DETROIT

Yeshivas Give 10-Mile
A Spiritual Facelift

PHIL JACOBS

Assistant Editor

R

abbi P e r e t z
Rushnawitz's eyes
light up when he
talks about new dormitory
rooms that are spacious
enough to house three or
four students of the Yeshiva
Gedolah for boys.
The dorms, which will be
open in the coming weeks,
are being built to fit within
the goals of school officials,
who want students to enjoy a
total learning experience.
Although just 45 students
are enrolled at the school,
lodging will be provided for
70 students. School officials
hope the $300,000 project
will create a better learning
atmosphere, thus ultimately
boosting enrollment.
They hope the dorms and a
self-contained environment
will make the school more
attractive to parents with
high school and college-aged
sons.
Out-of-town students have
been living in nearby
apartment complexes within
the 10 Mile and Greenfield
area. Yet on cold winter
nights, it is often an arduous
trek from the apartments to
the school.
"A yeshiva is a place
where the focus is on schol-
ar ship ," said Yeshiva
Gedolah's director of devel-
opment, Rabbi Eric
Krohner. "We're like a
think tank. But the only way
to keep the focus on scholar-
ship is to create an at-

mosphere that creates schol-
ars."
The total student experi-
ence, Rabbi Rushnawitz
said, includes lodging for
local and out-of-town
students.
"It was critical that we
build the dorms now," Rabbi
Krohner said. "To have the
in-town boys stay in town, a
dorm is essential. We had to
go for it."
News is also good for the
Yeshiva Beth Yehudah girls'
school, which plans to move
this fall from its site at 14
Mile and Lahser into the
former B'nai Moshe Syn-
agogue on 10 Mile Road,
east of Greenfield.
What was once a sanc-
tuary that inclined from the
seats to the bima has been
leveled off to build high
school classrooms. The
stained glass windows, high
ceilings and skylights in the
shape of a Magen David will
stay.
The rest of the building
will be converted into an
elementary and pre- school,
totalling 26 classrooms, a
science lab, home economics
room, teachers' lounge, kit-
chen and other rooms.
The entire cost of the pro-
ject, which was funded in
part by the Jewish Welfare
Federation and private funds
from businessman Norman
Allen, comes to about $2
million. The school's present
location is now for sale.
Rabbi E. B. Freedman, Beth
Yehudah's administrative
director, said converting B'nai
Moshe into a school is an im-

The slanted floor is now level and B'nai Moshe's former main sanctuary is becoming high school classrooms.

provement for the entire
Greenfield and 10 Mile-Oak
Park neighborhood.
Also, Rabbi Freedman
said, it is a clear symbol of a
trend reversal. Unlike many
Jewish families and institu-
tions, which continue to
move to the northwest
suburbs, the school is leav-
ing the outer suburbs and
coming closer to the city.

"The Jewish community
has had to bear the tragic
implications of flight,"
Rabbi Freedman said. "Each

Staff Writer

T

14

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1990

"It has stayed in the hands
of the Jewish community,
and come September, you'll
be seeing lots of kids in the
area," Rabbi Freedman said.
"It's a symbolic step towards
the entire community work-
ing together to produce a
great result. And the net
effect is that people are go-
ing to stay in the community
when they see we are

building schools and improv-
ing the quality of Jewish life
here."

Both Yeshiva Gedolah and
Beth Yehudah will be holding
their annual banquets in the
upcoming days. Yeshiva
Gedolah will honor area at-
torney Randolph Friedman
at its Nov. 14 banquet at the
Sheraton Southfield. Beth
Yehudah will honor its
Golden Torah Award reci-
pient Norman Allan. Speak-
ing at the event will be New
York Gov. Mario Cuomo. ❑

Michigan Legislative Races
Seem Extraordinarily Quiet

KIMBERLY LIFTON

Beth Yehudah's Rabbi E. B. Freedman walks through the former daily
chapel, which will be used for pre-school classrooms.

time we have left millions of
dollars behind us. Sym-
bolically, this building is a
gateway building.

he race for
Southfield's 64th state
House district seat has
been extraordinarily quiet
for incumbent Maxine Ber-
man, who has served in the
legislature since 1982.
"I've had few invitations
to speak and there isn't
much visibility," Ms. Ber-
man says. "I don't take it for
granted, though."
Once again, she is facing
Republican challenger Ben
Mayer, 24, a management
trainee for Radio Shack.
Although Mr. Mayer, then
fresh out of college, waged
an aggressive contest to
unseat Ms. Berman two

years ago, he has done little
campaigning this time
around.
"Two years ago it was a
full-time campaign," Mr.
Mayer says. "Most of my
spare time that could have
gone to the campaign went
to Clark Durant's campaign
for U.S. Senate (Mr. Durant
ran unsuccessfully against
U.S. Rep. Bill Schuette in
the primary.) I wanted to put
time into a race I thought
was more winnable.
"And this season I've got a
job 40 or 50 hours a week,"
Mr. Mayer says, adding he
doesn't expect to win
anyway. "There's a slight
chance — not much."
Ms. Berman's and Mr.
Mayer's lackluster cam-
paigns are representative of

most state House and Senate
contests in Oakland County,
where just a few candidates
have sparked little — if any
— attention for Tuesday's
off-year general election.
"The state legislative
races are quiet. Relatively
few incumbents have serious
opposition," says Richard
Elling, a political analyst
who teaches at Wayne State
University. "There are lots
of lawn signs and literature
drops. It is not a year where
there is less interest; yet the
reality is most people don't
pay much attention to state
legislative races. They have
low visibility."
The Lansing Jewish dele-
gation is made up of Ms.
Berman; Rep. Burton
Leland, D-Detroit, who faces

