30 | MAY 19 • 2022

A

true piece of Jewish
history sits just over
the Detroit River, an
institution that’s seen it all in
its near century of existence. It
may have originated as a repli-
ca, but there’s no duplicating it.
Windsor’s Congregation
Shaar Hashomayim, or “Gate
of Heaven,
” is an exact model
of the namesake synagogue
in Montreal, just on a smaller
scale. The synagogue was built
93 years ago and is listed on the
Heritage Register of the City of
Windsor.
As Windsor’s population
boomed in the post-World
War I era, so, too, did its Jewish
population, until the Shaarey
Zedek on Mercer Street could
no longer hold its membership.
According to the Windsor
Jewish Federation, just over
300 Jews lived in Windsor in
1911. By 1921, the community

numbered 980. It became clear
a new synagogue was needed.
A building committee was
organized in 1925. The present
Shaar Hashomayim site on
Giles Boulevard was purchased
and groundbreaking took place
on June 24, 1929. The first
services were held on Rosh
Hashanah in 1930.
By the time Shaar
Hashomayim was built, the
Windsor Jewish community
had grown to 2,200 people.
From that beginning, the
synagogue grew both in mem-
bership and in function. High
Holidays at Shaar Hashomayim
were packed, full of congre-
gants all the way up to the
balcony.
That was then, and now
is now. The Windsor Jewish
community has dwindled in
numbers over the years. But
Bill Mechanic, current act-

ing-president of
the congregation
and fifth-gener-
ation member of
the community,
has worked tire-
lessly to keep the
doors open to the
near century-old gem of Jewish
architecture and history.
Mechanic’s great-grandfather,

Morris Gitlin, was the first
acting rabbi in Windsor, and
his grandfather Bill and his
brother Abraham were among
the founding fathers of Shaar
Hashomayim. Mechanic fol-
lows in his father Dave’s foot-
steps as a dedicated and giving
congregant.
The community has assist-
ed Mechanic and Shaar
Hashomayim in endless ways
over the years, helping keep the
operation going. “We’ve raised
a lot of money,
” Mechanic said.
“Our heating and cooling was
kaput. It was from 1929. We
raised $300,000 to replace that
last year.
”
Mechanic says along with
help from those still in town,
the congregation has received
help from people who were
raised in Windsor and moved
away.
When the ceiling collapsed
about six years ago and they
didn’t have the money to fix it,
a man who was bar mitzvahed
at the Shaar years prior visit-
ed and said, “That can’t be.
”
Mechanic said the problem was
taken care of.
“If there’s a cause, people
in the community will come
through and rally around it.
They don’t turn their backs,
”
Mechanic said. “We’re trying
to keep it operational. We keep
reinvesting, and we’re able to
have weekly services and High

Windsor’s Congregation
Shaar Hashomayim
Nears Its Centennial

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

OUR COMMUNITY

SYNAGOGUE SPOTLIGHT

The exterior

Rabbi Sholom Galperin
near the bimah.

NATHAN VICAR

Bill
Mechanic