54 | SEPTEMBER 26 • 2019 

Jews in the D

The Marcus family: 
Scott, Ethan, Dana 
and Mason. 

C

ontinuing its outreach 
into Metro Detroit 
neighborhoods where 
there are growing yet unaf-
filiated pockets of Jewish 
families and individuals, the 
Jewish Community Center of 
Metropolitan Detroit held an 
end-of-the summer Shabbat 
in the Park on Sept. 6 to kick 
off its Birmingham Jewish 
Community initiative. 
Approximately 40 families 
attended the event in Booth 
Park. There, they played lawn 
games, ate pizza and salad 
delivered by Jerusalem Pizza 
and created crafts from recy-
cled materials provided by 
Arts and Scraps. 
Neighbors sat on blankets, 
lawn chairs and picnic tables 
as they recited blessings over 
challah and grape juice and 
then participated in a sing-
along with the JCC’
s Lisa 
Soble Siegmann to usher in 
Shabbat. As they departed for 
home, each family received a 
pair of Shabbat candles.
The initiative is a contin-
uation of the outreach that 
has taken place in Franklin, 
where for the past two years, 
thanks in part to a $25,000 
grant from the William 
Davidson Foundation, 
Franklin Jewish neighbors 
have celebrated holidays like 
Shabbat, Sukkot, Purim and 
Chanukah.
Birmingham was selected 
as the next neighborhood 
in the initiative that was 
inspired by the 2018 Jewish 

Population Study revelation 
that many young families 
choose not to join a temple 
or synagogue, yet still desire 
the connections and com-
munity those institutions 
offer. Birmingham is home to 
many young Jewish families, 
and it is the goal of the pro-
gram to “bring the Jewish” to 
them through casual, friendly 
programming with a “Jewish 
twist.”
Dana Marcus, 45, who 
served on the planning com-
mittee, lives in Birmingham 
with her husband, Scott, 45, 
who is the president of ORT, 
and their two sons, Ethan, 
15, and Mason, 12. Though 
they have lived in the area 
since 1998, they had never 
seen such a demonstration 
of Jewish community life in 
Birmingham before the Sept. 
6 program. 
Marcus said although her 
family belongs to Temple 
Israel in West Bloomfield, it 
is a 30-minute drive. Having 
a Shabbat-centered program 
right in the neighborhood 
for her family gave her fam-
ily and Jewish neighbors a 
chance to meet locally. 
At the pre-Shabbat picnic, 
she said she saw people she 
knew yet was unaware they 
lived in Birmingham. There 
were also lots of new faces of 
younger couples with young-
er children, a good indication 
that the Jewish population in 
Birmingham is growing, she 
added. 

STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

COURTESY OF DANA MARCUS 

Jewish Birmingham

New initiative aims to “bring the
Jewish” to the neighborhood.

Sh

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