16 | DECEMBER 19 • 2019 

and, of course, this is to attract future 
growth. We want to keep people 
engaged in being Jewish.
” 
 
According to Tisdale, the Early 
Childhood Center (ECC) is currently 
at capacity with 250 students. The 
temple’
s summer camp serves 150 
children. “Our goal is to see families 
affiliate,
” he adds. 
Temple Israel is the largest Reform 
synagogue in the country, according 
to the Union for Reform Judaism, 
with 3,400 members. Its existing 
building is 120,000 square feet.
The new classrooms and related 
enhancements are being fund-
ed through donations, primarily 
from the Sarah and Harry Gottlieb 
Endowment Fund. The Joseph J. and 
Deanna I. Bittker Foundation is the 
major donor for The Bridge. The 
$4.5 million project was designed 
by architectural firm Stuart J. Fine + 
Associates. Sachse Construction is the 
contractor.
The second phase will create a 
much-needed additional dedicated 
prayer space and social hall, a gath-
ering area to be called The Heart, an 
innovative educational room and a 
splash pad for young children. 
“The second phase is where the 
real changes come — the new prayer 
space, The Heart and a place for 
learning through movement,
” Yedwab 
explains. “Kinetic learning will rev-
olutionize how Jewish education is 
taught. The Heart came out of the 

future planning committee — that a 
shul should be a gathering place. It 
will be a place to hang out, play mahj 
or cards, or have coffee — modeled 
after Henry Ford Hospital in West 
Bloomfield.
”
The temple has been using Korman 
Hall as a multipurpose room for reli-
gious services and a children’
s play 
area, which requires frequent set-up 
and removal of large play equipment. 
Yedwab points out an ark installed in 
a wall with sliding doors so that it is 
out of the way of playing children and 
others when not used for religious 
services. “It doesn’
t have the acoustics 
for a prayer space,
” he notes. 
In addition to the main sanctuary, 
the temple has a small chapel that 
seats only 180, which is too few for 
many events.
Yedwab is especially excited about 
redesigning Korman Hall to become 
a place for immersive Jewish learn-
ing. “Children learn through kinetic 
movement and tactile learning. The 
pioneer for this was the Friendship 
Circle. Imagine if you were climbing 
the ladder of Maimonides’
 eight levels 
of charity,
” he says. 
A splash pad will be another attrac-
tion for young children and some-
thing different than what is available 
at other synagogues, Yedwab says.
The new prayer space will be 
named in honor of major donors 
Sandy and the late Bill Lefkofsky. 
Major donors for The Heart are 

Jews in the D

“We are constantly 
visioning about 
how to reach people 
and increase our 
bandwidth in the 
eastern areas.”

— RABBI JENNIFER LADER

continued from page 14

TOP: Phase II will include 
a children’
s splash pad. 
ABOVE: A new state-of-
the-art security entrance 
also is slated for Phase II. 

DRAWINGS COURTESY OF 

STUART J. FINE & ASSOCIATES.

