[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 144 (Tuesday, November 13, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Page S6734]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            150TH ANNIVERSARY OF CONGREGATION SHAAREY ZEDEK

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, on Oct. 27, many of my fellow Michiganians 
gathered to recognize an event of enormous historical and cultural 
significance to our State: the 150th anniversary of Congregation 
Shaarey Zedek in the City of Southfield, just outside my hometown of 
Detroit.
  For a century and a half, from its humble beginnings in Detroit to 
its emergence as one of the most important and influential institutions 
in the American Jewish community, Shaarey Zedek has played a vital 
role, not just for Michigan Jews, but for the community at large. Even 
more important than its high profile events with high-level speakers 
and guests is Shaarey Zedek's 150 years of day-in, day-out service to 
faith, community and humanity.
  Shaarey Zedek has played a vital role in Jewish cultural and 
political life. It is no coincidence that, as the threat of Nazi 
Germany rose, Shaarey Zedek hosted one of the most important meetings 
of American Jews in the May of 1938, warning Americans about Hitler's 
threat to European Jews and to international security and strongly 
advocating for Jewish emigration to Palestine to escape Hitler's 
clutches. And in later years, Shaarey Zedek was one of America's 
leading voices in support of oppressed Jews in the Soviet Union.
  It was Shaarey Zedek where Detroit Tigers slugger Hank Greenberg 
attended services on Yom Kippur of 1934, in the midst of the American 
League pennant race, receiving a standing ovation from the 
congregation, serving as a powerful symbol of Jewish identity, and, as 
he later put it in his autobiography, pleasing his relieved parents.
  Like any religious institution, Shaarey Zedek has first and foremost 
been a touchstone of faith. Congregation Shaarey Zedek is one of 
America's most respected synagogues.
  Of particular importance to me is the congregation's longstanding 
dedication to tolerance, not just in matters of faith, but in all 
matters of conscience. At times of strife and conflict in Michigan and 
the Nation, and in the face of discrimination or oppression, Shaarey 
Zedek has consistently served as a voice of reason, peace, 
understanding and equality.
  So this anniversary is important to the Jewish community, and the 
larger community. But it also means a lot to me personally. 
Congregation Shaarey Zedek is where my brother and I were bar 
mitzvahed. It is the spiritual home of many who are dear to me, and to 
the community of which I am a proud member. I know my colleagues will 
want to join me in congratulating all those who have made Congregation 
Shaarey Zedek such an important institution for 150 years, and who will 
carry that tradition forward in the decades to come.

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