Top Rabbi Daniel Syme Joins PuLSE Institute as Senior Fellow

Daniel B. Syme, Rabbi Emeritus of Temple Beth El, the oldest Jewish congregation in Michigan, has joined The PuLSE Institute’s Academy of Fellows as a Senior Fellow focusing on faith, race and poverty. Syme, a transcending voice for multi-racial justice who was inducted in 2010 into the Martin Luther King Jr. International Board of Preachers at Morehouse College is one of the most revered voices in the American Jewish community.

Lifestyle magazine’s readers once voted Syme one of the 18 North American Jews “who will be most influential in shaping the future of the Jewish community in the 21^st Century,” draws on his life’s experiences to bring compassion, caring and determination that accomplishments alone cannot convey.

“Throughout my life, I have seen how poverty can strip the human spirit and soul of dignity and hope. I have tried to help, most recently, through my board membership on humble design, a group that has already furnished over 1,000 homes for families coming out of homeless shelters. I am now honored to accept a senior fellow appointment to The PuLSE Institute, and to join the great Bankole Thompson in fighting to ease the suffering of deprivation,” Syme said.

Launched in July of last year, The PuLSE Institute was inspired by the writings of prominent journalist and author Bankole Thompson whose work has elevated the discourse around poverty and inequality in Detroit and represents an urgent call for difference-making action.

The fellowship (https://thepulseinstitute.org/meet-the-academy-of-fellows/) allows Syme to contribute to the debate around poverty and inequality through columns and other specific areas of interests that are tied to social justice.

“Rabbi Daniel B. Syme sees the good in people; he honors their humanity and does his vital part in promoting and preserving their well-being and dignity. That’s why I am quite pleased to welcome him to The PuLSE Institute and look forward to his invaluable contributions to our cross-cultural and action-inspiring conversations about solving the poverty problem in our community. The Detroit area, and indeed the whole of America need more leaders like him with contagious equanimity, humaneness and pragmatism,” said C. Paschal Eze, board chairman of The PuLSE Institute.

Syme’s intense drive has led to numerous accomplishments as both an author and executive television producer.  He is a published author or co-author of 24 books, on topics such as Jewish parenting, youth suicide prevention, Christian-Jewish relations, Jewish social action, ritual, theology and Jewish education. He is the founder of the Single Soul Suicide Prevention program of Jewish Family Service.

Syme sits on the boards of numerous organizations including the Detroit Economic Club.