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Career Shift

After 25 years at B’nai Moshe, Rabbi Pachter
will focus on school administration at FJA.

Keri Guten Cohen | Story Development Editor

R

abbi Elliot Pachter has spent nearly
half his life serving as spiritual
leader of Congregation B’nai Moshe
in West Bloomfield. As he approaches his
25th anniversary there, the congregation
will honor him the weekend of June 4-5 at
Shabbat services and then at a special din-
ner the following evening.
Pachter will become rabbi emeritus of
B’nai Moshe on July 1.
At 57, Pachter admittedly is too young
for retirement. He sees this instead as a
mid-career change that allows him to fulfill
a dream he had of himself as an admin-
istrator at a Jewish day school. He will
continue as Dean of Student Services and
Programming at Frankel Jewish Academy
(FJA) in West Bloomfield.
“The timing is good,” he said. “Before
rabbinical school, I believed I would be a
day school administrator. After more than
30 years as a synagogue rabbi, I’m essen-
tially doing that.”
As rabbi emeritus at B’nai Moshe, he will

continue to teach, provide pastoral care
and be involved with special projects. He
also will ease the transition for the congre-
gation’s next rabbi.
After five years as assistant rabbi at Adat
Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills
with the late Rabbi Efry Spectre, Pachter
moved to B’nai Moshe in 1992.
“When I came, I helped rebuild B’nai
Moshe spiritually,” he said. “It was a chal-
lenging time moving to West Bloomfield
from Oak Park, but we’ve made our mark
here.”
Pachter was part of the growth of B’nai
Moshe in the boom years in the early
1990s. In the first year in the new building,
the membership went from 275 to 425, he
recalled.
Another milestone came when B’nai
Moshe started its L.I.F.E. (Learning is a
Family Experience) program.
“We started with a one-room school with
30 students in grades K-3,” he said. “In
the second year, we expanded to seventh

Rabbi Elliot Pachter, center, and co-chairs of his 25th anniversary events: Dennis Deutsch,
Pearlena Bodzin, Alisa Peskin-Shepherd and Anne Rottman.

grade and the enrollment kept expanding.
We pioneered the Shabbat school idea.
Everyone scoffed and then followed our
lead.”
During his tenure, the congregation built
a school wing and also added a chapel.

ALL IN THE FAMILY
Beyond his talents as a prayer leader and
source of comfort at life-cycle events,
Pachter remains a role model of religious
observance and family values. Early on, he
set a standard of inclusivity for young chil-
dren on the bimah.
Son Gabriel was only 1 when Pachter

started serving the congregation. Jonathan
was born about two years later. Both were
frequent visitors on the bimah.
“My kids grew up at shul; this has been
our home and the congregation has been
family,” said Pachter, who is married to
Naomi Weckstein.
Pachter learned just how true that feeling
of family was when he suffered an aortic
dissection (an internal tear in the aorta) in
2010 and nearly died.
“People were there for us; we didn’t even
realize all they did for us,” he said. “And
they were patient — it was a three-month
recovery.”

8 Over 80

Honorees to be feted a t annual JSL luncheon.

J

ewish Senior Life will honor eight inspir-
ing octogenarians at its 23rd annual
Eight Over Eighty luncheon at 11:30 a.m.
Sunday, May 22, at Adat Shalom Synagogue in
Farmington Hills.
The honorees are selected by a panel of three
judges from submissions by community members
and are chosen for how they have made a dif-
ference during their lifetimes. The program will
feature JSL executive staff, lunch and a ceremony
hosted by Sherri Margolis and Alan Muskovitz,
featuring a video of the honorees. Each honoree
is paired with a student from Frankel Jewish
Academy, who will escort them to the stage.
Reservations can be made online at www.
jslmi.org/events/eight-over-eighty or by calling
Michelle Buda at (248) 592-1101 or via email at
mbuda@jslmi.org.

MEET THE HONOREES:
Barbara Frankel of West Bloomfield is a long-
time volunteer at the Fleischman Residence/
Blumberg Plaza where she developed and
enhanced a weekly jewelry class for residents.
She is active with Orchestra Hall and a board
member of the Michigan Opera Theatre. She
is a recipient of United Way’s Heart of Gold
Award and an active volunteer at Temple Israel.

18 May 12 • 2016

Carolyn Greenberg of Franklin is a
recipient of the American Jewish Committee
Human Relations Award and the Sylvia Simon
Greenberg Young Leadership Award. She is very
active in and affiliated with Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit Women’s Department,
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee,
Jewish Family Service, Detroit Institute of Arts,
Sinai Hospital (board of trustees), American
Friends of Hebrew University Field Rep and
Temple Beth El.
Micki Grossman of Farmington Hills is
very active with Jewish Federation’s Women’s
Philanthropy efforts including Tov packages
and with Mitzvah Day through Federation and
the Jewish Community Relations Council. She
provides outreach education about Judaism
to local churches and schools, and volunteers
with numerous synagogues. She is a lover of
the arts.
Jack Gun of West Bloomfield is a Holocaust
survivor active at the Holocaust Memorial
Center and with the World Federation of
Jewish Child Survivors of Holocaust and
Descendants. He is involved with AIPAC and
the Friends of the IDF, and is affiliated with
Congregation Shaarey Zedek. He owned Gann
Brothers sausage company.

Dr. Martin Herman of Detroit was educated
and trained as a musicologist at University of
Michigan and Wayne State University, and is an
Emeritus Professor of Humanities at WSU. He is
very active in the development and running of
the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue in Detroit.
Bernard Jonas of West Bloomfield is a very
active community volunteer with Yad Ezra,
Hebrew Day School, Northwest Detroit Baseball
League, American Jewish Committee, Hebrew
Benevolent Cemetery and Men’s B’nai B’rith
Organizaion for more than 50 years. He is an
active member of Congregation B’nai Moshe in
West Bloomfield.
Libby Sherbin of Beverly Hills is a very
active volunteer with National Council of
Jewish Women, Kadima, Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit, Birmingham Public
Schools and Birmingham Temple. She worked in
speech/language pathology in Detroit and was a
Yiddish instructor at Shalom Aleichem Institute.
Burton Shifman of West Bloomfield served
as an attorney in the community until just
recently; he is active in interfaith outreach
and very involved with the Anti-Defamation
League, Jewish National Fund Council of Detroit
and B’nai B’rith. He is affiliated and active at
Congregation Beth Shalom in Oak Park.

*

Barbara Frankel

Carolyn Greenberg