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Shared Memories of Aaron Israel
Here is a document containing a memory of Aaron Israel, The Stoliner.
Thanks,
- Barry Solomon 2024
Solomon Lore
Stoliner Shul Notes based on Research from Shira Solomon
A typical Hasidic synagogue of the old style was the Stoliner Shul on Winder in Detroit, associated with the Hasidic dynasty of the rabbis of Stolin, in White Russia. The Stoliner rabbi, Yaacov Perlow, had lived in New York by the 1920’s and occasionally visited the synagogue in Detroit. When he died during one such visit years later, a controversy arose between his followers in Detroit and elsewhere about where he would be buried. When the matter finally was settled, he was buried in Detroit. His Chasidim continued to visit Detroit yearly on the anniversary of his death. The men of the Stoliner Shul were well known for the loudness of their praying and singing. Isaac Stollman was the rabbi. The Stoliner Shul was where the Solomon’s, Hechtman’s and many neighbors worshipped in the 1940’s and 1950’s in Detroit. Also, my Zada, Julius Hechtman was born in the City of Stolin in the Russian Empire (now, Ukraine).
On July 10, 2002, there was a family gathering at Elliot and Carole’s home. Carole called me a few days earlier to invite my family over to look at a Mezuzah which held significant meaning in our family history.
Norm Rosen, a local builder, was recently contacted by Rev. J.I. Barber, Pastor at the Missionary Baptist Church of Detroit, to bid on remodeling of the church. The plans were complicated and somewhat unclear, so, Norm called on a friend and fellow builder, Arthur Solomon, for help. After a discussion about where the Church was located on Winder St. in Detroit, Art determined that this Church was formerly a synagogue known as the Stoliner Shul.
I am the youngest of 4 brothers and born in 1954. The family moved out of Detroit and into Oak Park in 1958. So, I do not have many memories of life in the old neighborhood. But, I have heard my family talk about it, in great detail, over the years. My brother, Paul, has strong memories of our house at 2974 Elmhurst, located between Lawton and Wildemere. He recalls that there were stained glass French doors which opened onto a screened in porch. In the summer when it was unbearably hot at night, we would sleep more comfortably out on the porch. The home was a 2 family flat and my grandparents, Julius and Ester Hechtman, lived on the first floor. We lived above on the 2nd floor. On Friday’s, as the smell of fresh Challah and chicken soup, or maybe Cholent, wafted up to the second floor, there was no doubt about where we were eating dinner on Shabbat.
Elliot remembers attending the Yishiva Beth Yehudah, on Dexter Ave.
So, back to the story, Art and Norm called the Pastor and arranged to go to the Stoliner Shul. When they began to tour the building, Art noticed that the original Mezuzah mounted on the doorpost at the main entry was still there. He explained the significance of this religious artifact and the Pastor allowed him to remove it. What an unusual find this was. The building was substantially the same as it was in its’s hey-day. There were heavy oak double doors at the entry and a 3 sided, cantilevered balcony, (that’s where the women would sit, separate from the men), overlooking the main sanctuary. The Bimah was located in the middle of the seating area. The walls had been paneled over but the original plaster ceiling was in good condition.
So, Art brought the Mezuzah home and gave it to my brother Elliot. In our family Elliot has the deepest understanding of Judaism and Jewish history, so I think it was a good choice to enlist him as the keeper of the Stoliner Mezuzah. Elliot and Carole called the family together to look at and discuss the history of the Stoliner Mezuzah, the Stoliner Shul and of course to eat dinner!
Chassidism (Hassidism) is a movement begun by the Bal-Shem Tov in 1730. The Karliner-Stoliner branch was established around 1750. The order of decent of the Stoliner Rabbi’s is as follows: Bal-Shem Tov, then Dov Baer, then the Maggid of Mezritch, then the Reb Aaron of Karliner. Chassidism believed that passion and ecstasy were equal ways to approach God and a valid alternative to formal study. They recognized that poor people didn’t have the luxury of time to study. Chassidism was also opposed by the “Mitnagdim”, who believed in using yeshivas and scholarship at the center of their Jewish learning. The “Mitnagdim” were led by Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, known as the Vilna Gaon, who were primarily more affluent Jews and looked down at the Chassidim. Chassidism was a dynastic sect and their leaders were believed to be miracle workers. Ultimately, the Karliner-Stoliner branch made a rapprochement with the Mitnagdim to end hostilities between the sects, recognizing that Torah study was as important as a passionate relationship with God and could co-exist. This fundamentally influenced and changed the future of Chassidism. So, this story is an example of how the Karliner-Stoliner Movement (a sect of Chassidism) moved from Europe to New York to Detroit.
