I want to tell you about a synagogue, a synagogue in the middle of downtown Detroit.

The building was built in the 1930s and it has this kind of art deco style.

It has these striking, brightly colored stained glass windows.

And it shaped like a triangle, almost like the flat iron building in New York City.

But during fraud times in the 1960s, as race riots upended downtown, the front windows were

bricked up for safety, and the colorful stained glass above

started to collect dust and grime. The Jewish community had slowly moved away, forcing nearby

synagogues to shut down their doors, leaving just this one downtown remaining. Only a small star

of David on the building's bright red double doors, and a brass

iron sign above it would tell you it even was a synagogue. But recently, I mean, just in the last

decade or so, a group of people wanted to change that. They found money and a growing community

of Jews moving back to the city.

And slowly, brick by brick, they open the community back up again.

Gathering here today celebrates not only the renovation of this beautiful building, but the hope and pride and the ability to be able to gather here today, publicly and proudly,

sharing our culture, our history, and our future with our neighbors in this great city.

That's synagogue president, Samantha Wall, in August 23, at the Grand Reopening.

She's standing in a lectern in front of a crowd of people, and she's smiling, wearing a bright

blue dress.

We are a community and a continuity of people, and she's smiling, wearing a bright blue dress.

We are a community and a continuity of learning, of praying, of understanding, and of belonging.

Come, join us.

The synagogue Sam helped remodel has windows from floor to ceiling, even in the rabbi's office. From the street, you can see right in. Shabbat is held on the roof deck when the weather's nice, and artists from all over

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