IADS Library: An Intentional Approach
By Vadim Avshalumov
As a part of our building renovation, we decided to build a library adjacnt to the main sanctuary. First, we had to design the shelves, which we did with the help of our interior designer Laavu. Then we had to buy the wood, and we decided to use reclaimed oak wood, which we purchased from a local non-profit called Architectural Salvage Warehouse of Detroit. Parenthetically, I’ll note that the wood was actually from Congregation Shaarey Zedek, which donated the wood when they renovated the small chapel a while back.
Anyway, once it was designed, once the wood was purchased, and once it was all installed, we had to actually fill the shelves with books.
Initially, this was an afterthought. After all, we already had all these boxes of books to place on the shelves. But, it became the most challenging part of the library buildout. What we realized was the choices for how to populate the shelves should reflect how we as a community go about building our Jewish identities. What organizations and individuals do we trust to guide our Judaism? Which periods of Jewish history do we emphasize? What does it mean to be Jewishly literate?
Several approaches were considered:
One option, which I suspect was presented in jest, was to just put one iPad on the middle shelf with the Sefaria app as the homepage. Sefaria, after all, has a vast collection of Jewish texts available in Hebrew (or Aramaic) with the English translation, all free of charge. And physical books are a thing of the past, right? But, we already had these shelves so we dismissed that approach.
Next was the status quo option - just reuse all the books that had been on various shelves prior to the renovation. These books were a mishmash of Israeli leader biographies, random Torah commentaries, a tractate or two of the Talmud, and a few misc DVD’s like Prince of Egypt (great movie, by the way). It was basically the Judaica donated by people as they downsized their homes. This too was dismissed as not being intentional enough. Don’t worry, we will donate this collection to Bookstock and hopefully, these books will find a good home.
Ultimately, we gravitated to the rabbinic teaching that there are 70 faces to the Torah. There is a question in Bemidbar Rabbah: why does the book of Numbers state “...of the 70 Shekels after the shekel of the sanctuary”? And the answer is “As the numerical value of yayin (wine) is seventy, so too there are seventy modes of expounding the Torah.” What the midrash is saying, in my view, is the creation of Jewish knowledge and narrative is a product of diverse insights, perspectives, and personalities.
So we went about finding diverse themes and identifying a handful of individuals and organizations (listed below) that we rely on for our Jewish Journeys. And asked them to curate a bookshelf.
Samantha Woll (z’’l): Sam was a bibliophile. She had wide-ranging interests - Judaica, Israel, feminism, political science, social justice, Jewish history, biographies, etc. As part of our ongoing commitment to keep Samantha’s memory for a blessing, we’ve asked her family to curate a shelf of Samantha’s books.
Rabbi Ariana Silverman: Of course, we asked our Rabbi, Ariana Silverman, to curate a shelf with the Judaic and secular books that guided her path.
Gretchen & Ethan Davidson: We’ve asked the donors who’ve sponsored the library to curate a shelf. I think it’s interesting to know what inspires them on their Jewish (and artistic) journey and frankly, it’s okay to acknowledge that the interests of the community’s generous donors play a role in how Jewish organizations are built and sustained.
Cohn Haddow: We also reached out to Dr. Howard Lupovitch, head of the Cohn Haddow Center for Judaic Studies at Wayne State University. Through the classes they teach, the symposia they organize, and the scholars they come in contact with, they have a sense of the Zeitgeist of the scholarly world as well as a pulse on our Jewish community’s interests.
Shalom Hartman Institute: We are asking the Shalom Harman Institute to curate a shelf. Shalom Hartman is perhaps THE leading center of Jewish thought and education serving Israel and North America. They work to strengthen Jewish peoplehood, identity, and pluralism. Their fellows have produced invaluable work, they have a worthwhile journal of Jewish ideas called Sources, and our Rabbi is currently doing the Hartman Rabbinic Institute program. They are a blue chip organization for the World Jewish community.
Talmud: Next, we want to have a shelf with all 63 tractates of the Babylonian Talmud, especially if we get someone to donate the Koren Talmud with Rabbi Steinsaltz’s English translation. We know that it’s not a pathway for most non-orthodox Jews, but it’s part of the Jewish tradition and tens of thousands of Jews worldwide study Daf Yomi. We want their Judaism to be reflected on the shelves when they come.
Jewish Arts: One of the shelves will be dedicated to Jewish creatives - artists, musicians, authors, etc. There are many pathways to Jewish connection and we want to acknowledge that art is as legitimate as, say, Talmud study. We’re partnering with an organization called Reboot to curate this shelf. Reboot is an arts and culture non-profit that helps Jewish creatives reimagine and reinforce Jewish thought and traditions.
Jewish Historical Society of Michigan: We also want our community to be grounded in the history of the city and its Jewish community. Metro Detroiters need to understand things like the Piquette Avenue Plant, Dexter Davidson, the ‘67 riots or civil rebellions, Black Bottom, and the consequences of urban renewal. So we’re working with the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan to curate books on these topics.
PJ Library: Perhaps most importantly, we’ll have a shelf full of PJ library books. It is inspiring to see so many kids running through the building on Shabbat and to see more and more families choosing to raise their children Downtown, Woodbridge, Southwest Detroit, Boston Edison, University District, or West Village.
Israel: Since October 7, many people in our community are eager to better understand the history of Zionism, the modern state of Israel, and the Arab-Israeli conflict. Much about Israel cannot be learned through reading a Facebook post or viewing a TikTok video. A deep dive is necessary to ground community members in Israel’s history. We will curate a shelf with several copies of books on Israel in the hopes that people take a copy home.
To date, we’ve designated 10 shelves, which means we have 10 shelves remaining. This is an ongoing project and we’re open to your suggestions on who or how these shelves should be curated. Feel free to email us with your ideas.
