12 | OCTOBER 10 • 2024 

featuring exhibits of gleaming silver 
Judaica, some over a century old. The 
lobby gives way to the Doreen and 
David Hermelin and Suzanne and 
Joseph Orley social halls, both reno-
vated in 2019 with new lighting, roof, 
audio-visual equipment and movable 
dividers.
Through the glass-enclosed lobby, 
visitors see the synagogue’s back 
courtyard. It features a tent that was 
installed during the height of the 
COVID-19 era for events, the William 
Saulson outdoor pavilion and the 
playground structure partially shaded 
by a colorful canopy. 
Starr said that the playground, 
along with its enhancements to the 
Mandell L. Berman Center for Jewish 
Education, is a promise that future 
generations will be raised within the 
162-year-old congregation. 
“Previous generations raised money 
so we could raise our children here,” 
Starr said. “It’s now our turn to raise 
money and give back to this commu-
nity so that other people’s children can 
grow up here as well.” 

A CONGREGATION 
ON THE REBOUND
Like all of Detroit, CSZ had to 
weather the hard times during the 
Great Recession that began in 2008. 
Membership dwindled as families lost 
jobs and had to relocate. The congre-
gation, which had satellite properties 
in different parts of Metro Detroit, 
had to shrink its physical reach to its 
Southfield campus. 
But now, Starr said the congregation 
is on the rebound with new young 
family members. 
Some are new in town or to the 
congregation, while others join 
because their extended families have 
been affiliated with CSZ for genera-
tions. 
“Things in Detroit are shifting again 
with the city’s comeback,” Starr said. 
“We are becoming once again a des-
tination metro area. The Jewish com-
munity stopped its northwest shift 
and are returning to the southeast. We 
are eight minutes from Bloomfield 

Hills and Huntington Woods and 12 
minutes from West Bloomfield. We 
are centrally located and continue to 
draw families all along the Telegraph 
and Woodward corridors. It is won-
derful that we are getting new families 
to breathe life into this old building.” 
In addition to religious and social 
services for its members, CSZ is 
often the spot for community-wide 
programs and gatherings, especially 
in the months following Oct. 7. It 
began with the emergency vigil days 
after the massacre that attracted more 
than 3,000 community members and 
continued with many more events 
and speakers. The finishing touch-
es on this latest renovation came 
months before CSZ hosted the annual 
Limmud Michigan Jewish education 
event on Sept. 22. 
Congregant and CSZ past-president 

Larry Nemer, 70, recalls becoming a 
bar mitzvah on the bimah of the CSZ 
sanctuary in 1968. A lifetime member 
of the congregation, he remembers 
when both the building and the 
neighborhoods around it were new. 
Jewish families poured in, and new 
family members were joining each 
month, Nemer recalled. 
Nemer, who considers 
himself a CSZ historian, 
said congregants at the 
150th anniversary saw 
the milestone as a signal 
to prepare for the future. 
The mid-century hey-
day of American Jews building large 
synagogues may be a thing of the 
past. But congregational life and the 
buildings that house them will still 
be relevant in the future, he said. 
“
As a congregation, we moved six 

times in 100 years,” Nemer, a real 
estate manager and developer, said. 
“Each move was decided upon based 
on serving community needs. After 
60 years of our congregation being in 
this building, we realized that it was 
the responsibility of this generation to 
provide the home that will enable the 
congregation to thrive for another 60 
years to come.” 
 Nemer said the physical size of 
CSZ is to the congregation’s advantage 
as a central gathering place for Jewish 
life and culture for all of Detroit. 
“It is important to note that the 
challenge we faced is not unique to 
Shaarey Zedek,” Nemer said. “In every 
major city, there is a CSZ-type of 
synagogue that is being repurposed 
to serve the current needs of the con-
gregation but can also serve the entire 
community.” 

Larry 
Nemer 

OUR COMMUNITY
ON THE COVER

“PREVIOUS GENERATIONS RAISED MONEY SO WE COULD 
RAISE OUR CHILDREN HERE ... IT’S NOW OUR TURN TO RAISE 
MONEY AND GIVE BACK TO THIS COMMUNITY SO THAT 

OTHER PEOPLE’S CHILDREN CAN GROW UP HERE AS WELL.” 

— RABBI AARON STARR

The play structure sits in the synagogue’s back courtyard.

continued from page 10

PHOTOS COURTESY OF CSZ

