jews d

in
the

Culinary
Art Therapy

Tradition!

Dubovs return home to open
a center in Bloomfi eld Hills .

RONELLE GRIER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Cooking can act as a form of healing.

BARBARA LEWIS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

F

Ohana said. “When a person can relax
or some, cooking is a creative
outlet. For others, it’s an unbear- and engage in something creative, fun
able chore. For Julie Ohana, it’s a and inspiring, they feel freer, more vul-
nerable, honest and ready to connect.”
therapeutic tool.
As a therapist, she helps
Ohana, of West Bloomfield,
ABOVE: Julie
became interested in “culinary Ohana and her clients gain insight into their
daughter Shai behavior, learn or improve
art therapy” while studying
spend time
social skills, increase self-esteem
for a master’s degree in social
work at the Wurzweiler School together in the and manage stress, all while
kitchen.
they put together a dish or a
of Social Work at Yeshiva
meal.
University. In 2004, she did
She’ll accompany clients to the gro-
her master’s thesis on the topic. Since
cery store if needed or show up with
then, she’s incorporated some aspect
all the supplies needed for the session.
of it into almost every job she’s held.
For a team-building event for social
Now, in addition to her full-time job
workers, addiction care workers and
as director of student recruitment at
other professionals, Ohana created
Frankel Jewish Academy, Ohana has
a menu, prepared and measured all
started a private culinary art therapy
practice. She does individual and fam- the ingredients, then had each team
create one of the dishes by putting the
ily therapy as well as group work for
ingredients together. Some partici-
companies and organizations. She’ll
meet with clients at their home, office pants were experienced cooks; others
had never set foot in a kitchen.
or at her office on Walnut Lake near
For some, helping to create a dish
Inkster, where there’s a kitchen.
was a new experience. Others got to
Ohana, 38, grew up in the Detroit
try foods they’d never eaten before.
area, graduating from Hillel Day
“The critical part was being able to
School and Birmingham Groves High
enjoy creating and eating together,”
School.
Ohana said.
She always loved to cook. At one
Those who attended gave it an
point, she thought she’d like to do it
excellent evaluation, said Stephanie
professionally, but several summers
Appel of Core Learning Inc., which
as kitchen manager at Camp Young
sponsored the program. She and
Judaea in Wisconsin cured her of that
Ohana previously worked together at
ambition.
JFS.
Ohana has long felt a strong con-
Participants talked about what they
nection to Israel. After spending
learned by working together and how
some time there after high school,
they could transfer that insight to
she discovered the State University of
New York’s Empire State College had a their professional lives.
Ohana revamped and upgraded her
branch in Israel. She stayed there and
website, www.culinaryarttherapy.com,
completed her undergraduate degree
when she opened her office. Soon she
without ever setting foot on the col-
was getting inquiries from all over the
lege’s Saratoga Springs campus.
world. Her first one-on-one client is
After graduating, she worked for
a woman in Greece, with whom she
the Hillel at Hebrew University before
works via iPhone Facetime.
returning to the U.S. for graduate
“When you like to cook and you’re
school.
in need of something therapeutic, it’s
She met her Israeli husband, Ofer,
a logical connection,” she said.
in Detroit. He owns Ohana Family
She’s also hearing from other thera-
Construction. The Ohanas have two
pists eager to incorporate some of her
children, Avital, 6, and Shai, 5.
ideas into their own practices.
While employed as a social worker
Ohana is eager to work with fami-
at Jewish Family Service (JFS) and
lies. Often people are so busy it’s hard
later at Frankel Jewish Academy,
for family members to come together
Ohana incorporated culinary arts
for meals. “I strongly believe in the
activities into traditional talk therapy.
idea of the family meal,” she said. “It’s
“Many of us have a difficult time
an important part of a happy, healthy
opening up to strangers or even our
closest family members or colleagues,” family dynamic.” •

18

May 25 • 2017

jn

W

hile the recently opened
Chabad of Bloomfield Hills
may be new to the area,
its co-directors, Rabbi Levi Dubov and
his wife, Mushky, are carrying on a
local family tradition going back three
generations.
Mushky Dubov is the granddaugh-
ter of Rabbi Beryl and Batsheva
Shemtov, the first Chabad-Lubavitch
emissaries to settle in Michigan,
and the daughter of Rabbi Levi and
Bassie Shemtov, co-directors of West
Bloomfield-based Friendship Circle of
Michigan.
After spending the first year of
their marriage in Brooklyn, the young
couple moved to Bloomfield Hills to
start a new Chabad program aimed
toward the growing number of Jews in
the historically non-Jewish suburb. In
February, they welcomed the arrival of
their first child, Mendel.
According to Levi Dubov, there
has been significant Jewish growth
over the past few decades, includ-
ing an influx of younger families. He
estimates the Jewish population at
the highly rated Bloomfield Hills High
School is now close to 30 percent.
“It’s a very ripe area [ for Chabad],
and we’ve had an amazing recep-
tion from the community so far,”
said Dubov, son of Rabbi Dovid and
Malky Dubov, co-directors of the
thriving Chabad of Mercer County in
Princeton, N.J. “I’m on a mission to
meet every single Jew in Bloomfield
Hills.”
So far, the young couple have host-
ed holiday events, Shabbat dinners,
children’s programs and weekly Torah
study classes. They also help sponsor
the Jewish Club, a student organiza-
tion of Bloomfield Hills High School,
where about 25 students attend pro-
grams on a biweekly basis.
Future plans include additional
adult education classes in Kabbalah,
Talmud and Parshah, special classes
for women, increased children’s pro-
gramming and more holiday events.
“What we want now in the commu-
nity is to have a relationship with the
Jewish families in Bloomfield Hills,”
Levi Dubov said. “We hope to add to
Jewish engagement, Jewish activity,
Jewish life on a personal and family

Rabbi Levi and Mushky Dubov with their infant
son, Mendel

level — it’s not just about going to the
synagogue — we want a personal con-
nection.”
While both husband and wife
attended the Lubavitch Cheder and
Yeshiva in Oak Park as children and
teens, Dubov says he still feels like
“the new guy in town.”
“Everybody I meet grew up here …
it’s really a nice community,” he said.
“I find opportunities for mitzvahs —
putting up mezuzahs in homes and
offices, lighting candles, putting on
tefillin — opportunities to be active
Jews with no judgment.”
Mushky Dubov is thrilled to be back
in her home state, close to her par-
ents and the Chabad extended family
she grew up with. She enjoys hosting
members of her new community at
home.
“We love the open door,” she said.
“We want people to feel like our home
is a home for everyone.”
While the new Chabad center is
starting small, the Dubovs have big
dreams, fueled by the accomplish-
ments both experienced growing up
in strong Lubavitch families.
“It was a very natural decision that
our lives should be a legacy of serving
others,” said Levi Dubov, who hopes
to expand the Bloomfield Hills pro-
gram to include its own building. “The
building is a dream now, but we hope
it will come to fruition soon.”
For more information, email
Rabbi@bloomfieldhillschabad.org,
call (248) 949-6210 or visit Chabad
Jewish Center of Bloomfield Hills on
Facebook. •