To Life!

GENERATIONS

Hobby Shops were a popular place for residents to socialize and utilize their handicraft talents, circa 1950.

Acts Of Loving Kindness

Jewish Home & Aging Services to celebrate a century of caring.

Bill Carroll

Special to the Jewish News

p

eople are living longer today, and
the organization that takes care
of many of those Jewish elderly
in the Detroit area — Jewish Home &
Aging Services — is no exception.
JHAS turns 100 this year, one of the old-
est organizations of any kind in Michigan.
And the residences and personnel that
comprise JHAS are gearing up for a big
celebration to mark the centennial.
A Sept. 30 gala dinner at the Detroit
Opera House will feature a video presen-
tation honoring Carol Rosenberg, JHAS
executive director, and entertainment by
local cantors, singing music by Jewish
composers over the past 100 years.
A committee has been planning the
event for months, co-chaired by Hannah
Moss of Huntington Woods, Pearlena

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July 5 2007

Bodzin of Southfield, Joel Smith of
West Bloomfield and Howard Tapper of
Bloomfield Hills.
"The Torah tells us to honor and take
care of thy mother and father if they can't
do it themselves so that their lives can be
lengthened; and that's what we've been
doing for 100 years, showing them the
respect they deserve said Rabbi Avie
Shapiro, JHAS religious director.
"The Jewish old folks home as it was
affectionately known in the community
for many years, was established in 1907
at the corner of Brush and Winder streets
in Detroit by Jacob Levin, who was the
first president and director for 40 years.
A second home was purchased at Brush
and Edmund in 1916, and the Women's
Auxiliary was formed in 1925.
Incorporated in 1936 as the Jewish Home
for the Aged, the first big home — with
110 beds — was built at 11501 Petoskey

St. A connecting corridor was added later,
ultimately boosting capacity to 320.
"If someone told an elderly man or
woman they were going to Petoskey, it
wasn't the northern Michigan city of the
same name recalled an old-time JHAS
member. "In fact, residents were often
called 'inmates' by those who didn't know
any better. Most of the time, the residents
only got decent food when the women
pitched in and helped the staff cook."
But the subsequent executive director-
ships of Dr. Otto Hirsch, Ira Sonnenblick,
Charles S. Wolfe and Alan S. Funk resulted
in years of "excellent care for our elderly
people he added.
Rosenberg, who was appointed JHAS
executive director two years ago, a high
point in a 27-year career with the organi-
zation, calls assisting the elderly "promises
kept by the Jewish community over the
years to care for frail older adults with

the highest standards, reflecting the art of
Jewish caregiving."
"Today's generation is sort of boring
compared to many of those who went
through world wars, the Depression and
other hardships. And it's important for
them to now know they're being taken
care of by other Jewish people.
"We're the second-largest Jewish com-
munity in the nation (behind southern
Florida) that cares for older Jewish adults,
and life spans keep increasing. The fast-
est-growing population in America today
is composed of people over age 80. And, in
2011, the first group of baby boomers will
turn 65."
Herbert A. Aronsson of Bloomfield
Hills, the oldest of 11 living JHAS past
presidents, remembers there was "plenty of
guilt" among adult children who had to put
their parents into the Petoskey Street home.
"It caused many problems in families