56 | SEPTEMBER 14 • 2023 

in the broader community 
and takes pride in its 
volunteer efforts, including 
buying and delivering gifts to 
children in Southwest Detroit 
on Christmas Day with area 
nonprofit Jimmy’s Kids. 
“That’s always a very spiritual 
moment for all of us,” he says. 
Mechelle Bernard has been 
at B’nai Israel for about a 
decade and on B’nai Israel’s 
board for the past five years. 
“It’s a great community,” she 
says. “It’s a wonderful group. I 
really enjoy being there. It’s a 
warm and friendly and loving 
group.” 
Like many congregations, 
they’re seeing aging members 
moving to be with children 
and grandchildren, so it’s 
even more important to 
take the time to recognize 
milestones such as 90 years of 
B’nai Israel, Bernard says. 

Especially with COVID 
sending everything online 
for the past couple years, 
people are eager to connect 
and celebrate. “Shabbat lunch, 
we sit down, we have lunch 
together,” she says. “I feel like 
I’m sitting with 40 brothers 
and sisters who know just the 
spot to nudge me.” 
When she arrives at the 
synagogue, she always heads 
to the kitchen to see how 
she can help. “I always put 
out the creamer and see if 
we need more napkins and 
plates,” she says. “Everyone 
is appreciated, everyone is 
needed and cared for, and 
we do what we can to be 
supportive and loving toward 
each other.”
As for the community’s 
future, she says she hopes to 
see the synagogue continue 
to grow with more people in 

the wider Jewish community. 
They’ve in the past held 
minyans with B’nai Moshe 
and participated in area 
Chanukah celebrations. 
“I’m hoping we can get 
more young families and 
people in their middle age 
to come. There’s so much 

fascinating learning and 
teaching going on at our 
synagogue,” she explains. 
“It’s an amazing wealth of 
knowledge, experience, ideas, 
stories, life events — the 
people that are there are just 
fascinating to me. I just find 
it so amazing.” 

continued from page 54

Front: Ed and Andie, sister and brother-in-law of Cheryl Parker, Lou 
Granitz, Roxanne and Brian Newhouse, Laurie Kimmel and Mitch 
Parker. Back: Carl Dibble and Robert Kimmel.

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