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Food: Guest Contributions Add To Thanksgiving.

Health: Gender Selection Concerns Ethicists.

Spotlight: 'Anything Goes" At Andover High.

This Week's focus:

Scene

Josh Opperer moved into his
Huntington Woods home just as he
graduated from law school three years
ago. "I knew I was going to have to
move somewhere, and I figured I
might as well take advantage of the
investment opportunity," he said.
A downtown lawyer, Opperer is
glad that he did. "I love the area so
much that I'll probably be in this
house, or at least in this area, for the
long-run."
"I think that in Michigan , [people
buy houses] in the middle to late 20s,
but elsewhere, in cities like Chicago
and New York, it could be, in some
cases, never," Opperer said. "Detroit
definitely offers great home-buying
opportunities. The property values are
still extremely reasonable compared to
those other cities, despite the fact that
they're increasing, which makes them
affordable, yet profitable, at least for
now."
It's clearly not so impossible to buy
a house now. Although many young
adults balk at the idea of home own-
ership, thinking it could take tens of
thousands to get into one, what they
don't realize is that "people are able to
put down only 5 percent," Opperer
noted. That allows "people to get into
the house market before they would
have, [compared with] when 20 per-
cent was required as a down pay-
ment."
Miller, of Century 21 Today, said
young adults are buying first homes
for between $130,000 and $200,000,
ues have jumped from about $60,000
and mostly in Royal Oak, Berkley,
for a generous 1920s home four years
Troy, Birmingham or Bloomfield
ago to nearly $100,000 for the same
Hills. These communities are regarded
property today.
as trendy and have shopping, night
Yet, young Jews are
life and cafes close by.
also
pioneering further
"Most young singles like
Allyson and Doug
northwest.
Non-tradition-
charm and trees,"said
Cohen found a beautiful
al Jewish areas, such as
Miller.
home in Waterford — a
Commerce Township,
Additionally, young
bit further north than
Walled
Lake and
observant singles and cou- they wanted to live, but
Waterford,
are now home
ples are frequently choos-
with all the amenities
to
young
Jews
who want
and for a great price.
ing to live in Oak Park
more
bang
for
their buck,
and Southfield.
according
to
Ari
Charlip,
Huntington Woods has
a
mortgage
broker
banker
with
Rock
become so popular, property values
Financial in West Bloomfield.
have skyrocketed to about $150,000
Detroit's housing prices are more
for a fixer-upper. "Fashionable"
affordable
than in other metro areas.
Ferndale is another hotspot where val-

Rite Of
Pa,ssage

LYNNE MEREDITH COHN
Scene Editor

W

Whereas a 1,000-square-foot home in
Oak Park might sell for $100,000, the
same size house in West Rogers Park, a
suburb of Chicago, could be priced at
$220,000, said Marc Kogan, loan offi-
cer for Capitol Mortgage Funding in
Southfield. A posh West Bloomfield
condo obtainable for around
$100,000 would cost more elsewhere.
Affordability is what led Alyssa and
Josh Tobias to start house-hunting a
year sooner than they originally
thought they could, and Mark
Chessler saved up his down payment
by living at home before buying his
Oak Park residence.
Some young adults are surprised
that they can own a home while still

hen I moved into a
two-bedroom flat in
Ferndale, my grand-
parents dropped by on
moving day with a Ziploc baggie. In
the bag sat a hard-boiled egg, salt
and sugar. They also brought a loaf
of bread and a box of chocolates.
They explained that the unusual
housewarming gifts were so that I
would have a "sweet life and always
have food." The chocolates were just
a really tasty treat.
Although there's nothing too tra-
ditionally Jewish about packing up a
U-Haul or unloading boxes, there
are some moving rituals that make a
new home a Jewish dwelling.
Rabbi Alon Tolwin, executive
director of Aish HaTorah in
Birmingham, says someone should
bring you salt, so your food should
be tasty; bread, to signify bounty;
and a bottle of wine, for joy. But the
first thing you should do is nail a
mezuzah, with rolled-up kosher
parchment scroll in back, to the
doorframe.
A mezuzah is "our reminder for
when we go in and when we go out
that the Almighty loves us," Tolwin
explains. "That should be our prima-
ry focus in life. It prepares the house
for Jewish things."
Jews traditionally put colorful,
sometimes artistic mezuzot on most
doorways except the bathroom. It
should hang on the right side as you
enter a room. Some people tilt the
mezuzah toward the room while
others hang it straight up and down
— which you do depends on your
family's minhag (custom).
What makes a mezuzah kosher?
The scroll must be hand-composed
by a scribe, on parchment, and
checked by a rabbi for flaws.

❑

11 /20

1998

Detroit Jewish News

109