22 | JULY 28 • 2022
O
ak Park Reform con-
gregation Temple
Emanu-El is an open,
welcoming, inclusive congrega-
tion that strives to be a spiritual
home for all.
Temple Emanu-El was found-
ed in 1952 to meet the growing
needs of the Jewish commu-
nity in Oak Park, Huntington
Woods and other northern
suburbs of Detroit. Called the
Suburban Temple of Greater
Detroit, it held its first service
for its 100 families on Jan.
18, 1952, at Burton School in
Huntington Woods. The first
High Holiday services were
held later that year at the First
Methodist Church of Royal
Oak. Within its first year, the
congregation grew to almost
300 families under the leader-
ship of Rabbi Frank Rosenthal.
The cornerstone for its build-
ing was laid in October 1955
with its final dedication in 1957
under the direction of its new
rabbi, Milton Rosenbaum, who
was installed the year before
and served the temple as rabbi,
and then rabbi emeritus, for
more than 40 years. In 1981,
Rabbi Lane Steinger succeed-
ed Rosenbaum. Joseph Klein
became rabbi in 1997 and then
rabbi emeritus in 2013. Arturo
Kalfus served as rabbi from
2013-2018.
The temple’s first cantor,
Norman Rose, joined in 1972
and served more than 40 years.
Darcie Sharlein
became the second
cantor, serving
from 2008-2012.
Matthew J.
Zerwekh has served
as rabbi since 2018,
and Kelly Onickel
serves as cantorial soloist.
Whether you’re looking for
a place for prayer, learning,
cultural engagement, volunteer
opportunities or to make new
friends, Temple Emanu-El
strives to offer a broad array of
engagement opportunities while
remaining intimate enough for
individuals to make their own
mark, Zerwekh said.
“This congregation has
never moved. For all the ebbs
and flows of this part of town,
Temple Emanu-El has been that
place in Oak Park and Southeast
Oakland County, and I think
that’s really special to be such
a significant part of the neigh-
borhood for so long,” Zerwekh
said. “I’ve run into folks from
all over who grew up at Temple
Emanu-El and have a lot of
fond connections to it.”
Zerwekh is proud of Temple
Emanu-El’s education program.
“We have a wonderful preschool
that educates the youngest
minds,” he said. “It also happens
to fill our building with a lot of
joy every day.”
Temple Emanu-El, which
has 360 family units, also has
a combined religious school,
Yachad, with Oak Park’s
Congregation Beth Shalom.
The foundations of the con-
gregation are steeped in tikkun
olam and social justice engage-
ment. The temple has many
programs aimed to educate and
inform, sometimes from the
Jewish realm, sometimes out-
side of it.
Most recently, the temple
hosted a panel discussion on
reproductive freedom with a
constitutional scholar, the assis-
tant director of the ACLU and
Rabbi
Matthew
Zerwekh
Since 1952, Temple Emanu-El has offered congregants
a welcoming, inclusive environment.
A Southeast Oakland
County Constant
DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER
OUR COMMUNITY
SYNAGOGUE SPOTLIGHT
PHOTOS COURTESY OF TEMPLE EMANU-EL
Watch “Ask
the Rabbi”
with Rabbi
Zerwekh
Temple Emanu-El
in Oak Park