metro Caring Visionary Beth El to celebrate Rabbi Syme's 40th anniversary as a rabbi. Harry Kirsbaum Contributing Editor T he fact that Rabbi Daniel Syme of Temple Beth El is here to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his rabbinical ordina- tion is in itself miraculous. As a college junior, he was diag- nosed with a cancerous tumor that, at the time, had a survival rate of just 2 percent. After removing the tumor and eight hours of exploratory surgery, the doc- tor found it hadn't spread. He told Syme: "In my opinion, this was a miracle. You were saved for a reason and you should become a rabbi" Rabbi Syme said, "And that was the point that I decided. I went to Hebrew Union College for their summer pro- gram. I loved it and I became a rabbi and never looked back" Temple Beth El will celebrate his 40 years as a rabbi May 4-5 with a special Shabbat service and a party. Syme started his rabbinical career in New York as the director of NIFTY, the youth organization of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. In 1996, after 24 years, he left his position as senior president. "I was all set to go to California, keeping a promise to myself that I made when I was young to live in a warm climate he said. His father, the late Rabbi M. Robert Syme, who was then rabbi at Temple Israel, called him to request that he move back home first for a couple of years to be with his parents because they were aging. "I learned that Temple Beth El was also very anxious to talk to me he said. "So I came to Beth El for two years, and here I am:' It was his wife, Jill, who caused him to stay. "She had been my childhood sweet- heart:' he said. "We had met at camp at 16; we met again after 36 years — her family was here, my family was here and we stayed:' They were married in 1998. "Danny is a brilliant visionary — he doesn't just imagine; he makes things happen:' Jill said. "His sensitivity is one of his greatest gifts. He genuinely cares about people and has made a difference in so many lives, quite often quietly and without fanfare:' Wayne State University's Dean of Students Office, the Cohn Haddow Center for Judaic Studies, Hillel of Metro Detroit and the Jewish Community Relations Council are honored to present THE WARSAW GHETTO UPRISING REMEMBRANCE PROGRAM 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 8 Wayne State University General Lectures Building 5045 Anthony Wayne Drive On the 70th anniversary of this historic event, this special evening of reflection honors the courage and faith of the men and women who stood against their oppressors through a series of memories, tributes, music and poetry. Special guests include: • Maya Karmely, Acting Deputy Consul General representing the Consulate General of Israel to the Midwest • The Honorable Paulina Kapuscinska, Consul General of the Republic of Poland • Mag. Thomas Schnoell, Austrian Consul General • David Weinberg, Director, Cohn Haddow Center for Judaic Studies and WSU Professor of History • Howard Lupovitch, Incoming Director, Cohn Haddow Center for Judaic Studies • Stephen Goldman, Executive Director, Holocaust Memorial Center • Anca Vlasopolos, WSU Professor of English and 2012 Murray Jackson Creative Scholar in the Arts • Margaret Winters, WSU Interim Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Dessert reception to follow. Free transportation will be available from the West Bloomfield Jewish Community Center and Holocaust Memorial Center at 4:45 p.m. and the Oak Park Jewish Community Center at 5 p.m. Free parking is available in Parking Structure 2, located on the John C. Lodge Service Drive (entrance is north of Warren Avenue). RSVP at doso.wayne.edu or call 313-577-1010 and indicate any special needs accommodations and bus reservations. 1830020 22 April 25 • 2013 JN Rabbi Daniel Syme Real Rabbi' Syme said his early career was com- pletely different. "Being with a Jewish organization is a program-intensive job:' he said. "Along the way, I wrote a couple of dozen books because I was on airplanes a lot — out of town 120 days a year. A con- gregation is people-intensive. My father told me if you're not in a congregation, you're not really a rabbi. "You will know that you're a real rabbi when you're in the same place for 15 or 20 years, and you watch kids grow up and officiate at their bar or A young Daniel bat mitzvah and Syme their weddings and at their baby-namings." While at Beth El in Bloomfield Township, the rabbi has created pro- grams for suicide prevention, to feed the hungry, provide furniture for those coming out of homelessness, and to create bonds with the African- American and Christian communi- ties, including a Gospel Seder with the Greater New Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church in Detroit. "They bring the choir, and all the music in the seder is gospel music:' he said. "Pastor Kenneth Flowers and I tell the story of the Exodus as it moves us:' Two years ago, Syme was inducted