PHOTOS BY DAN IEL LIPPITT
Left: A new brick path leads to the
Jewish Resource Center.
Above: A stunning lecture hall emerges
at a former frat house.
STORY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3
job at the time," said Rabbi Avra-
ham Jacobovitz, Machon's
founder and director. "One of the
major reasons for the delay is
that it is an historic structure
and we had to go through a whole
set of hearings" to win city ap-
proval for the changes.
On Feb. 4 — 22 months after
Machon purchased the home for
$215,000 — the Jewish Resource
Center of Ann Arbor will make
its official debut with a reception
and open house.
The frat boys from Delta Up-
silon would hardly recognize it.
Its interior has been almost
entirely gutted, with walls re-
moved from some areas and re-
constructed in others. "The
rubbish removal alone was in-
credible," Rabbi Jacobovitz
sighed.
Dorm rooms and baths have
been installed on the second and
third floors, and a brand-new lec-
ture hall and library dominate
the main level. Wood from the
century-old home has been re-
furbished, and a handsome stair-
case has been restored.
In all, the Oak Park-based Ma-
chon spent more than $200,000
on the rehab. It is a tab the or-
ganization hopes to recoup
through a series of fund-raisers.
For Rabbi Jacobovitz and his
staff, the center's opening Sun-
day means students from all seg-
ments of the Jewish community
will have a place near the Uni-
versity of Michigan campus
where they can come to learn and
gain sustenance from their his-
tory and their faith.
The outreach center will pro-
vide lectures and seminars on a
wide range of topics including
Jewish ethics, intermarriage,
Torah lessons for modern life,
Arab-Jewish relations, as well as
a more traditional Talmud
study. While observant Jews will
find the center invaluable, Rab-
bi Jacobovitz is intent on casting
a wider net.
"Our main goal," he said, "is to
reach unaffiliated students."
Indeed, a central tenet of his
organization is that the college
years are especially crucial in
helping young, more secular
Jews maintain their religious
identity. It is at college, he con-
tends, that many young people
begin to stray from their faith or
lose spiritual direction as they be-
come assimilated in a larger, non-
Jewish community.
"What good does an early Jew-
ish education do if it is all gone
with the wind as soon as a student
hits the college campus?" Rabbi
Jacobovitz asked. "There is a
tremendous void some students
feel that's not being fulfilled."
He said the center
will work with the
nearby Ann Arbor
Chabad House and
campus Hillel to give
students a well-round-
ed schedule of Jewish
cultural and academ-
ic activities.
Rabbi Naftali Kirzn-
er, assistant director of
Machon, has already
begun to market the
center by placing ads
in the Washtenaw
Jewish News and in
the U-M student pa-
per, the Michigan Dai-
ly. He has placed
notices on campus bul-
letin boards, and is even contem-
plating ads on Ann Arbor city
buses and on the radio.
Already, the center has a
mailing list of approximately
1,500 of the more than 6,000
Jewish students who attend U-
M. Of course, students from oth-
er schools, including nearby
Eastern Michigan University,
are also welcome, as are Jews
from the general Ann Arbor
community.
For at least the first few
months, the resource center will
be open for a limited number of
hours, generally on weekday
evenings and on Sunday. Its
three-person staff, which Rabbi
Kirzner will head on a day-to-day
basis, wants to get a better feel
for community response before
opening full time.
The center's renovation was
delayed in part because Machon
made a few changes to the exte-
rior of the Queen Anne-style
home, built in 1894 for a wealthy
lumber dealer. Among the
changes were an addition in the
rear of the home and the alter-
ation of several skylights and a
chimney.
Any change to the exterior of
the home, which is listed on the
Ann Arbor Historic District Com-
mission registry, had to be ap-
proved by the commission, a
process that proved time-con-
suming. ❑
A fund-raiser to help retire
the outstanding debt from the
Machon renovation is set for
Sunday evening, Feb. 18, in
Farmington Hills. Please call
Machon L'Torah for more in-
formation at (810) 967-0888.