Elliot passed around the Mezuzah and we all inspected it. I was expecting it to be larger and more ornate but it was exactly the opposite. It looked like it was hammered out of a scrap piece of copper sheet metal. It was about 5” long and it had a Shin embossed on its surface. I later learned that the congregation of the Stoliner Shul were mainly tradesmen so it seems fitting that the Mezuzah was so spartan in its design yet so deep in meaning. The parchment within the Mezuzah was in beautiful condition and scribed by hand. The letters looked like those that you see in the Torah, that is, fancier than the printed Hebrew you might find in a Siddur (daily prayer book).
Here are some photos of the Stoliner Shul Mezuzah:
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Left: This is the Stoliner Shul Mezuzah. It is about 5” long. The Hebrew letter Shin on the surface of the copper, symbolizes the word God, or the “Guardian of the Jewish doors”. |
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| Below: This is the scroll from inside of the Stoliner Shul Mezuzah. The writing inside is the Shema prayer written on parchment. The Shema is the most important prayer in Judaism because it reminds the Jewish people that there is only one God. |
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Left: As you can see, the 3rd letter, Ayin, of the first word, Shema, is larger. This is to insure that the Aleph, which sounds very similar to the Ayin is read properly. If the word was read wrong, the meaning would change from “hear” to “maybe”, changing a firm declaration of belief into an expression of doubt.
Similarly, if the Dalet of the sixth word echad would be mistaken for a Reish, as the two look almost identical, then echad (“one”) would be read acher (“other”). This would make our belief in one God look like a belief in two Gods. |
My father’s father, Chaim Katz (Tkatch) emigrated from Ukraine and lived on Elmhurst a block away from the Stoliner Shul. He davened at this shul regularly because it was so close to his house although he wasn’t part of their community. My father, brother and I went to services here for the first 8 years of my life until my grandfather moved to Birwood and Curtis. My memories of the shul are scant, I only remember looking up at the women’s balcony and also playing on the steps in front of the shul. I wish I had more memories to contribute.
I currently live in Eugene, Oregon and I’m a member of a small Orthodox shul, Ahavas Torah. We used to bring in visiting rabbis for High Holidays. One year there was a rabbi who grew up in Windsor and her went to the nearby Yeshiva for day school. He told me he used to so to the Stoliner shul occasionally.
Gary Katz 2024
I have just spent more than an enjoyable, albeit
sad, morning viewing the "ruins" of Detroit. Then I discover
more gold - your "lost synagogues" of Detroit page.
I'm in my early 40s and live in Windsor. My mother was born and grew up
in Detroit in the Linwood/Gladstone Jewish neighbourhood in the 30s and
40s.
My late father Michael was one of less than a handful of survivors of
the massacre of more than 7,000 Jews of the Stolin, Belarus ghetto on
Rosh Hashana, 1942. He was the only survivor, that I know of, who lived
by actually hiding within the ghetto itself. The other ghetto Jews - mostly
women, children and elderly, were from Stolin and the neighbouring villages
of David Horodok and Rubel. The Jewish men of these villages and towns
mostly were massacred in 1941.
My father, when he was dating my mother, just loved the Linwood area and
felt totally at home there. He said it reminded him of pre-war Jewish
Poland, with so many shules and Yiddish in all the shop windows.
I've tried, in vain, to take my mother over the river to scout out her
old neighbourhood. She's 78 now and nervous.
I've also spent considerable time researching Stolin (now in Belarus),
the home of my family for at least 300 years until the Holocaust. I was
very pleased to see the Stoliner shule of Detroit and your link to Avram
Shacham's wonderful web site of his trip to Stolin.
