the OU Community Services department.
The OU Job Board also is working to try
to provide additional job listings for com-
munities that participated in the fair. And
they include the Detroit-based jobs on
their Web site (www.ou.orgijobs), which
posts positions in the U.S., Canada and
Israel.
Monica Fischman also created www.
Michiganshuls.com, where free member-
ship allows the 300 subscribers to post
and receive information in areas including
events, programs and job opportunities.
"We can also be a site for people with
portable jobs:' Kaufman said. "Tele-com-
muting, virtual business, online work is
cutting edge. We can be the place with a
great community and a low-cost of living
for someone who moves here and brings
their own job with them:'
Networking
It's too soon to assess the total impact of
the New York fair on our community, but
months later, information and informational
packets the Southfield and Oak Park groups
provided — on housing, synagogues, city
and government life, agencies and day
schools — still are being forwarded on.
"In our packets, we touched on Oak Park
and Huntington Woods, but the focus was
on Southfield because of the great programs
they have for first-time home buyers," said
YIOP president Gil Stebbins of Southfield,
who oversaw his synagogue's fair committee.
Southfield's city treasurer Iry M. Lowenberg
and deputy city administrator Frederick E.
Zorn Jr. helped with display items and infor-
mation.
"In our presentation, we also includ-
ed information on several schools, the
kosher restaurants and other attractions in
the area;' Stebbins said."Obviously, we talked
to people about Young Israel of Oak Park but
also explained that there are 18 other shuls
within walking distance of our shul:'
Morris said Detroit representatives spoke
with each of the 50 or so families who took
a packet at the fair. "Ifs all about network-
ing," he said. "By distributing the packets, we
know there's a chance that even if someone
at the fair doesn't come to Detroit, they may
know someone else who will."
"No one's moving to Detroit in droves:'
Morris said. "But 15 or 20 of those we met
with in New York were serious about moving
here if they had work."
YIS members continue to offer job assis-
tance through networking within their
professions and other contacts. No matter
the reason or the extent of interest, the group
plans to keep in contact with anyone who
stopped by.
Back Home
Some of the YIS area's newest families had
Michael and Ariella Skoczylas of Southfield
never been to the Detroit area before look-
ing to relocate. For Michael and Ariella
Skoczylas, the move meant coming home.
Like others among their Yeshivat Akiva
classmates, the couple studied at col-
leges in New York. A CPA, Michael holds
a degree in accounting and finance from
Yeshiva University, and Ariella has a
degree in marketing from Stern College
for Women.
Last year they attended the YIS
Shabbaton.
"The Shabbaton and the committee
members helped us decide to move to
Southfield:' said Michael, whose parents
live in West Bloomfield. "They showed
us an up-and-coming city making seri-
ous efforts to grow, with a great group of
young couples."
Michael, 25, works for Endelman and
Skoczylas, a Farmington Hills-based CPA
firm, and is applying to law schools for
the fall of 2010. Ariella, 21, teaches Judaic
Studies and Hebrew Language in the
middle school and high school at Akiva in
Southfield.
The two now are settled in a Southfield
home they moved into this past May, not
far from Ariella's parents, who are YIS
members.
The choice to move was three-fold for
the couple. "Firstly, we loved the lifestyle
that Detroit-Southfield offer; the friendli-
ness and the open mindedness and the
warmth were second to none Michael
said. "Secondly, Southfield offered us a
great group of friends that we will have
for the rest of our lives. Thirdly, we wanted
Monica and Ari Fischman of Southfield and their daughters, Tamar, 1, and
Erica, 3
our kids — when we have them — to
grow up with their grandparents as a part
of their lives, not people they visit with
once or twice a year."
The newest family to come to the
neighborhood is Akiva graduate Daniel
Greenbaum, his wife, Gillian, and infant
daughter, Lailie. The late October move
creates a YIS record, with four genera-
tions of the Greenbaum family — Daniel's
parents, Marla and Michael, and grand-
parents, Faygie and David Greenbaum,
the synagogue's longtime High Holiday
chazzan.
Downsizing
Not only did Dr. Martin and Elissa Bluth
move their family from New York to the
YIS area, but after Martin's parents saw
the area and learned about the great hous-
ing prices, they created a unique way to
visit the family. "They were so enthralled
with the community, they bought the
house next door to us:' he said.
A pathologist looking to make a career
move, Bluth said he and Elissa considered
many communities, looking at Orthodox
Jewish life in several cities..
Among the final choices was Detroit,
where Bluth, an M.D. and Ph.D., inter-
viewed for and eventually accepted a posi-
tion at the Wayne State University School
of Medicine and Detroit Medical Center.
During the decision-making time, the
family was introduced to YIS members,
who invited them for Shabbat and intro-
duced them to 20 or 30 neighbors.
"They made sure we had exposure to
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