JULY 27 • 2023 | 77

J

ewish tradition teaches 
that when the heart is 
full, the eyes overflow.”
It was a quote Rabbi 
Daniel B. Syme, rabbi 
emeritus of Temple Beth El 
in Bloomfield Township, 
used to describe his 
unwavering love for his 
beloved wife, Dr. Jill Susan 
Syme, who passed away 
after sunset on July 8, 2023.
Tears can manifest grief, 
Syme explained at his 
wife’s memorial service 
at Ira Kaufman Chapel, 
but they can also embrace 
goodness, caring and love. 
This feeling, Syme said, 
embodied his love story 
with Jill — “his Jill, the 
woman whom he adored.”
Rabbi Daniel Syme and 
Dr. Jill Syme weren’t your 
average love story. The two 
married later in life, in their 
50s, but first met in 1962 at 
a summer camp conclave of 
Michigan state temple youth 
in northern Michigan.
“She was stunning,” Syme 
recalls. “Breathtaking, 
with beautiful eyes. I was 
smitten.”
He wanted to ask her out, 
but his best friend said, 
“Danny, she’ll never go out 
with you.”
The young Daniel 
Syme didn’t yet have his 
driver’s license. Jill lived 
in Huntington Woods, 
and he lived in a Jewish 
neighborhood at Seven Mile 
and Livernois in Detroit.
Reluctantly, Syme listened 
to his friend, and he and Jill 
went their separate ways.

As the two grew older, 
Syme worked in New York 
City for many years. Jill, 
meanwhile, was living in 
California, Pennsylvania and 
then Baltimore, completing 
her Ph.D. in psychology.
Ironically, although Syme 
and Jill had lost touch, he 
was planning to move to 
California himself from 
New York — until his father, 
the elder Rabbi Syme, called 
and asked if his son would 
move back to Detroit to take 
care of him and his mother, 
who were in ailing health.
Syme, after some 
convincing, returned to 
Michigan for one or two 
years to care for his parents 
and joined Temple Beth 
El, where Jill’s parents, the 
late Eugene and Mignon 
Kraft, were members of the 
congregation.
Eugene Kraft was set to 
undergo open heart surgery, 
and Syme went to sit with 
his wife, Mignon, at the 
hospital. After 36 years, 
there was Jill, who had 
flown in from Baltimore.
Now, Syme had his 
driver’s license and picking 
Jill up was no problem. 
The two exchanged phone 
numbers, and Syme said to 
Jill, “I just want you to know 
that I’m going to marry 
you.”
Jill hung up on the 
tenacious rabbi. She had 
been single for 12 years and 
had no intention of getting 
married again after a few 
marriages that didn’t work 
out.

Two years later, the pair 
married and enjoyed 25 
years of marriage together 
— and Syme no longer had 
plans to stay in Michigan on 
a short-term basis to care 
for his parents.
Syme called the 25 years 
they spent together the 
“happiest years” of his life. 
Jill was a gift to him and the 
world, he said, a blessing.
Dr. Syme was a successful 
mental health practitioner 
who helped countless 
people navigate and heal 
life’s greatest hurdles. She 
was an expert in sacred 
contracts and specialized 
in relationship issues in 
family-owned business.
In her role as rebbetzin 
(rabbi’s wife) at Temple Beth 
El, Syme pioneered and 
developed an alternative lay-
led service where she wrote 
and delivered sermons.
Some of the most beloved 
and cherished topics 
included “gifts of a broken 
heart” and “pushing the 
envelope of our comfort 

zones,” which resonated 
deeply with congregants.
Syme was a devoted wife 
and mother. She was loved 
by her children, Jennifer 
(Joseph) Cohen and 
Elizabeth “Bon” Friedman. 
She was also the proud 
grandmother of Samantha 
and Matthew Cohen.
Still, Dr. Jill Syme 
wouldn’t have wanted a 
memorial service full of 
sorrow, explained Temple 
Israel’s Rabbi Paul Yedwab, 
who officiated the service. 
Instead, she would have 
asked for a quote to be read 
from her favorite song, “I 
Will Survive” by Gloria 
Gaynor.
Jill was an “exceptionally 
strong woman,” Yedwab 
said. “A survivor. A unique 
presence.” In life and death, 
she will survive — “through 
you and through all of us.” 
Yedwab called Jill a “tiny 
human” with a larger-than-
life personality. She was 
charismatic, direct, funny 
and smart, and will be 
remembered by everyone 
she met.
“She was a force,” he said. 
“She was unapologetically 
Jill.” 

Those who wish to further honor the 

memory of Dr. Jill Susan Syme may 

do so by making a contribution to 

Planned Parenthood, P.O. Box 3673, 

Ann Arbor, MI 48106 

855-896-4966, www.

plannedparenthood.org or the 

American Cancer Society, 

20450 Civic Center Drive, Southfield, 

MI 48076, 248-663-3400, www.

cancer.org

‘She Was a Force’

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Dr. Jill Susan Syme

OBITUARIES
OF BLESSED MEMORY