The Pluralism Project at Harvard University

The research was conducted by The University of Michigan-Dearborn Pluralism Project

History and Goals

Metropolitan Detroit's Russian community of the Lubavitch sect of Judaism can be traced to early 1977. Rabbi Berel Shemtov, the head of the Detroit Lubavitch community, Rabbi Yitzchok Kagen, and Rabbi Aftzon, along with other Lubavitch rabbis started the community, which they called the Friends of the Refugees of Eastern Europe (FREE) to meet the demands of the newly arriving Jewish emigrants from the former USSR. Prior to 1977, the Soviet Union had allowed some Russian Jews to leave the country. The emigrants arrived in the United States with little money, few belongings, no knowledge of English, and no relatives. Many came to southeastern Michigan because the Detroit Jewish Federation helped them to find jobs and homes, and offered interest free loans.

Once in Detroit, there were few organizations to help the new arrivals deal with culture shock. The Russians had a hard time adjusting to American society and an even harder time exploring their Jewish roots. The latter situation had been caused by the policies of communist state that restricted religious practices and the study of religion. Consequently, most of the Russian had little knowledge of Judaism and some were even anti-religious in their own orientation. While there were various Jewish social services agencies to take care of the immigrants material needs, FREE was organized to take care of spiritual needs and to counteract the assimilation of Russian Jews into American culture. Currently there are approximately 6000 people affiliated with FREE in metropolitan area.

Location

The center of FREE activities is Oak Park, a suburb in Oakland County, north of Detroit. The city is approximately 4 square miles and is home to Jews, Arabs, and African Americans. The city is populated by working-and middle-class families. FREE rents space in the Jewish Community Center in Oak Park, has office space in the adjacent suburb of Southfield, and maintains a satellite facility in West Bloomfield. West Bloomfield is an upper-middle-and upper-class community in northern Oakland County.

Activities

FREE sponsors weekly Sabbath services at the Oak Park Center and West Bloomfield. Services are held at sundown on Friday, 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, and Saturday evening. There are special services for the high holy days (Rosh Hashona and Yom Kippur) as well as for Passover, Purim, and Hanukkah. In addition to religious services, FREE sponsors a Sunday school, a teen club, adult classes, Bar and Bat Mitzvah ceremonies, mass wedding ceremonies, camp programs, ritual circumcisions, holiday festivities, and home visitations during which the immigrants are given mezuzahs, teffilin, and candlesticks.

Facilities

The Oak Park Center has a kosher restaurant, gymnasium, swimming pool, weight-training room, health club, and a variety of social and cultural activities for children and adults. FREE members use all of the JCC facilities, usually at a discounted rate because the Jewish Federation subsidizes their membership fees. FREE has libraries in both the Oak Park and West Bloomfield centers with books in Russian focused on topics related to Judaism.

Publication

FREE publishes a quarterly newspaper in Russian with a schedule of upcoming events, holiday information, and member's personal stories. In addition, the organization publishes a calendar each year called the Jewish Art Calendar, which lists the dates for all Jewish holidays along with Sabbath start and end times. The calendar features prints by famous Jewish artists and provides a short description of each holiday in Russian.

Interfaith

FREE is connected to the Lubavitch community of metropolitan Detroit, which is part of the global Lubavitch community. Other FREE centers exist in other major American cities, including Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and New York. FREE as a religious community does not interact with other religious groups or participate in interfaith religious services.