Congregation Shaarey Zedek

In 1861, at the beginning of the Civil War, seventeen followers of Traditional Judaism withdrew from the Beth El Society in Detroit to found the “Shaarey Zedek Society.” In 1877 the membership constructed the first building in Michigan to be erected specifically as a synagogue, at Congress and St. Antoine. In 1913 as the first Conservative Jewish congregation in the Detroit area, Shaarey Zedek was one of the founding congregations of the United Synagogue of America. Since the nineteenth century, members of the congregation have played leading roles in Michigan, the nation, and in world Jewry. Congregation Shaarey Zedek has worshipped in six different structures since its founding and continues to transmit its heritage from generation to generation. The congregation moved to Southfield in 1962.