6 | OCTOBER 28 • 2021 

1942 - 2021

Covering and Connecting 
Jewish Detroit Every Week

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PURELY COMMENTARY

continued from page 4

synagogues empty or emptying.
Tree of Life will apparently be 
rebuilt as a complex that will be 
“part synagogue, part Holocaust 
museum, part 10-27 memorial.
” 
Whether anyone will come 
is another story. In his High 
Holiday sermon a year after the 
attack, Jeffrey Myers, Tree of 
Life’s rabbi, offered “a brutally 
candid assessment of the state of 
the synagogue, a plea for help, 
a challenge” for twice-a-year 
Jews to show up for programs 
and services, lest the synagogue 
cease to exist in 30 years.
That’s not just a Pittsburgh, 
or Jewish, thing. As Myers 
puts it, “low attendance at 
regular worship services was 
not a Jewish problem but an 
American problem.
”
Oppenheimer does bring 
more hopeful stories, starting 
with the bustling Orthodox 
synagogues and including 
people and congregations 
offering spiritual, political 
and cultural alternatives for 
a generation of disenchanted 

seekers. How “sticky” these 
alternatives will be — to borrow 
a term from Silicon Valley — 
remains to be seen.
Squirrel Hill is both inspiring 
and deflating. It’s a reminder 
of the persistence of one of 
the world’s oldest hatreds 
and of the resilience of its 
targets. It’s a celebration of an 
American Jewish community, 
and a lament for fading Jewish 
connections.
And it is also a useful 
corrective for me, someone who 
is paid to cover these issues. 
After the one-year anniversary 
event, a local Jewish leader tells 
Oppenheimer that “she felt that 
the narrative of strength and 
unity had obscured how much 
people were still hurting.
” Her 
words and Oppenheimer’s book 
are a reminder that there is 
always more to the story. 

Andrew Silow-Carroll is the editor in 
chief of the New York Jewish Week 
and senior editor of the Jewish 
Telegraphic Agency (@SilowCarroll).

Beth El’s Buildings 
Through the Years

Thank you for the cover 
story about Albert Kahn, 
architect of the Temple Beth 
El/Bonstelle building which 
is being renovated for a new 
hotel’s event/banquet room 
(Oct. 7, page 14).
Both Temple Beth El 
buildings on Woodward 
were designed by temple 
member Albert Kahn. 
Woodward was the street of 
churches, and it remains so 
unto this day. Both temple 
buildings are distinctive and 
magnificent. 
The buildings reflect the 
Reform Jewish members 
in the early 20th century 
who wanted to fit in by 
being externally American; 
the Classic architecture 
celebrates American 
democracy with Greco-

Roman roots. Although 
synagogue is a Greek word, 
the members would never 
have used that word to 
describe the Temple. It was 
too Orthodox.
Architect Minoru 
Yamasaki brought Temple 
Beth El architecture back 
to its Jewish roots. On 
Telegraph, in Bloomfield 
Township, he recreated the 
tabernacle in the desert; The 
congregants face east toward 
Jerusalem. Times change.

— Levi Smith

VP, Albert Kahn

Legacy Foundation

Albertkahnlegacy.org

Correction:
Oct. 14’s “Looking Back” 
(page 54) should have stated 
that Joanee Hurwitz is owner 
of Steve’s Deli in Bloomfield 
Township.

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