Temple Beth El, also known as Temple Beth-El, is a

Reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill#The Yorkshire Associati ...

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

currently located in Bloomfield Township, Michigan,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Beth El was founded in 1850 in the city of

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, and is the oldest Jewish congregation in

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. In 1982, its two former buildings in

, at 3424 and 8801

Woodward Avenue A woodward is a Game warden, warden of a wood. Woodward may also refer to: Places ;United States * Woodward, Iowa * Woodward, Oklahoma * Woodward, Pennsylvania, a census-designated place * Woodward Avenue, a street in Tallahassee, Florida, which b ...

, were listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

Early years

In 1850, Sarah and

Isaac Cozens Isaac; grc, Ἰσαάκ, Isaák; ar, إسحٰق/إسحاق, Isḥāq; am, ይስሐቅ is one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He was th ...

arrived in Detroit and moved into a house near the corner of Congress and St. Antoine streets. At the time, there were only 60 Jews in Detroit (out of a population of over 21,000) and no synagogues. Sarah urged her co-religionists to establish a congregation, and on September 22, 1850, twelve Jewish families came together at the Cozens's home to found the "Beth El Society" (a Michigan Historical Marker now commemorates this siteMichigan Historical Marker
: First Jewish Religious Services Informational Designation.). The congregation engaged the services of

Rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

Samuel Marcus of New York. Rabbi Marcus conducted services in the

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

mode, first in the Cozens's home and later in a room above a store on Jefferson Avenue. In 1851, the congregation legally incorporated, and adopted its first constitution the following year. In 1854, Rabbi Marcus died of cholera, and the congregation chose Rabbi Leibman Adler, the father of famed Chicago School architect, Danker Adler, as his successor. Rabbi Leibman Adler fostered the temple's involvement the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...

. Fanny Butzel Heineman, Emil S. Heineman, and Mark Sloman were among the people who helped freedom seekers who crossed the

Detroit River The Detroit River flows west and south for from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie as a strait in the Great Lakes system. The river divides the metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, Windsor, Ontario—an area collectively refe ...

into

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the souther ...

from 1854 to 1861. In 1856, the congregation adopted a new set of by-laws including a number of innovations from the then-emerging Reform Judaism. Although the congregation was slowly growing, due in part to the influx of Jews to Detroit, some members of the congregation were unhappy with the reforms. In 1860, the new by-laws were debated and re-affirmed. However, the introduction of music into the worship service in 1861 caused a split, with 17 of the more Orthodox members of the congregation leaving to form

Congregation Shaarey Zedek Congregation Shaarey Zedek (/ ʃaʔaˈʁeiː ˈtsedek/; transl. 'Gates of Righteousness', Hebrew: שַׁעֲרֵי צֶדֶק, romanized: ''Sha'arei tzedek'') is a Conservative synagogue in the Detroit suburb of Southfield, Michigan. History T ...

. The remaining congregants adopted another set of by-laws in 1862, introducing greater reforms. Temple Beth El was one of the thirty-four congregations involved in the founding of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (now the

Union for Reform Judaism The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) until 2003, founded in 1873 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the congregational arm of Reform Judaism in North America. The other two arms established ...

) in 1873, and immediately became officially affiliated with the organization. In 1889, Beth El hosted the Eleventh Council of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, at which the

Central Conference of American Rabbis The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), founded in 1889 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the principal organization of Reform rabbis in the United States and Canada. The CCAR is the largest and oldest rabbinical organization in the world. I ...

was founded. In 1861, the congregation moved into a new temple on Rivard Street. In 1867, it purchased a spacious building on Washington Boulevard and Clifford Street, where services were held until 1903. A number of rabbis served at Beth El, none staying for long until the tenth rabbi,

Louis Grossmann Louis Grossmann (February 24, 1863 – September 21, 1926) was an Austrian-born Jewish-American rabbi and professor. Life Grossmann was born on February 24, 1863, in Vienna, Austria, the son of Rabbi Ignaz Grossmann and Nettie Rosenbaum. His brot ...

