I

Spirituality

Tzippy Perlman,

10, of Oak Park in
the science lab

Yeshivas
Upgrades

Zekelman donation improves
Darchei Torah Girls' School.

Don Cohen

G

Special to the Jewish News

iris don't just want to have fun,
they also want to learn Torah ...
and art ... and science ... and
music ... and cooking ... and comput-
ers. And with the new Harry and Wanda
Zekelman Girls' School at Yeshivas Darchei
Torah in Southfield, they have a state-of-
the-art facility to do all these things and
more.
The Girls' School includes a new two-
story, 22,000-square-foot high school and
a renovated lower school in what was the
former United Hebrew Schools building
on 12 Mile Road, east of Lahser. The yeshi-
vah also includes the Meer Family Boys
School, which opened in 2006, and the
Mickey and Debbie Stern Preschool Wing.
In total, the yeshivah has more than 350
students — about 200 girls studying from

52

November 18 • 2010

Ai

K-12 and 150 boys studying from
K-8.
The yeshivah sits on the Alan
and Lori Zekelman Campus,
which was dedicated along with
the Girls' School. The Zekelmans
have provided a needed structural
facelift for the entire facade fac-
Donor Alan Zekelman of Bloomfield Hills shakes hands with Rabbi Dovid Kahn of Oak Park,
ing 12 Mile Road. Construction
director and founder of the yeshivah.
took 1 1/2 years. The Zekelman gift
totaled $4 million.
The chanukas habayis (house-
which included the dedication ceremony,
crowd in the second-floor assembly hall.
warming) dedication took place on Nov.
a strolling campus tour, culinary presenta-
"It is because of you ... with God's
7, which began rosh chodesh Kislev, the
tions, ceramic demonstrations and science help, Yeshivas Darchei Torah will be able
beginning of the ninth month on the
experiments.
to assure generations to come that a con-
Jewish calendar. Jewish tradition has it
"Alan and Lori [Zekelman] recognize
tinuity in the chain of our tradition will
that each rosh chodesh is in honor of
and understand the importance of Jewish
not only be unbroken, but will also be
Jewish women to celebrate their steadfast
education in our turbulent times, and
strengthened, reinforced and fortified."
faith and important role in sustaining the
especially the crucial role that girls' educa-
Rabbi Dovid Kahn, director and founder
Jewish people.
tion plays in the vitality of our people
of the yeshivah, explained how the school
More than 500 people, including many
said Dr. Chanan Kroll, president of the
began in 1985 in a basement in Oak Park
students, attended the housewarming,
yeshivah board of directors, to an overflow with 14 male students and how it moved