I DON'T KNOW
WHAT TO DO
1900-2000
"Mom lives by herself. She's always been very independent but lately her
health hasn't been very good. She sometimes forgets to take her medicines.
She has even fallen a couple of times. I know she is not eating properly and
she has mentioned that she is lonely. I worry about her but I work and have
my own family to-care for. I don't think a nursing home is the right place for
her but I don't know what to do."
Regent Street of West Bloomfield offers older adult assisted living that would
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comfortable and safe. She will be happy and that will make you happy too.
Come visit Regent Street. You will be very pleased with what you see.
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many Jewish debates and conflicts in
the 20th century. As if to step into a
breach opened by the apparent decline
of antisemitism and the problematics of
Israel, religion has reasserted itself.
The Federation-sponsored
"Population Study" of 1992 noted the
Jewish population in Detroit had
risen to 96,000, of whom an estimat-
ed 7 percent were Orthodox, 38 per-
cent were Conservative and 34 per-
cent Reform. It noted, too, an alarm-
ingly dramatic increase in intermar-
riage: in 1960, both partners were
Jewish in 93 percent of Jewish mar-
riages; the number declined to 70
percent in the 1970s and to 56 per-
cent in the '80s. This prompted a
concern for "Jewish survival" that
continues to grow in intensity.
This could explain, a surprising
turn toward religious Orthodoxy
among young people that would
affect Jewish life in concrete ways,
such as demographic patterns.
Earlier surveys, in the '40s and '60s,
had identified specifics about the neigh-
borhoods: the smells of Jewish deli-
catessens like Sammy's or Liebermann's
or Boesky's, and of bakeries like Rosen's
on 12th Street. In 1992, the study
focused instead on what its compilers
saw as impending crises, like the
increase in intermarriage.
Despite the Jewish community's
continued, near-mythic movement
farther northwest — from lower to
upper Hastings, to Oakland, 12th
and Dexter, to Oak Park, Southfield,
Farmington Hills and West
Bloomfield — Oak Park and
Southfield still appeared as "the center
of the Orthodox population," under-
scoring the Orthodox community's
commitment to the area.
One reason seemed to be that
Federation and its agencies began
sponsoring the Neighborhood Project
in 1989, offering interest-free loans to
Jewish homebuyers to maintain the
Jewish population of Oak Park and
Southfield. Another reason was the
construction of three freeway overpass
parks, a cooperative effort that helped
keep the Jewish community there
physically linked. Young Orthodox
families continue to benefit from The
Neighborhood Project. Congregation
B'nai Moshe, following its con-
stituency, moved from Oak Park to
West Bloomfield, but first sold its old
building to Yeshiva Beth Yehudah, an
Orthodox day school. Religious insti-
tutions seemed to be digging in their
JEWISH DETROIT
on page 26
Project Contributors
Sidney Bolkosky is
William E. Stirton
Professor in the Social
Sciences and a profes-
sor of history at the
University of
Michigan-Dearborn.
He the author o
Harmony & Dissonance: Voices
of Jewish Identity in Detroit,
1914-1967; Life Unworthy of
Life: A Holocaust Curriculum;
and numerous journal articles.
Keri Guten Cohen,
Story Development
Editor, coordinated this
project. Earlier this year,
she served as editor of the
Jewish News
SourceBook. She joined
the editorial staff in late
summer, but has written off and on
for the paper since moving to West
Bloomfield in 1996 A journalist for
more than 20 _years, Keri also writes a
weekly column on visual art for the
Detroit Free Press.
Jeffrey Torok, Creative
Services Manager, was
responsible for the design
of this project. He has 15
year of publishing expe-
rience, including work
on both consumer and
trade publications. Jeff
joined the Jewish News staff last
January after moving to Novi.
Esther Allweiss
Tschirhart copy edited
this project. A former
copy editor at the
Detroit Free Press, she
joined the Jewish News
as copy editor in 1998.
Special thanks go to Alan Kandel,
who gathered historical photographs
from many locations; Judith Levin
Cantor, archivist at Congregation
Shaarey Zedek and past president of
the Jewish Historical Society; Heidi
Christein, archivist at the Leonard
N Simons Jewish Community
Archives; Beverly Yost, community
liason at of the Jewish Community
Council; Leslie Cowan, archivist at
Temple Beth El; and Zina Bahrou,
Seymour Manello and Carla
Schwartz of the Jewish News.
.