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