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continued from page 14

IT PAYS
TO PAY IT
FORWARD.

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of The Hebrew University Gift Annuity,
you’ll receive great rates and the
priceless feeling of changing lives.

AFHU Hebrew University
Gift Annuity Returns

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RABBI LEO M. FRANKLIN ARCHIVES/TEMPLE BETH EL

The original stained glass windows from
the Detroit temple are now ho used at
Temple Beth El in Bloomfield Township.

says. “That future has to be told in
partnership with other communi-
ties. Part of what I’m hoping can
happen in the space of the Bethel
Community Transformation Center
is that we figure out how to write
that future together. A space that
symbolizes the past can also sym-
bolize the future of relationships
between people of different racial,
religious and socioeconomic back-
grounds.”
In that spirit, an interfaith
Passover seder called “Freedom
Feast” is taking place in the building
Thursday, April 13, led by Silverman,
Temple Beth El Rabbi Mark Miller
and Pastor Hinds. All proceeds go to
the Kickstarter campaign.
Recently, up to 550 people attend-
ed the Downtown Synagogue’s High
Holiday services at the Holocaust
Memorial Center in Farmington
Hills, but this fall, the congregation
plans to hold High Holiday services
in the old temple’s main sanctuary.

RICH HISTORY

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Hebrew University Gift Annuities,
please call AFHU Midwest Region
Executive Director, Judith Shenkman.

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16

April 13 • 2017

jn

While some look at the building and
see the future, others are drawn to
the temple because of its rich history.
Carefully laid-out blueprints, film and
photos from the early days of Temple
Beth El can be found in local archives.
The images of a packed 1,600-seat
sanctuary, cars lined up outside and
crowds spilling onto Woodward har-
ken back to a time of growth, prosper-
ity and community pride.
“There are many historical reasons
to cherish this building,” says Wendy
Rose Bice, executive director of the
Jewish Historical Society of Michigan.
“It was built very deliberately where

it is. Woodward Avenue was and
remains the primary thoroughfare to
and from Detroit. In an era when there
was terrible anti-Semitism, here was
this Jewish congregation saying, ‘We’re
here, we’re permanent, we’re part of
the community and
we’re proud of it.’”
Miller adds, “This
was a sanctuary that
saw events for 50
years that were life-
cycle moments and
major events in the
life of the city and
Rabbi Mark Miller
people. It’s a place
that had so much
life in it for so long,
and we’re trying to bring it back to life
as a place that isn’t just a place to tour,
but a place to engage with — a place
to enjoy.
“We have an opportunity today to
go back to Woodward and Gladstone
and rebuild our connection to the city,
meet new people and forge friend-
ships.”
That’s exactly what happened dur-
ing the recent Friday night service in
the sanctuary. As photographer Jamie
Feldman packed up his camera equip-
ment and reflected on the evening, he
took one last look around.
“Here was a spectacular facility with
a meaningful history and people who
wanted to come together and con-
nect,” he said. “The promise, the pos-
sibilities are there for the taking. This
can happen.” •

To learn more about the Bethel Community
Transformation Center or to donate to the
Kickstarter campaign, visit BCTCDetroit.org.