EDUCATION

R For Religious

AMY J. MEHLER

Staff Writer

Families in
West
Bloomfield go
to Bais Chabad
for their R-rated
movies.

f

hen Barry Skoczylas
goes to Blockbuster
Video, he heads
straight for the new releases.
When he goes to Bais Chabad
of West Bloomfield, he heads
straight for the R-rated
movies.
"That's R for religious,"
jokes Elimelech Silberberg,
rabbi of Bais Chabad. "We
carry whatever is available of
Torah value."
The Bais Chabad Torah
Center, on Maple Road, car-
ries about 5,000 audio cas-
settes, several hundred books
and close to 100 videos — all
on Jewish and religious
themes. Rabbi Silberberg re-
ceives the bulk of his cas-

W

settes from the Torah Tape
Library in Brooklyn, N.Y.,
which has 67,000 tapes.
Bais Chabad, which
charges $18 for library mem-
bership, also carries tapes
from different heads of yeshiv-
ot and Torah scholars across
the United States and Israel.
Once Barry, a sixth-grader
at Akiva Hebrew Day School,
needed help learning about
the tabernacle the Israelites
used in the desert. He went to
Bais Chabad and found a
book all about it.
"It was very detailed and
had many pictures and ex-
plained how the tabernacle
was built," Barry said. "When
I had a test, I used the infor-
mation from the book and got
an A."
Amira Skoczylas, Barry's
mother, raves about the li-

brary's wide selection.
"We use the Chabad library
about as much as we use the
public library," she said. "My
kids love going and picking
out different videos on Israel,
about Israeli wars and people.
You can't find this in the reg-
ular libraries."
Rabbi Silberberg talks
about the explosion of Torah
tapes and videos in the last
couple of years.
"All kinds of people, reli-
gious or not, use our tapes,"
he said.
Erie Skoczylas, 12, and
Mikey Skoczylas, 8, like to
use the library books on Shab-
bat afternoons and in syna-
gogue during breaks in
davening.
Elisheva Stawis, 8, and
Malka Stawis, 6, members of
Bais Chabad, often play with

the Skoczylas' children on
Shabbat.
"We like to read books to-
gether," said Amira, a third-
grader at Akiva Hebrew Day
School.
"We have kids at our house
every Shabbat," said Mrs.
Skoczylas. "It's not unusual
to go downstairs and find a
whole group of them reading
quietly."
Andrea Stawis, Elisheva
and Malka's mother, finds it
a challenge to locate reading
material for children con-
taining Torah values and
lessons on midot, good char-
acteristics.
"A real popular series right
now are these Babysitters'
Club books," Mrs. Stawis
said. "I want to find well-writ-
ten books for Jewish kids,

Elisheva and Malka Stawis read to each other at Bais Chabad.

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