metro

Before Moishe House,
There Was The Bayit

Robin Schwartz
Contributing Writer

Facebook group page. The former
residents are quick to point out
they had no financial support from
n 1972, more than a decade
any organization. They proudly
before the new residents of
recall doing everything on their
Moishe House were even born,
own. One former Bayit resident
six young people (mostly students),
who now lives in Israel shared some
some from the Zionist movements,
memories via email. She declined to
got together and created the Bayit
be identified.
(house in Hebrew) on Muirland
"We paid rent by ourselves, out
Street near Six Mile Road and
of our own pockets," she said. "We
mimeographed our own
leaflets and organized
our own Beit Cafe (cof-
feehouse) and managed
somehow to find speakers
for weekly or biweekly
events. We did not have
an executive director. We
all took turns cooking and
cleaning, in addition to
working and studying. We
were young and idealis-
tic."
The former residents
Francine Levine of West Bloomfield, center, lived in
say in 1973 they were
the Bayit, a communal Jewish household for two
years in the 1970s.
featured in US News &
World Report. They held
Livernois in Detroit.
Passover seders and wrote their
Over three years, 15 people lived
own Haggadah. They also hosted
in the cooperative communal house- one of the first feminist seders,
hold not far from the University of
written by novelist and playwright
Detroit campus; countless others
Esther Broner of Detroit and later
came to visit. It was an old-school
New York, who is best known for
operation: The housemates held
her Women's Haggadah.
weekly Tuesday night coffeehouses
"It was a great experience, it
focusing on political issues and
was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of
issues of Jewish importance; they
experience," Levine recalled. "It
held weekly Shabbat dinners, threw
had spontaneity to it. It just sort of
holiday celebrations, hosted movie
came together and there was a lot
nights, met with people running for
of energy."
various elected positions and more.
She and other former Bayit resi-
The group even housed Israeli coun- dents say they're watching the new
selors from Tamarack Camps in the
Moishe House with interest and
summertime.
wishing participants the best.
Francine Levine, 57, of
West Bloomfield was the
Friday night cook for two
years. She lived in the
Bayit from October 1972 to
September 1974.
"We became friends
with many, many other
people who visited our
house for events," she said.
"Today, though we live in
various places — Michigan,
Bayit residents and friends at a seder in the
Jerusalem, California, New
1970s.
York, Oregon and Vancouver
— we still keep in touch and get
"I'm really interested in seeing
together when we can."
how it turns out," she said. "I'm
Back in the day, there was
very excited to see young Jewish
no such thing as Facebook, the
people in the city. I hope it's a
Internet, or even a laptop com-
group that gels together; I wish
puter. Now, the Bayit has its own
them a lot of success." IA

I

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