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all of us to sample services not only across 
town but all over the world.” 
Still, Bergman and his rabbinical 
colleagues, Daniel Horowitz and Blair 
Nosanwisch, have heard from congregants 
that they want to return to more in-person 
services and programming that can also 
be streamed for others through Zoom. 
And it’s been working. For example, an 
August film screening of the documentary 
Modern Israel and a talk with the 
filmmaker drew over 25 people into the 
building. 
During the warmer months, the 
synagogue has welcomed younger families 
with monthly pre-Shabbat barbecues. 
These, in turn, have offered a multi-
generational Shabbat experience using 
the synagogue’s outdoor spaces such as its 
playground, a tent and new pavilion space. 
“Overall, people are still coming to 
enjoy both indoor and outdoor services 
and programming, and we have a lot of 
great things going on,” Bergman said. 
“We hope to keep (outdoor Shabbat 
services and programming) going at least 
through October with the help of space 
heaters, until it really begins to snow. We 
have been very creative with our outdoor 
space.” 

WORKING TO DRAW PEOPLE IN
Rabbi Shalom Kantor of 
Congregation B’nai Moshe in 
West Bloomfield said the new 
reality is that his congregation 
is working to draw people 
in and make them feel 
comfortable, and that means 
recognizing a wide range of 
comfort levels. This year, to 
kick off the High Holiday season, B’nai 
Moshe hosted a community-wide Selichot 
service and concert with Rabbi Josh 
Warshawsky. 
The congregation has held in-person 
services, including monthly Kabbalat 
Shabbat services with instrumental 
accompaniment followed by Shabbat 
dinners and kiddush lunches on Shabbat 
mornings that have drawn between 40-50 
people each week. 
In-person services are also held Sunday 
and Monday mornings. During hybrid 
services, when congregants are praying in 
the building and those at home pray over 

Zoom, services are led by those attending 
in person aside from a few English prayers 
that can be read over the internet, Kantor 
explained. This year, to welcome younger 
families, the congregation will introduce 
a “Moshe Mousketeers” family Shabbat 
program. 
“We would love for more people to 
come in person, but we are trying to work 
with our congregants wherever they are,” 
Kantor said. “Non-Orthodox synagogues 
have experienced a revolution with Zoom 
in terms of how people access prayer. 
And with any revolution, once you go 
through it, you can’t go back. And while 
having services completely in the Zoom 
format, as we did in the early days of the 
pandemic is not the ideal for most, our 
congregation did an audit and we decided 
what worked was to have in-person 
services three mornings a week and 
Zoom evening services every evening but 
Saturday. And when we are in the building 
in-person, we have Zoom access to those 
services as well.” 
Kantor said there is a high vaccination 
rate among his congregants and like other 
synagogues, there has been a medical 
advisory board that has flexed masking, 
eating and social distancing policies in 
accordance with CDC guidelines and the 
current rate of COVID cases. For now, 
masking is optional, and congregants 
space themselves by sitting in every other 
row. 

“From the beginning of the pandemic, 
I have assured my congregation that no 
one would be left behind, and as a rabbi, 
my solution is to throw our arms around 
each other, whether that be literally or 
figuratively,” Kantor said. “Whether they 
attend in person or over Zoom, we want 
people to have meaningful access to 
services and to be comfortable.” 

INDOOR AND OUTDOOR SPACES
At Shir Shalom in West Bloomfield, 
creating a flow of indoor and outdoor 
spaces has been built into the 
congregation’s “Project All Together,” 
capital campaign and renovation plans. 
The long-awaited campaign is designed to 
bring Shir Shalom’s preschool on-site, as 
well as to add educational, sanctuary and 
outdoor spaces for the congregation. 
Rabbi Daniel I. Schwartz said as the 
plan moves forward, he 
hopes current and future 
congregants will find the 
building a comfortable place 
to feel welcomed for prayer 
and other programming. 
An updated social hall will 
include more natural light 
and lead into an outdoor 
patio and pavilion area. Schwartz 
envisions these outdoor areas to be used 
for multiple purposes: from a place to 
gather for an oneg or kiddush following 
services, to outdoor classroom time for 

Rabbi 
Daniel I. 
Schwartz 

Rabbi 
Shalom 
Kantor 

Temple Shir Shalom high school students prepare 
to lead the family Rosh Hashanah Service at West 
Bloomfield High School last year.