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Rabbi

Ages

Bill Carroll I Contributing Writer

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around us," David Groner said.
"You taught us charity and compassion
in our dealings with others. You encour-
aged us to have the integrity and moral
courage to do what's right. You passed on
your strong belief and faith in God to help
us stay on course.
All the while, you, by your example,
demonstrated these virtues. You unequivo-
cally embody the words: father, mentor,
teacher and rabbi:'

Resisting Bigotry

The measure of Irwin Groner — the man,
the rabbi, the future Jewish leader — was
determined at a small synagogue in Little
Rock, Ark., in 1957.
Gov. Orville Faubus had ordered the
state's National Guard to prevent desegre-
gation of city schools by blocking the entry
of nine African American students into the
high school. President Dwight Eisenhower
called in federal troops to guard them and
prevent rioting.
The anti-black sentiment also caused
anti-Semitic incidents, imperiling the Little
Rock shul of 150 families. The FBI warned
its young rabbi, Irwin Groner, to stop all
services because of bomb threats.
"But we wouldn't give in to the threats
then, just as we shouldn't give in to terror-
ist threats today:' he related in later years.
"Our attendance at services even increased
because of it.
"So, we hired a watchman to handle
our security. When I saw him, I whis-
pered to our president: 'He looks elderly
and out of shape. The president said: 'You
don't have to whisper; he can't hear well,
either:"
A few years later, Rabbi Groner came
to Michigan where he served as assistant
rabbi, then head rabbi and rabbi emeritus
for more than 50 years at Shaarey Zedek,
endearing himself to the Metro Detroit

8 January 3 • 2013

Jewish community and establishing a
worldwide reputation as a religious leader.

Horrific Violence

Following his heroic stand at a terrifying
time in Arkansas, Rabbi Groner took on
an even greater challenge seven years after
he arrived at Shaarey Zedek. On Feb. 12,
1966, Rabbi Morris Adler, Shaarey Zedek's
beloved, longtime spiritual leader, was
gunned down on the bimah by a troubled
young member of the synagogue.
Rabbi Adler, 60, was first shot in the
arm and, while wounded, pushed the bar
mitzvah boy out of the way. A second
shot hit him in the back of the head. The
attacker then shot himself and died. Rabbi
Adler lingered for a month before passing
away.
Rabbi Groner was at Camp Tamarack in
Oakland County with a youth group the
day of the shooting and rushed back to
comfort the Adler family — and congre-
gants who witnessed the incident. He even
officiated at the attacker's funeral — "I
did what had to be done he said later —
then went about the task of unifying the
stunned congregation.
"It was a great tragedy and we had to
heal the wounds of our members and
move forward:' he reflected in an inter-
view with the Detroit Jewish News a decade
ago at the time of Shaarey Zedek's 140th
anniversary celebration.
A year after Rabbi Adler's death, Rabbi
Groner was appointed the synagogue's
senior rabbi, filling the first chair on the
bimah, left vacant for a year out of respect
for Rabbi Adler. In 1978, he was named
rabbi for life, then took on emeritus status
in 2003.

Family Of Rabbis

Handling adversity like the Little Rock
incident and the Adler murder was noth-
ing new for Irwin Groner. After all, he was
a rabbi, a member of a family of rabbis.

His father, two brothers, a brother-in-law
and seven nephews were all rabbis. In fact,
when his father, Max, died in 1982, there
were 19 family rabbis at shivah services.
Irwin Groner was born Oct. 27, 1931, in
Chicago. He graduated from the University
of Chicago and was ordained at the
Hebrew Theological College of Chicago.
His first pulpit was at the Little Rock
synagogue, Agudath Achim Congregation,
where his family went through the peril-
ous times of the 1950s.
"Needless to say, when we received a
call from Shaarey Zedek, we were happy to
leave Arkansas," Rabbi Groner recalled in
the interview. With his wife, Leypsa, and
daughter, Debbie, he joined Shaarey Zedek
as an assistant rabbi in 1959. His two sons,
Joel, a clinical psychologist in Chicago, and
David, were born in Michigan.
Rabbi Groner saw a synagogue, rich in
Detroit and Jewish tradition, grow to 1,900
member families in its sixth location since
being founded in 1861, recently mark-
ing its 150th anniversary. The beautiful
Southfield edifice has received recognition
in national magazines and newspapers.
"Our growth and development was
made possible by the opportunities offered
Jews and all ethnic and religious groups in
America: Rabbi Groner asserted.
Throughout that growth, he officiated at
numerous weddings and funerals, often on
the same day — "which can test anyone's
emotions," he bemoaned — plus bar and
bat mitzvahs and other occasions. In addi-

tion, there were many hospital visits to
sick congregants, shivah calls and obligato-
ry attendance at charity and social events.
"I started to keep count of all of this in the
early years, but it gave me a headache, so I
quit counting:' he mused.

A Voice Of Conscience
"The key to being a successful rabbi is
keeping the congregation happy:' Rabbi
Groner said. "I've tried my best to do that.
A rabbi has a unique role besides being a
teacher. He or she also must be the voice
and conscience of the synagogue. You
must rise to each occasion, revitalize the
members and exhibit wisdom and judg-
ment, like the sages of Israel."
He always believed that one of his big-
gest challenges over the years — "the same
as that of any rabbi in the world" — was
to preserve Jewish tradition in a secular
world and deliver the message of those tra-
ditions to contemporary Jewish people.
He mediated many family squabbles,
the alienation of parents and children, ani-
mosity among businesspeople and other
disputes. He never revealed details of these
events, but he figured that, over the years,
he saved many marriages and parent/
child relationships. He convinced people to
resolve the conflict by just forgiving each
other — "not to remain obsessed with
their own points of view:'
Rabbi Groner also was active in many
community events. He was proud of
his efforts as chairman of the Stop Anti-