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