Since Mr. Schacham's visit to Stolin a few years ago, there have been
many great changes occurring in Stolin. For the first time since the massacre
of the Stolin ghetto Jews in the forest of Stasino, a Yizkor - or Memory
Day - service was held in 2000 and will again take place this year on
September 23rd.
A person by the name of Michael Chernyavski - not a Stoliner - but a Russian
Jew who now lives in Stolin, has taken it upon himself to clean up the
White Shule. His efforts attracted attention as no one had done this in
58 years - as 400 years of Stoliner Jewry was totally wiped out in 1942.
Little by little, local people came forward, telling Mr. Chernyavski of
their Jewish roots - something no one would offer previously, based on
the murder of the Jews and the persecution of any others during the Soviet
regime.
They formed a small Jewish Community two years ago - a miracle to say
the least. They went into the forest and cleaned up the grave, reburied
bones and cleaned up broken liquor bottles. Apparently the mass grave
was a popular site for youths over the years who would dig up bones and
drink there - they know nothing of what happened - if you can believe
that. They have their myths that the Jews were buried with gold and diamonds.
In reality they were human skeletons and broken souls when they were shot
at the brink of the pits they dug themselves.
There is now a proper Hebrew/Belarussian grave marker there as well.
Although Stolin had a great Jewish history and sparked the Karliner-Stolin
hassidim sect, the little Jewish community of Stolin today has absolutely
no archives, pictures or anything else. Your picture of the Detroit shule,
with your permission, would be welcome to them.
I am going to Stolin for this year's Rosh Hashana Memorial Service. My
grandparents, aunts, cousins and countless other relatives are all buried
in the forest. My father, who passed away in 1984, forbid me to ever go
there as much of the killing and misery was conducted by the local people.
I hope he forgives me, but I just have to see it for myself and say the
Kaddish prayer in the forest.
It was a beautiful Jewish world there - just as once was the Linwood area.
It's ironic, but the Jewish worlds of both my parents - Detroit and Stolin
- are gone.
Thank you for your wonderful website.
I have just spent more than an enjoyable, albeit sad, morning viewing
the "ruins" of Detroit.
- Murray N.
There is some very interesting history with Stolin and
Detroit. A Stoliner group of Chassidim lived here and established that
old 'shul' on Elmhurst in Detroit. The Chassidim were led by a "Rebbe"
who immigrated from Europe and settled in New York City. He came to Detroit
periodically to visit his 'Chassidim'. On one visit (in the '50's?) he
passed away. The Chassidim wanted to move his remains back to New York
for the funeral and burial. However, when they went through his belongings
they discovered that the Stoliner Rebbe had taken along shrouds on this
trip and left a note that he wanted to be buried in Detroit. Since that
time, a large group of Stoliner Chassidim come every year on the Rebbe's
Yahrzheit (date of passing) to visit his grave, pray, sing and learn to
honor his memory.
- Miriam
Speaking as a Stoliner chossid myself, I wish to let you
know that our shuls have often been called Bais Aaron v'Yisroel. I doubt
it was called "Aaron Israel." We have had a few Rebbes named
Reb Aharon, and one named Reb Yisroel, and that is why we often use that
combination of names. "Aaron v'Yisroel" means "Aaron and
Yisroel," which in English is "Aaron and Israel." I could
find out the name of the Detroit shul for sure, by asking around here
where I daaven (pray), in the Brooklyn Stoliner Shul, which happens to
be called Bais Aaron v'Yisroel. Where did
you get those amazing pictures of our shul in Stolin? Thanks much!
- Mordechai
This structure looks like the "Stoliner
Shteibel" that I remember as a child growing up near the corner of
Elmhurst and Davison(?). What about the Young Israel Synagogue, and the
Mogen Avrohom on Dexter near Cortland? This is a fascinating study...good
luck! Have you seen Irwin Cohen's history of Jewish Detroit for background
on some of these structures?
- Miriam
Miriam is correct, this was the
Stoliner Shul or the Elmhurst Street Shul.
The formal name of the synagogue
was Aaron Israel but it was called the Stoliner Shul because the people
who founded the synagogue came from the town of Stolin and were followers
of the Stoliner Rebbe.
The building on the other corner
(NW) did indeed house the 2 congregations and the Yeshiva Chachmey Lublin.
- Ruthe
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