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7-9 p.m.
Thursday, June 9

Open House

2-4 p.m.
Sunday, June 12

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Rev. Kenneth Flowers
of the Greater New
Mount Moriah Baptist
Church in Detroit
and Rabbi Syme
have forged a close
friendship.

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14 June 9 • 2016

Rabbi Mark Miller. “In the two years
we’ve worked together, I’ve watched
the way he adapts to provide rabbinic
guidance and care for people at all dif-
ferent stages, and I’ve learned. The last
two years have been an extra bonus I
will always carry with me throughout
my rabbinate.”
Cantor Rachel Gottlieb Kalmowitz
recalls how Syme recruited her to
the temple. “We met at my grandpa’s
funeral,” she said. “He told me, ‘I have
a feeling you belong at Temple Beth El.
I want to bring you home.’”
A few years later, Gottlieb Kalmowitz
joined Beth El. “I started picturing
what my life would be like being close
to my mom and a member of a close
community. It’s everything I thought it
would be. Rabbi Syme has always been
a strong support, someone I can turn
to when something difficult comes up.”

INTERFAITH RELATIONS
Syme also deepened the temple’s
commitment to building interfaith
relationships, originating a four-way
ecumenical partnership linking Jews,
Catholics, Presbyterians and black
Southern Baptists.
“Rabbi Syme is an icon in the com-
munity. I met him 20 years ago, and
we developed a good friendship,” said
Monsignor Anthony Tocco of St. Hugo
on the Hills in Bloomfield Hills.
Tocco recalls the film Passion of the
Christ and his discussions with Syme.
“I thought it was excellent, and he
thought it was anti-Semitic,” he said.
“So he invited me to the temple to talk
about the film. I was there three hours
taking engaging questions from the
audience. At the end, we understood
each other’s viewpoints.”
Syme formed a close friendship with
Rev. Kenneth Flowers of the Greater
New Mount Moriah Baptist Church in
Detroit. Flowers and Syme collaborat-
ed on joint programming and worship

opportunities, including an annual
interfaith Gospel Seder.
“We met in 1996 and were a per-
fect fit. We share a spiritual bond
and camaraderie; we’re like brothers,”
Rev. Flowers said. “He’s been there for
me during my difficult times. We’ve
been there for each other, laughed,
cried and prayed together. We stand
shoulder to shoulder together against
racism.”
Steve Weiner, Temple Beth El
executive board president, said, “Rabbi
Syme’s worked really hard at creating
relationships in our temple, Reform
Judaism and the interfaith community.
He’s been at the front end of change, a
progressive leader.
“He’s got a wonderful following of
congregants who care deeply for him,”
Weiner added. “He’s served them in
joy and pain with an equal level of
intensity and commitment, the corner-
stone of what great rabbis do.”

BLACKJEWISH RELATIONS
With Flowers, Syme also became
involved in strengthening the relation-
ship between the black and Jewish
communities. In March 2000, Flowers
and Syme brought Coretta Scott King
to Detroit to the Wright Museum of
African American History. She then
traveled by motorcade to Beth El.
“Bringing Coretta Scott King to tem-
ple was a great joy,” Syme said. “She
was unbelievable.”
Syme brought many great speak-
ers to Beth El over the years: Cokie
Roberts, Julian Bond and George
McGovern, to name just a few. “When
I look back, these were the moments
that I recapture in my memory,” Syme
said. “They brought me a lot of hap-
piness.”
Syme also joined Rev. Jesse Jackson
in a dynamic discussion on changes,
challenges and possibilities in the
African American and Jewish com-