To Life!

Outreach That Snowballed

A Novi program leads to events and classes.

Stuart Goldberg of Northville, Robert
Kaufman of Novi, Rabbi Susskind and
Susan Goldberg of Northville chat at

Children create their own
menorah and candles.

Brian Feldman of Saginaw and Nancy

The Sandler children of Novi look on

Schindler and her son Michael of Novi
enjoy the Chanukah party.

as Yudi Steiner, a Chabad student
from Toronto, spins the dreidel.

the party.

Shelli Liebman Dorfman

Staff Writer

n the three months since Rabbi
Avrohom and Leah Susskind began
the Chabad Jewish Center of Novi-
Northville, they have attracted dozens of
regulars who had no synagogue or Jewish
learning center nearby.
Even before moving to Novi — from
Oak Park where the Brooklyn natives had
lived for six years — they organized pro-
gramming there, celebrating Purim at the
Novi Civic Center last March.
"We knew there were Jewish people
around, between Novi and Northville,"
Rabbi Susskind said. "But we wanted to
see if we had a program, if they would
come. And they did."
So the rabbi — who had been teaching
at the Lubavitch Yeshiva in Oak Park—
and his wife decided to make the move to
Novi. "We had been looking to do Chabad
Jewish outreach work, but we knew it
would be difficult to move our daughters,"
Chaya Mushka, 4, Faigy, 2, and Chana, 11
months.
Immediately, they knew they had made
the right decision. "Three weeks after we
moved here, we invited the community to
our sukkah," Rabbi Susskind said. "Not
only did many Jewish families come, but a
lot of them realized they had already seen
each other picking up their kids at school
or around town, but didn't know they
were all Jewish.
"We had 60 people. We were surprised

I

Partygoers enjoy Chanukah foods.

and so were the people who came. A lot of
them said they didn't realize there are so
many Jews here."
In fact, when Chuck Keys moved to
Northville in 1988, he says, "I didn't know
any other Jews out here at the time."
Involved with the Ann Arbor Chabad
House for the last six years, Keys was
thrilled to hear there was Jewish pro-
gramming going on in Novi and attended
the Purim event. "I went to Ann Arbor
looking to bring more Judaism into my
life," he said. "With the Susskinds, I can
also do that much closer to home."
He has begun attending Rabbi

Susskind's monthly lunch-and-learn
Torah study.
Program participants told other Jews
about the Chabad center and by
Chanukah, 90 people attended a party
and lit a 6-foot menorah inside the
Susskind's home.
"Many parents, who were there with
their children, expressed interest in future
children's programs and it is in our plans
to accommodate that," Rabbi Susskind
said.
A youth group has begun. Others have
asked about a Sunday Kabbalah class_ and
a women's group.

The Chabad Jewish Center of Novi-Northville is located at 42142
Loganberry Ridge North in Novi. For information on services,
activities and programs, contact Rabbi Avrohom and Leah
Susskind, (248) 790-6075 or rabbiasusskind®sbcglobal.net .

Where To Live
The Susskinds discovered Jews lived in
every corner of Novi, so they moved into
the center to be accessible to all. "Every
single Shabbos, we have guests for meals:'
the rabbi said.
Shabbat services will begin soon.
"We keep seeing more families moving
in,"the rabbi said. "People tell me they
move to our area because the Novi and
Northville schools are top rated in the
state, the houses are decently priced, the
neighborhoods are safe, there is a lot of
shopping and easy freeway access?"
He said the goal is "not so much about
bringing in our own programming, but in
forming a Jewish community by giving
those who live here what they want and
what they are looking fort'
And when the Susskinds are ready to
build a synagogue, Keys said, "I will be
there to help. I am excited and honored to
be a part of this?'
In addition to the impact the new cen-
ter is making on the community, living in
Novi also has already made an impression
on the Susskinds.
"At first, our oldest daughter really felt a
difference not living around the corner
from her friends who go to school with
her in Oak Park," Rabbi Susskind said.
"But her attitude has changed in a posi-
tive way. She loves to have guests in our
home that may be at a different level of
Judaism than she is. And she has learned
to respect everyone?" L

JANUARY 12 e 2006

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