Local Judaica reflects generations of creativity, memory and Jewish identity in Metro Detroit homes.
From Generation to Generation
Robin Freed James’ menorah created by her mother-in-law, Natalie Gagin-Kendler.
Gail Rosenbloom Kaplan, a local artist based in Farmington Hills, has done a series of menorah and dreidel projects with schools and synagogues, and made some of her own. She’s got one she did as a college student, some 50 years ago, she says. “It was one of the first Judaica pieces I did, and that was an interpretation of the Western Wall.”
As an artist, making Judaica is something that speaks to carrying on the traditions, she says, adding that she got into making it when she worked as an intern at the Jewish Museum in New York City and found herself polishing a collection of Judaica sent from Danzig, Poland.
“When I was holding the beautiful silver breastplate, I thought, ‘One day as an artist I’m going to do something to share the story that we go back our generations and generations,’” she says. “That Judaica that would have been destroyed in the Holocaust inspired me to create personally new Judaica I’d use in my home and share in schools, and kids and adult projects, so that they can have the excitement of making their own Judaica.”
Gail Rosenbloom Kaplan made this menorah from recycled plumbing parts.
She also has her parents’ menorah — they were married around 1950. “I love modernism and that’s what it’s from,” she says. “L’dor v’dor, from generation to generation.”
A Menorah, A Snowstorm and Decades of Light
Just a few of the whimsical and wonderful menorahs in Devorah Glanz’s collection
Lenie Shapiro Bershad of West Bloomfield has used the same menorah since she got married 51 years ago. It’s one she’s very sentimental about, she says, as she got it three months into their marriage, just as Chanukah was starting.
Judaica at that time was hard to find outside of Metro Detroit, she recalls. When she realized last minute that even with two bridal showers and their lovely wedding, nobody had gifted them a menorah, she called Shaarey Zedek in East Lansing. It was a Sunday, and the woman who picked up, hearing her predicament, agreed the shop would stay open until she arrived. She drove the half hour in the snow and purchased the Chanukiah they still light today. “I’ve never stopped being grateful they stayed open for me in a snowstorm so that we could light candles and celebrate our first Chanukah.”
Menorahs in the Family
Robin Freed James of Sylvan Lake has a special menorah saved for her 9-year-old to use one day. Her mother-in-law, Natalie Gagin-Kendler of Southfield, was an artist specializing in pottery and made a signature menorah. “She sold them at art and craft shows all over the state,” says Freed James. “Our families have had them for decades. She stopped making them a while ago and passed away in 2024, but they are very special to anyone who has one.”
A Festive Collection
Devorah Glanz of West Bloomfield collects menorahs. “I have some special ones that I’ve gotten over the years,” she says, adding that she likes large Judaic art pieces and was excited to discover the genre. Not all of her menorahs are kosher in the traditional sense, because one candle, the shamash, is supposed to be a bit higher up than the others. Still, she says, “I find them to be beautiful and perfect as art around my home.”