, arrived in 1884, immediately after his graduation from

Hebrew Union College Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

. Grossmann was the first American-born rabbi of Beth El, and he organized a number of reforms, including the adoption of the ''

Union Prayer Book The ''Union Prayer Book'' was a Siddur published by the Central Conference of American Rabbis to serve the needs of the Reform Judaism movement in the United States. History An original version of the prayer book was published in 1892, based on th ...

''.

Leo M. Franklin years

Rabbi Grossmann resigned in 1898, and the congregation hired

Leo M. Franklin Leo Morris Franklin (March 5, 1870 – August 8, 1948)
(Franklin's entry) in the Archives of the Temple ...

, a young Rabbi from Omaha and another Hebrew Union graduate. The choice proved fortuitous, as Franklin served the congregation for over forty years. Franklin organized the United Jewish Charities (an umbrella organization to coordinate philanthropic activities), began the Woman's Auxiliary Association (later the Sisterhood of Temple Beth El), and assumed editorship of the ''Jewish American'', Detroit's first English-Jewish weekly. He also instituted an interdenominational community Thanksgiving service and established a student congregation (the forerunner of the

Hillel Society Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, also known as Hillel International or Hillel, is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world, working with thousands of college students globally. Hillel is represented at more than 550 colle ...

) at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. Under Franklin's leadership, Temple Beth El grew rapidly. In 1902, the congregation authorized a new building on

near Eliot Street. The building was designed by the young (and then relatively unknown) Beth El congregant Albert Kahn. Beth El used this building until 1922 when it was sold for use as a theater and remodeled by architect C. Howard Crane. It currently houses

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...

Bonstelle Theatre The Bonstelle Theatre is a theater operated by Wayne State University, and located at 3424 Woodward Avenue (the southeast corner of Woodward and Eliot) in the Midtown Woodward Historic District of Detroit, Michigan.

. In 1922, the congregation of over 800 families moved to another Albert Kahn structure at Woodward and Gladstone. The building currently houses the

Bethel Community Transformation Center The former Temple Beth-El is a historic building located at 8801 Woodward Avenue (Woodward at Gladstone) in Detroit, Michigan.

Later years

Rabbi Franklin retired in 1941 and was replaced by B. Benedict Glazer. After Glazer's untimely death in 1952, the congregation elected Richard C. Hertz as leader who served until 1982. Once again, in 1973, the membership outgrew its facilities. With the movement of many of the congregants to the northern suburbs, Beth El built a new temple in Bloomfield Township at

Telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

and 14 Mile Roads. The facility was designed by

Minoru Yamasaki was an American architect, best known for designing the original World Trade Center in New York City and several other large-scale projects. Yamasaki was one of the most prominent architects of the 20th century. He and fellow architect Edward D ...

Present day

Temple Beth El currently has a membership of almost 1,100 families and is led by Senior Rabbi Mark Miller, Associate Rabbi Megan Brudney, and Cantor Rachel Gottlieb Kalmowitz. The Temple remains at the forefront of current trends in Jewish worship and program, innovative lifelong education, and a commitment to interfaith relations and active work in the broader community.

Architecture

Temple Beth El has been the congregation for two well-known architects. The first is Albert Kahn, who designed both the 1902 and 1922 temple buildings. Kahn's most well-known works include the

Packard Automotive Plant The Packard Automotive Plant is a former automobile-manufacturing factory in Detroit, Michigan, where luxury cars were made by the Packard Motor Car Company and later by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation. In 2022, it was scheduled for demolitio ...

Highland Park Ford Plant The Highland Park Ford Plant is a former Ford Motor Company factory located at 91 Manchester Avenue (at Woodward Avenue) in Highland Park, Michigan. It was the second American production facility for the Model T automobile and the first facto ...

, Ford Rouge Complex, the

Fisher Building The Fisher Building is a landmark skyscraper located at 3011 West Grand Boulevard in the heart of the New Center area of Detroit, Michigan. The ornate 30-story building, completed in 1928, is one of the major works of architect Albert Kahn, an ...

