunsberg. The building that opened in
1918 was named Congregation B'nai
Moshe (Children of Moshe) in honor of
their nine children.
The new building had Moshe's son Sam
as president, a sanctuary that seated 600,
a social hall for 300 and a school that edu-
cated 100 children from the heavily Jewish
neighborhood surrounding it.
Fast forward 100 years, 46 presidents
and three buildings later, and the 400
families of the now-Conservative congre-
gation pray, learn and celebrate together
on Drake Road in West Bloomfield.
Rabbi Elliot Pachter has led the con-
gregation since 1992. He was joined by
Cantor Earl Berris in 1997. Both stand on
the bimah, but make a point not to stand
on ceremony to ensure a warm, welcom-
ing and participatory congregation.
"A number of years ago, a new fam-
Gabriel Pachter
Renee Gunsberg
Jenna Sperling
Morris (Moshe) Gunsberg and his sons — namesakes of
B'nai Moshe
Rabbi Elliot Pachter with
congregants in the B'nai
Moshe sukkah
Hannah Fine
Joel Ungar