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75th Anniversary

Top Stories

Five events that helped to shape the
Detroit Jewish community.

TESSA GOLDBERG DJN FOUNDATION

W

hile many events have shaped the
Detroit Jewish community since the
founding of the Jewish News in 1942,
a handful have had extraordinary impact. With
input from a cross-section of community mem-
bers, the Detroit Jewish News Foundation has
compiled a list of these notable “Top Stories.”
In recognition of the 75th anniversary of the
Jewish News, the Foundation’s William Davidson
Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History has
packaged “Top Stories” into a special feature for
you. These stories will be added periodically to
this site (www.djnfoundation.org) throughout
the 75th anniversary year, which runs through
March 2018.
Significantly, you are now able to attach your
own video, audio or written recollections of
these “Top Stories” to the Foundation pages.
Once submitted and accepted, your memories
— or those of a family member — will become a
permanent part of the Foundation site.
The initial “Top Story” was the 1966 shooting
and subsequent passing of Rabbi Morris Adler
during Shabbat services at Shaarey Zedek in
Southfield. “Top Stories” added to date include
Soviet emigration, the 75th anniversary of the
Detroit Jewish News, the 1967 Six Day War and

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July 18 • 2017

jn

the 1967 Detroit riots.
Visit the site for a comprehensive perspective
of each event and its impact on the community.

RABBI ADLER

The majestic and spacious sanctuary of
Southfield’s Congregation Shaarey Zedek has
been the setting for some of the Detroit Jewish
community’s most memorable occasions.
Framed by its soaring ark and stained-glass
windows, brides have been united with grooms,
babies have received their Hebrew names, b’nai
mitzvah have chanted their haftorah portions,
milestone birthdays have been celebrated,
rallies in support of Israel and Soviet Jewry have
been staged, and leaders have been eulogized.
But none of those occasions compared to the
tragedy that several hundred attendees witnessed
on Feb. 12, 1966, when a brilliant but mentally
unstable congregant utilized a gun he had easily
purchased in Toledo to fatally shoot the revered
Rabbi Morris Adler. Then, the assailant took his
own life with a bullet from the same weapon and
inflicted emotional pain and scars that still haunt
the congregation and the community. (Extract
from Arthur Horwitz, Publisher’s Note, March 10,
2016)
continued on page 20