18 | MAY 26 • 2022 

R

abbi Elimelech 
and Chaya Sarah 
Silberberg came to West 
Bloomfield with two small 
children in November 1975 
as shluchim (emissaries) of 
the Lubavitcher Rebbe. They 
embraced the quiet, suburban 
community, encouraging 
people from all levels of 
observance to learn and 
increase their participation in 
Jewish life.
The Sara & Morris Tugman 
Bais Chabad Torah Center’s 
founding fathers were a group 
of Holocaust survivors, a group 
Silberberg connected to and 
with whom he formed the 
congregation. Bais Chabad 
initially ran out of a room in a 
day school, but, in 1982, they 
felt they had grown enough 

and built the current building 
on Maple Road, east of 
Orchard Lake.
From humble beginnings, 
the congregation slowly grew, 
one family at a time. At some 
point, it became necessary 
for a younger rabbi to draw 
in younger people. That’s 
when their son, Rabbi Shneur 
Silberberg, and his wife, Zeesy, 
joined the team.
Rabbi Shneur Silberberg says 
Bais Chabad is technically an 
Orthodox synagogue, but it 
offers a home for everyone. 
“Nobody is asked their level 
of observance or what their 
background is or how much 
they know or don’t know,” he 
said. “
And that’s the goal, to be 
a place where everyone feels 
at home, and everyone has 

the opportunity to grow in 
their Torah studying and their 
commitment to Judaism.”
He says Elya Silfen, a 
congregant who is also a rabbi 
(but not part of the synagogue 
clergy), has launched an 
online Torah-study class based 

out of the congregation that 
broadcasts throughout the 
world, with students checking 
in from Israel, Europe, Mexico 
and South America. The 
website is chabadacademy.org.
“What COVID really taught 
us is you can sit in one place 
and broadcast to the world,” 
Silberberg said. “You don’t 
want to lose that in-person 
connection, but we’re trying to 
take advantage of that.”
Other Bais Chabad clergy 
include Rabbi Avrohom 
Weinberg, who serves as a 
teacher as well as a building 
administrator.
The Silberbergs and Bais 
Chabad are well known 
for helping the community 
celebrate the holidays with 
the Shofar Factory, Chanukah 
Wonderland and the Passover 
Matzah Factory.
Silberberg says about 120 
families or so belong to the 
congregation, but many people 
who participate in different 
Bais Chabad programs belong 
to other synagogues.
“
And that’s great, whether 
they enjoy the classes or my 
wife’s Jewish Women’s Circle 
or the holiday programs, it 
reaches hundreds of other 
families.”
Silberberg says Bais Chabad’s 
congregant base has gotten 
younger. “We do have older 

A ‘Home for Everyone’

SYNAGOGUE SPOTLIGHT

Bais Chabad in final stages of opening 
a new mikvah and new playground.

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

PHOTOS BY NATHAN VICAR

Bais Chabad’s sanctuary

