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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