Submission #433

Submission Information

Form: STEP 2 - JRF Salutes Legacy Book - Congregational Information Form

Submitted by Anonymous

Saturday, January 14, 2012 - 9:23pm

69.242.213.237

Congregation's Official Name: *

City: *

What is the name of the city in which this congregation is located?

State/Province: *

In which state or province is your congregation located?

Your Name:

What is your name?

Year of Founding:

In what year was your congregation founded?

Current Officers:

President Carol Weisfeld
Vice President Alvin Saperstein
Treasurer Anthony Dillof
Secretary Glenn Weisfeld
Past President Alan Schenk

Please name your congregation's current officers and their positions.

About Your Community:

“The Reconstructionist Congregation of Detroit is a fairly new Synagogue.  I would have been so excited that RCD was formed, except that I don’t even remember because I was less than a year old then.  RCD is committed to keeping Judaism alive in Detroit.  Our synagogue has no rabbi, so the members take turns leading services.  I can’t wait for my turn.”   This is part of the brief history of the Reconstructionist Congregation of Detroit (RCD) written by twelve-year-old member Jared Schenk, upon the occasion of dedicating our new Torah four months ago. It had not escaped Jared’s attention that he would soon read from that Torah at his own Bar Mitzvah. He had captured some of our key attributes as a community. RCD is a tiny congregation (24 member units), comprising families, a US Senator, single moms, and diverse couples. Many of our members teach or work for social agencies in Detroit. We were supported beautifully by the surrounding Detroit community as we raised funds for our new Torah; we simultaneously all learned about a sofer’s role and the rituals surrounding creation and preservation of the scroll. Our sanctuary is located in the education wing of Christ Church Detroit; that congregation came and applauded us as we carried our Torah into our sanctuary for the first time. Another way to keep Judaism alive in Detroit is to keep Jewish history alive, which we do in three ways: we preserve artifacts from former city synagogues (see our photos); we participate as docents and hosts for tours organized by the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan; and we have produced a children’s activity book (Early Jewish Days in Michigan) that identifies values of tikkun olam in the lives of Jews who played important roles in our state’s history. As Jared put it, RCD is committed to keeping Judaism alive in Detroit.

Please provide a paragraph or so about your community. Who's a part of it? What sets your congregation apart?

Now, please give us some information about your photos

In the boxes below, please type the name of each Photo, using the naming instructions from the e-mail. File naming instructions: Congregation Name.State.Category.(#).jpg For instance, if Congregation Beit Tikvah in Maryland has a picture that represents Tikkun Olam, it should look like this: CongregationBeitTikvah.MD.TikkunOlam.jpg If Congregation Beit Tikvah in Maryland has 2 pictures that represent Tikkun Olam, they should add a number after the Category to let us know which picture of Tikkun Olam we are seeing. It should look like this: CongregationBeitTikvah.MD.TikkunOlam.1.jpg. Please also give us the caption that should go along with each photo.

Photo 1 Name:

Photo 1 Caption:

In this box, please write the caption that should go along with Photo 1.

Photo 2 Name:

Photo 2 Caption:

In this box, please write the caption that should go along with Photo 2.

Photo 3 Name:

Photo 3 Caption:

In this box, please write the caption that should go along with Photo 3.

Photo 4 Name:

Photo 4 Caption:

In this box, please write the caption that should go along with Photo 4.

Photo 5 Name:

Photo 5 Caption:

In this box, please write the caption that should go along with Photo 5.

Photo 6 Name:

Photo 6 Caption:

In this box, please write the caption that should go along with Photo 6.

Photo 7 Name:

Photo 7 Caption:

In this box, please write the caption that should go along with Photo 7.

Photo 8 Name:

Photo 8 Caption:

In this box, please write the caption that should go along with Photo 8.

Photo 9 Name:

Photo 9 Caption:

In this box, please write the caption that should go along with Photo 9.

Photo 10 Name:

Photo 10 Caption:

In this box, please write the caption that should go along with Photo 10.

Areas of Engagement

Regions

Learning

Submission #433