, Willow Run Plant, and the Clements Library, Hatcher Graduate Library,

Hill Auditorium Hill Auditorium is the largest performance venue on the University of Michigan campus, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The auditorium was named in honor of Arthur Hill (1847-1909), who served as a regent of the university from 1901 to 1909. He bequeathe ...

, and

Burton Tower The Burton Memorial Tower is a clock tower located on Central Campus at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor at 230 North Ingalls Street. Housing a grand carillon, the tower was built in 1936 as a memorial for University President Marion ...

on the University Of Michigan Central Campus. The second architect is

Dankmar Adler Dankmar Adler (July 3, 1844 – April 16, 1900) was a German-born American architect and civil engineer. He is best known for his fifteen-year partnership with Louis Sullivan, during which they designed influential skyscrapers that boldly addr ...

, who was ten when his father Rabbi Leibman Adler became the rabbi for the congregation. Dankmar later moved to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and after his subsequent apprenticeship and military service, became half of the firm

Adler & Sullivan Adler & Sullivan was an architectural firm founded by Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan in Chicago. Among its projects was the multi-purpose Auditorium Building in Chicago and the Wainwright Building skyscraper in St Louis. In 1883 Louis Sullivan was ...

. Adler's firm was one of the most successful and prosperous architecture firms, giving a young

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

an apprenticeship, after which he was eventually fired for moonlighting. Adler designed the Old Chicago Tribune Building, The Jeweler's Building, the Auditorium Building, the

Wainwright Building The Wainwright Building (also known as the Wainwright State Office Building) is a 10-story, terra cotta office building at 709 Chestnut Street in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. The Wainwright Building is considered to be one of the first aestheti ...

, Charnley House, Guaranty Building, and the Transportation Building for the 1893 Columbian Exposition. Another architectural connection is with

, whose

Birmingham, Michigan Birmingham is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Detroit located along the Woodward Corridor ( M-1). As of the 2010 census, the population was 20,103. History The area comprising what is now the c ...

firm designed the 1973 temple building. The firm also designed the ill-fated Pruitt-Igoe complex in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, and the

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. According to the congregation, the World Trade Center towers and the Beth El temple were being designed at the same time, and the models for both were physically adjacent to each other while they were being refined and constructed. Yamasaki was said to have designed the current Temple Beth El in Bloomfield Hills to resemble a tent as early temporary Jewish Synagogues during the Jewish

Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...

from Egypt were located in tents. The current Temple Beth El has many architectural features for which Yamasaki is known for; including poured concrete pillars, a natural skylight running the length of the building and large windows at ground level accommodating views of the surrounding natural landscape. Yamasaki has been credited for giving Latvian architect

Gunnar Birkerts Gunnar Birkerts ( lv, Gunārs Birkerts, January 17, 1925 – August 15, 2017) was a Latvian American architect who, for most of his career, was based in the metropolitan area of Detroit, Michigan. Some of his notable designs include the Corni ...

his start, which has resulted in numerous award-winning projects, many of which are around

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

and

Corning, New York Corning is a city in Steuben County, New York, United States, on the Chemung River. The population was 10,551 at the 2020 census. It is named for Erastus Corning, an Albany financier and railroad executive who was an investor in the company t ...

References

External links

Photographs from the Rabbi Leo M. Franklin archives
these include period photographs of the buildings used by Temple Beth El throughout its history. {{DEFAULTSORT:Beth El (Detroit Reform synagogues in Michigan Jews and Judaism in Detroit Buildings and structures in Oakland County, Michigan Religious buildings and structures in Detroit Synagogues on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Detroit National Register of Historic Places in Oakland County, Michigan Religious organizations established in 1850 1850 establishments in Michigan Synagogues completed in 1867 Synagogues completed in 1902 1902 establishments in Michigan Beaux-Arts architecture in Michigan Beaux-Arts synagogues Synagogues completed in 1922 1922 establishments in Michigan Neoclassical architecture in Michigan Neoclassical synagogues Synagogues completed in 1973 1974 establishments in Michigan Modernist architecture in Michigan Albert Kahn (architect) buildings