NOVEMBER 11 • 2021 | 11

O

n a recent Shabbat morning, the
chanting of Barechu, Shemah and
Aleinu emanated from the 270-
seat chapel at Allegria Village, a large retire-
ment community located in Dearborn.
Two of its residents, Roger Skully, an
80-year-old cantor, and his wife, Sydney,
planned the service and think it may have
been the first organized Jewish gathering in
a city that boasts the largest Arab popula-
tion in the United States.
The service was the first of what will start
out as monthly Shabbat gatherings, with
future ones planned for Nov. 20 and Dec.
18. In 2022, they hope to increase the fre-
quency to biweekly services.
Pre-COVID, the couple regularly wor-
shiped at Kehillat Etz Chayim in Oak Park.
However, during the height of the pandem-
ic, they watched on Zoom, and that, they
said, was not fulfilling.
“We need to see our friends and sing
together. Roger and I were longing for a
‘real’ service because we rarely leave our
senior community. We want to have a
Jewish presence here in Dearborn,
” Sydney
Skully said to the participants before chant-
ing the haftorah.

Cantor Skully, who has worked at sever-
al synagogues, most recently Isaac Agree
Downtown Synagogue, said the idea to
start a congregation in Dearborn arose
from his desire to keep singing and the
need for an organized Jewish presence in
the area.
The couple estimates that there are six
Jewish residents at Allegria and many more
in the area who do not
have a place to worship
because the Downriver
congregations no longer
exist.

A DIVERSE GROUP
Fifty people attended the
90-minute service on
Oct. 30. Cantor Skully
estimated 15 of those
participants were Jewish.
The rest, he said, were
residents of Allegria Village or members of
an organization called the Detroit Interfaith
Outreach Network (DION), a group the
couple is actively involved with.
Rabbi Dorit Edut, head of DION, helped
publicize it, brought a Torah to the service

and read the weekly Torah portion. Also
participating in the service was Chaplain
Yvonne Fant-Moore, also known to the
Skullys through DION.
“In our retirement community, which is
going to be the home of this congregation,
I think the only way it’s going to survive is
if we’re able to bring in people of all faiths.
My vision is that we have a Jewish format
but a kind of interfaith service, one in
which the non-Jewish residents will also be
comfortable,
” the cantor said.
“Many of my friends here were very
delighted to have a Jewish service and a
Jewish presence. In the world of faith, at
least in this country today, we all need to
stand together. The best thing for us as
Jews, and for most people, is to recognize
our humanity and not let some of the divi-
siveness become a part of what we do,
” he
added.
The Skullys are calling their endeavor
Congregation Beit Chaim, a name that car-
ries multiple levels of significance, Sydney
explained during her d’var Torah, which
she happened to deliver on the third anni-
versary of the massacre at the Tree of Life
Synagogue in Pittsburg.
“The anniversary of the Etz Hayim
tragedy made me think of life. I wanted to
give our endeavor here in Allegria Village
a name to make it come alive,
” she said.
“Everyone knows the toast l’chaim — to
life. We are not a place where people go
to die but to live. Also, the Hebrew word
beit means house. We all
literally live under one
roof. You don’t have to go
outside for anything. Just
thinking of how the staff
helped us put this service
together made me think
how true it is that ‘it takes
a village.
’ The word beit
is also Arabic for house.
We are here in the heart
of Dearborn. Many of our
dining room wait staff
wear hijabs. We are proud of our diversity
here and want to celebrate it.
”

For more information about Congregation Beit Chaim,

contact Hazzan Roger Skully at (313) 600-8982 or

Sydney Skully at (313) 600-9092.

Couple start a new
congregation at their
retirement village.

A Jewish
Presence in
Dearborn

JENNIFER LOVY
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Hazzan Roger
Skully blows the
shofar outside the
Allegria Village.

COURTESY OF THE SKULLYS

Sydney and
Roger Skully