APRIL 21 • 2022 | 15

utive director, 
says the pandem-
ic gave people 
an even deeper 
appreciation 
for their temple 
community, and 
the spaces where 
they can gather. 
“The pandemic showed us 
how much we really like to be 
together and how tough that 
was to not be together,
” he says. 
“This will allow us to be togeth-
er for so many more things.
”
Ian Sefferman, of Bloomfield 
Hills, says he’s sure the 
expansion will help take Shir 
Shalom’s preschool to the next 
level. He and his wife, Ashley, 
plan to bring their kids, ages 
5, 2, and 8 months old, to the 
groundbreaking to see friends 
and watch the next chapter of 
Shir Shalom’s history begin. 
In addition to the signif-
icance of having the com-
munity under one roof for 
programming and preschool, 
their excitement is around the 
people, he says. “The building 
itself is going to be fantastic, 
but the people who are going 
to be creating this building and 
filling this building are just the 
most incredible people we’ve 
been able to find, and we’re so 
lucky to share it with them,
” he 
explains. “Everyone will really 
enjoy it.
”

Dani Gillman, of Bloomfield 
Hills, says she’s glad to see the 
spiritual and educational home 
she selected for her family a 
decade ago, a place also so 
committed to social justice 
and social action, thriving. 
It’s been a welcoming and 
inclusive space for her and her 
husband, Ben Chutz, their son 
Julian, now 8, and her daughter 
Brodie, 17, who is disabled. 
“We feel like the rabbis, the 
clergy, really bent over back-
wards to make us feel welcome, 
and to include my daughter. 
And we instantly fell in love 
with everything the clergy 
stands for.
” 
Having seen her son Julian 
through Shir Shalom’s pre-
school at two different build-
ings, she says she also sees the 
value of centralizing the tem-
ple’s programming. “This puts 
us all under one roof and cre-
ates a real home for all of Shir 
Shalom’s activity,
” she says. “It’s 
an exciting time. It’s an exciting 
thing to be a part of, and we’re 
happy to be a part of a congre-
gation that is forward-thinking 
and continuing to grow in 
numbers, in space and along 
spiritual lines.
”

REMEMBERING 
JUNE GURWIN
The campus will be named 
in honor of the late June and 

the late Robert Gurwin. June 
committed last year to being 
a major donor for the proj-
ect. She had met with temple 
leadership to see what needs 
she could help them meet, and 
after hearing about the building 
project, decided to make it a 
destination for her philanthrop-
ic giving. 
“She was so excited to have 
the religious school all together 
in the same place, to be able 
to have a better social hall for 
events and a better outdoor 
space for events,
” recounts 
her daughter, Fran Grossman, 
of Orchard Lake. “My mom 
thought that was a really, really 
good idea, and I was on board.
” 
Grossman says she hopes 
the project brings the com-
munity even closer, and that 
people realize even as a small 
congregation, they can achieve 
so much. The message: “You 
can be a part of this, we can 
do great things, and everybody 
can help.
” 
The expansion comes at 
a time when Shir Shalom is 
continuing to grow, despite 
a decreasing Detroit popula-
tion, competition from other 
synagogues and temples, and 
COVID-19, says Franklin resi-
dent Steve Ziff. 
“It’s a wonderful concept 
that needs to be executed,
” says 
Ziff, who remembers hearing 

about Rabbi Dannel Schwartz’s 
plans for the congregation at its 
beginnings over tennis, where 
they met. Ziff, who joined 
Schwartz’s then-fledgling con-
gregation, says he’s sure the 
expansion will bring about 
more programs and interaction, 
while keeping Shir Shalom’s 
hallmark focus on making 
everybody feel comfortable and 
like they belong. 
“The expansion, I hope, 
is going to bring more new 
members, be it people who are 
just hearing about temple for 
the first time or friends of cur-
rent congregants, and that it’s 
going to bring more children 
throughout the various grades 
of the school,
” he said.
Meanwhile, Allison Woll 
Parr, Shir Shalom’s president, 
says she’s looking forward 
to seeing everyone at the 
groundbreaking. 
“After this diffi-
cult past couple 
years, for me, it 
represents com-
ing back togeth-
er, safely, and 
just celebrating 
something positive when our 
world can be so challenging, 
to create this legacy and look 
at the future of our temple,” 
she says. “It’s a stop on the 
way to our future, which I 
think is pretty exciting.” 

Brian 
Fishman

Dani Gillman and family
The late June Gurwin with her great-grandchildren

Allison Woll 
Parr

