Congregation Shaarey Zedek
Encyclopedia
Congregation Shaarey Zedek (Hebrew שַׁעֲרֵי צֶדֶק, Gates of Righteousness) is a Conservative
synagogue
located at 27375 Bell Road in the Detroit suburb of Southfield
, Michigan
.
. Shaarey Zedek was a founding member of the Conservative United Synagogue of America in 1913.
The congregation worshipped in a building at the intersection of Congress and St. Antoine streets in Detroit from its founding until 1877, when on the same site, it erected an elaborate Moorish Revival
edifice with tall, twin towers topped with Onion domes. It was the first purpose-built synagogue
in the Detroit area and the first of no fewer than five synagogue buildings that the congregation would build within the space of a century. In 1903, the members having moved to a more fashionable neighborhood northeast of downtown, the congregation erected a new structure topped with an octagonal dome at the intersection of Winder and Brush streets. In 1913, Shaarey Zedek again followed its increasingly prosperous congregants north and moved into a spacious, new, domed Neo-classical
synagogue building at Willis and Brush street where it would remain until 1930, when it moved to rented quarters. In 1932, the congregation again followed the movement of the congregants to a more suburban location on the city's northwest side, completed yet another new building. It was a Romanesque Revival sanctuary at 2900 West Chicago Boulevard at Lawton Street, designed by the noted architect Albert Kahn. The building is now the home of the Clinton Street Greater Bethlehem Temple Church. The congregation moved to its present building on Bell Road in suburban Southfield in 1962.
The congregation's present, Southfield building was designed by Percival Goodman
. Henry Stoltzman writes that it "embod(ies) Goodman's work at the peak of his career." The San Francisco Examiner named the building one of the "top 10 breathtaking places of worship" in the United States. Jamie Sperti, a writer on The Examiner website called the congregation's dramatic concrete building a "phenomenal example of 1960’s futuristic architecture" in her survey of The United States' top 10 breathtaking places of workship published April 9, 2009. New York Times architecture critic Philip Nobel described it as a "roadside attraction" that "parlays a skyscraping Ark and an erupting eternal flame into a concrete Sinai on the shoulder of Interstate 696".
In the early 1990s, Congregation Shaarey Zedek merged with Congregation B'nai Israel of West Bloomfield
, the combined congregations worship in both locations.
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
located at 27375 Bell Road in the Detroit suburb of Southfield
Southfield, Michigan
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which 0.04% is water. The main branch of the River Rouge runs through Southfield. The city is bounded to the south by Eight Mile Road, its western border is Inkster Road, and to the east it is bounded by Greenfield Road...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
.
History
The congregation was founded in 1861, when the more traditional Jews of Detroit withdrew from Temple Beth ElTemple Beth El (Detroit, Michigan)
Temple Beth El, also known as Temple Beth-El, is a Reform synagogue currently located in Bloomfield Township, Michigan. Beth El was founded in 1850 in the city of Detroit, and is the oldest Jewish congregation in Michigan....
. Shaarey Zedek was a founding member of the Conservative United Synagogue of America in 1913.
The congregation worshipped in a building at the intersection of Congress and St. Antoine streets in Detroit from its founding until 1877, when on the same site, it erected an elaborate Moorish Revival
Moorish Revival
Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of the Romanticist fascination with all things oriental...
edifice with tall, twin towers topped with Onion domes. It was the first purpose-built synagogue
Oldest synagogues in the United States
The designation of the oldest synagogue in the United States requires careful use of definitions, and must be divided into two parts, the oldest in the sense of oldest surviving building, and the oldest in the sense of oldest congregation...
in the Detroit area and the first of no fewer than five synagogue buildings that the congregation would build within the space of a century. In 1903, the members having moved to a more fashionable neighborhood northeast of downtown, the congregation erected a new structure topped with an octagonal dome at the intersection of Winder and Brush streets. In 1913, Shaarey Zedek again followed its increasingly prosperous congregants north and moved into a spacious, new, domed Neo-classical
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
synagogue building at Willis and Brush street where it would remain until 1930, when it moved to rented quarters. In 1932, the congregation again followed the movement of the congregants to a more suburban location on the city's northwest side, completed yet another new building. It was a Romanesque Revival sanctuary at 2900 West Chicago Boulevard at Lawton Street, designed by the noted architect Albert Kahn. The building is now the home of the Clinton Street Greater Bethlehem Temple Church. The congregation moved to its present building on Bell Road in suburban Southfield in 1962.
The congregation's present, Southfield building was designed by Percival Goodman
Percival Goodman
Percival Goodman was an American urban theorist and architect who designed more than 50 synagogues between 1948 and 1983. He has been called the "leading theorist" of modern synagogue design, and "the most prolific architect in Jewish history."-Biography:Percival Goodman was born in New York City...
. Henry Stoltzman writes that it "embod(ies) Goodman's work at the peak of his career." The San Francisco Examiner named the building one of the "top 10 breathtaking places of worship" in the United States. Jamie Sperti, a writer on The Examiner website called the congregation's dramatic concrete building a "phenomenal example of 1960’s futuristic architecture" in her survey of The United States' top 10 breathtaking places of workship published April 9, 2009. New York Times architecture critic Philip Nobel described it as a "roadside attraction" that "parlays a skyscraping Ark and an erupting eternal flame into a concrete Sinai on the shoulder of Interstate 696".
In the early 1990s, Congregation Shaarey Zedek merged with Congregation B'nai Israel of West Bloomfield
West Bloomfield
West Bloomfield can refer to several places in the United States:* West Bloomfield Township, Michigan* West Bloomfield, New York...
, the combined congregations worship in both locations.
Notable members
- William DavidsonWilliam DavidsonWilliam Morse "Bill" Davidson, J. D. was an American businessman who was President, Chairman and CEO of Guardian Industries, one of the world's largest manufacturers of architectural and automotive glass...
(1922–2009), businessman, CEO of Guardian Industries and owner of the Detroit PistonsDetroit PistonsThe Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where...