AUGUST 18 • 2022 | 23

“They wanted to create an 
Orthodox synagogue here in 
this neighborhood, and they 
worked really hard,” Rabbi 
Morris said. “When you go 
through our building, it’s sort 
of like a patchwork quilt. It’s 
not a building that was created 
all at once. Over the years, dif-
ferent parts have been added. 
It reflects the beauty of the 
contributions of the members. 
Everyone has done their part 
to create the community we 
have today.”
YIS has about 130 families 
who are not only members, 
but also all live in the neigh-
borhood within a mile radius 
of the synagogue. “It’s in a 
wonderful neighborhood, a 
really nice place to raise chil-
dren,” Rabbi Morris said. 
Many services take place 
throughout the week, and pro-
grams take place in the syna-
gogue and at people’s homes. 

CHILDREN ARE 
THE FOCUS
“On Shabbos, when it comes 
alive, there’s probably about 
130-140 children from birth to 
teenagers who are members of 
the synagogue and are really 
the focus,” Rabbi Morris said. 
“The children are primary 
in terms of everything we do 
within the synagogue.”
YIS has a learning program 
with parents and children, 
grandparents and grandchil-
dren. In summer months, they 
do something similar in the 
park next to the synagogue. On 
Sunday mornings in the sum-
mer, the kids all congregate at 
the synagogue, coming straight 
from davening with breakfast 
afterwards.
“It’s vibrant, it’s alive and 
while it always was strong, 
things really picked up in the 
last 10 years,” Rabbi Morris 
said. “We made a concerted 
effort to say we have a great 
community here and let’s try 
to market it in Detroit and 

beyond. Within the last 10 
years or so, we’ve had about 
50 young families move in. It’s 
beautiful to see.”
YIS recently renovated its 
sanctuary, which will be called 
the Gonik Family Sanctuary 
because of that family’s com-
mitment to the project. It will 
be dedicated in autumn with a 
date to be decided. 
At its core, prayer services, 
davening and Torah classes 
are what YIS offers, but social 
get-togethers are key as well. 
“We started this month-
ly men’s get-together where 
there’s a barbecue and there’s 
always a guest speaker. We do 

something similar for women’s 
programming, including a 
wonderful Sisterhood with tons 
of social programming taking 
place,” Rabbi Morris said. 
YIS does not have a religious 
school. Almost all the children 
in the synagogue attend full-
time day school, with over 80% 
attending Farber Hebrew Day 
School and some attending 
Yeshiva Beth Yehudah and 
Hillel Day School. 
In addition to being the full-
time rabbi, Rabbi Morris also 
teaches a couple of classes a 
day at Farber. 
“
A strength of the com-
munity is that if I’m away for 

a weekend, everything runs 
smoothly,” Rabbi Morris said. 
“We have members who can 
give classes. I can ask someone 
to give the sermon. It’s a team 
effort.
“One of the most beautiful 
things about our community 
is that people will come over 
to you and welcome you, 
thank you for coming,” he 
added. “You’ll get invitations 
for meals; people send any 
help and assistance. We know 
one another, and we’re always 
happy to have more people join 
us, whether permanently as 
members or just for the morn-
ing or evening.” 

The Idler family 
studies in the 
new Donny Morris 
Children’s Learning 
Library.

The YIS Purim 
celebration, 2022

