23 Days To Go

From fund raising
to renovating
Yeshiva Beth Yehudah.

LESLEY PEARL
STAFF WRITER

Above: Rabbi Eli Mayerfeld displays a
rendering of the renovation.

Left: Rabbi Mayerfeld says the work will
"definitely be done on time."

Below: A $1 million renovation.

s students enjoy their final days of care-
free play and parents gear up for back-
to-school sales, construction workers
at Yeshiva Beth Yehudah continue the
frantic pace to guarantee a different
first day of class. •
After securing a challenge grant
from Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit
earlier this year for $250,000, the yeshiva began
$1 million worth of renovations to its 34-year-old
building. Plans include a gymnasium, computers
and a more modern look.
School begins Aug. 28 and according to execu-
tive director Rabbi Eli Mayerfeld, "This is hap-
pening. This will definitely be done on time."
As of the end of July, classrooms were primed
and painted.
Floors, furniture, desks and students will follow.
Passersby should not expect to see builders and
installers toiling on the weekends, though. Instead,
they're working toward nightfall — sometimes un-
til 9 p.m.
"Only dire circumstances allow an individual to
work on Shabbat. There are few spots for lenien-
cy and this is not one of them," Rabbi Mayerfeld
said. "This is a public display of how we act and
how we portray ourselves."
Fund-raising efforts are continuing to gather fi-
nal dollars beyond the challenge grant. Tuition is
up at least 50 students this fall.
"Thank God we're bursting at
the seams. We need all the space
we're going to get," Rabbi Mayer-
feld said. II]

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