750 1 ADAR II 5755/MARCH 3 , 1995 Kindling Renewal Clo se UP 1 - Menorah House continues to evolve amid challenges, concerns and a lawsuit. RUTH LITTMANN STAFF WRITER 13 reeting residents by their first names, daily basis. The Medilodge Group invested many nursing-home administrator Dennis thousands of dollars in new meat and dairy uten- Hayes walks down the halls of Menorah sils. There also are new refrigerators, counters House. Smiling, one elderly woman ap- and stoves. proaches in a wheelchair to show off her The only renovations still needed are painting new hairdo. and tiling the main-floor dining room. Mr. Hayes Mr. Hayes says Menorah PHOTO BY GLENN TRIEST forecasts completion in two House, a new nursing home weeks. in Southfield, is making The new, volunteer-run progress toward fulfilling its "Nosh Nook" snack bar and promise as the Jewish corn- gift shop cater to residents munity's replacement for and guests. Medilodge has Borman Hall. constructed a room for a syn But Citizens for Better agogue. The Jewish Care, a Michigan nursing- Federation of Metropolitan home watchdog group, main- Detroit has furnished the tains that Menorah House chapel with an ark, Sefer has a long way to go, and a re- Torah and podium. cent lawsuit charges the Services, thus far, have home with neglect. taken place in the upstairs Farmington Hills resident dining room, but will begin in Herbert Schwartz is suing the chapel as soon as Medilodge, which owns the Menorah House main-floor home, over the Dec. 2, 1994, renovations are complete. death of his father, Jack "We recognize the chal- Schwartz, who lived there. lenges faced in the transition The nursing home's ad- from Borman Hall to ministration describes the fa- Menorah House," says tal accident as tragic and Federation's chief financial of- unfortunate, but adminis- ficer, Mark Davidoff. "All in- trators insist they receive dications are that Menorah mostly positive feedback Moric Berman sits in the Menorah Chapel. House is meeting our expec- about changes at the facility. tations." "The residents are really settling in and peo- Zella Burstein's 99-year-old mother, Beckie ple are acclimating quite nicely," Mr. Hayes says. Traub, entered Menorah House on Dec. 16, 1994, New kosher kitchen facilities have been oper- from Borman Hall. ating since early February. Orthodox Rabbi "The first couple of weeks, I wasn't too thrilled Hershel Klainberg supervises the kitchens on a MENORAH HOUSE page 8 Being Jewish Is No Special Want to lead a religious and cultural existence? Get ready for the opportunity cost of a lifetime. RUTH LITTMANN STAFF WRITER Story on page 34 Hillel Decision The day school's task force will announce its recommendation Tuesday. Our readers' phutographs of Jewish Detroit. Center Grayling's Experience A different culture for teens from up north. Page 14 Contents on page 3 JILL DAVIDSON SKLAR STAFF WRITER Hillel Day School task force will soon reveal its recommendation on whether to move the school to the Jewish Community Campus at Maple and Drake roads. At a special March 7 open board meet- ing, task force chairman Jeff Garden will inform the board of the task force's find- ings on a variety of move-related issues and give its recommendation. The board will vote on the issue at the regularly scheduled March 14 meeting. No decision has been reached on whether that meeting will be open. The impetus for forming the task force was a donation proposal from Oakland Mall owner and developer Jay Kogan. In A December, Mr. Kogan told Hillel fund-raisers that he would give the school $5 mil- lion if the school would relocate from its current Northwestern Highway and Middlebelt Road site to the Jewish Community Campus. He gave no public rea- son for the stipulation. The school is in the midst of its Generations Campaign, an $11 million fund-raising effort that would expand the school's endowment fund by $3 million and finance a 28,000-square- foot expansion. To be built at Jeff Garden: Recommendation the rear of the present build- expected. ing, it would add more classrooms, a chapel and a media center. Not including the poten- tial donation, $6 million has been raised toward the $11 million goal. About 35 people attended a Feb. 23 meeting to learn of the task force's fact-finding process. Approximately one- fourth of the audience did not have children in the school. Noting that there were many community members HILLEL page 10