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Social Action Is at Its Roots
OUR COMMUNITY
SYNAGOGUE SPOTLIGHT
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Social Action Is at Its Roots
Grand Rapids’ Temple Emanuel does its best to meet the needs of a diverse population.
DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER
Our claim to fame is that the Union for Reform Judaism has told us we’re the fifth oldest Reform congregation in America. We’re very proud of that,” Rabbi Michael Schadick said. “We’re as welcoming as we can be to all people. We have a big tent kind of congregation, whether you’re Jewish and married to a non-Jew, whether you come from a more traditional background, whether you’re simply someone who is exploring Judaism, we have a diverse population here.”
Temple Emanuel, Grand Rapids’ Reform congregation, was founded in 1857 and occupied two rented structures until 1881 when the congregation built its first home on the corner of Fountain and Ransom streets.
Organized by five German families who fled the restrictive laws of Europe, its membership remained largely Germanic until the 1890s when Eastern European Jews began to move into the Grand Rapids area.
In 1952, the present Temple building was erected, designed by California architect Eric Mendelsohn. The 1,000-square-foot mural in the sanctuary is the creation
of painter Lucienne Bloch Dimitroff, daughter of the American composer Ernest Bloch and protege of Diego Rivera. In 1992, the Congregation initiated Atid, which funded a major renovation of the sanctuary and public spaces. The second phase of Atid renovated and expanded the library and classrooms. Schadick has been the rabbi of Temple Emanuel since July 2000. Cantor David Fair joined in 2021. Rabbi Emeritus is Rabbi Dr. Albert M. Lewis. Rabbi Schadick says social action Michael Schadick is at the congregation’s roots,
and he is proud of the work they do, not just for the Jewish community, but for the greater community.
“We’re involved in all kinds of pursuits. We have this amazing food bank that was started at Temple Emanuel when some of the first Soviet Jews began emigrating to America,” Schadick said.
“Some of our members decided they would really step forward and collect food. We’re serving about 50 families every single month that receive a week’s worth of food from us.”
A congregation of about 300 families, Temple Emanuel, Schadick says, believes in doing the best it can to meet the needs of its diverse population.
“I think the future of Jewish life in America has to include everyone who has interest because that’s how we grow, learn and respond to the change and realities of life, how we learn from each other and bring other people’s experiences into our community, and that’s how we expand our understanding of the world and humanity and how we can do a better job to serve it,” he said.
The congregation usually features one highlighted event a week with a strong focus on connection.
“On a Thursday evening, we had 25 teenagers attend a game night at a local colleges. Friday evening, we had our young adult community meet for a barbecue at someone’s house after services ended.
“We have a breakfast once a month to try to involve people. We have opportunities for people to connect with each other as best we can,” he said.
United Jewish School is a combined religious Sunday school serving Temple Emanuel and the Conservative congregation of Grand Rapids, Ahavas Israel. Cantor Fair is the school director.
In general, Temple Emanuel has a close relationship with Ahavas Israel.
“When the opportunity is there for us to be together, we like to have events together,” Schadick said.
“I think that’s true of the Grand Rapids Jewish community as a whole. We’re a small Jewish community, so whether it’s with the Jewish Federation or the other synagogues, we tend to be friendly with each other. We’re all in this together.”
Rabbi Schadick and Cantor Fair in front of the mural in the sanctuary
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