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continued from page 18
“What in the new facility will help to
create community and bring people
together?” — AARON TOBIN, SAVE THE OAK PARK JCC COMMITTEE
Planet Fitness and other large entities
— are available everywhere. This is a
challenge for JCCs across the country.”
Regarding a pool, Wolfe said: “A
number of local providers were
approached … We learned that this
was not financially viable for these
operators, due to the fact that the
building would need to remain closed
on Saturday for Shabbat.”
Wolfe continued: “We are not plan-
ning to rent space to non-Jewish ten-
ants. The tenants we are negotiating
with are Jewish agencies and organiza-
tions, all of which have financial and
logistical requirements. Our commit-
ment is to maintain JPM as a Jewish
facility, for use by the local Jewish
community and which is financially
self-sustaining.”
DISAPPOINTED RESIDENTS
A former JPM employee who wishes
to remain anonymous said the com-
munity’s frustrations are more toward
Federation than the JCC. “I don’t think
people are happy with how Federation
has communicated since the news
of the JPM closure first broke,” the
employee said.
“There were community members
who took every piece of bait that
Federation threw at them. They hung
on to the hope of a fitness center and
a pool. I think Federation knew that
would never happen and should have
been upfront from the beginning. That
would have been the honest thing to
do. The community kind of felt duped.”
Tobin echoes those thoughts. “A
lot of people in the community are
coming back to me now and saying,
‘I told you so.’ They committed to us
that there was going to be a pool and
a small workout facility. Neither will
happen. Those commitments have
gone away.
“What is it going to be?” Tobin
asked. “An office building with a few
empty rooms for people to meet?
One of the great things about JPM
was it brought all
sorts of people
together — people
who wouldn’t have
gotten together
anywhere else. Will
this new facility
do the same? We
would be happy if
it had a place for
Debbie Hitsky
people to nosh and
schmooze.”
Debbie Hitsky of
Southfield said a Federation volunteer
recently called her to ask for support
20
August 17 • 2017
jn
for Federation’s 2017 Campaign. “I
turned her down and offered the same
explanation I’d given last year’s volun-
teer, first apologizing for venting and
urging her to absolutely share my rea-
soning with everyone at Federation,”
she wrote.
Her reasoning? JCC dollars don’t see
their way to residents near the Oak
Park/Southfield community.
“It’s summer, and it’s hot,” she said.
“The JCC in West Bloomfield, ‘spared’
by the elimination of JPM in Oak Park,
has three swimming pools. Jewish
and non-Jewish children living west
of Telegraph have day camps, nursery
school, inline hockey and so much
more to enjoy during the summer.
Adults, including myself because I can
drive 25 minutes from my Southfield
home to the JCC, have fitness classes
of every kind there.
“But what happened to the adults
and children who used JPM? The
adults, I can tell you, joined the Young
Men’s Christian Association, Planet
Fitness, Beverly Hills Racquet Club,
and the like.
“In essence, they were cast away
from the Jewish community. And, of
course, many lost everything they had
at JPM because they are elderly resi-
dents of the Jewish Senior Life apart-
ments on what we used to call the
‘Jewish Community Campus.’
“They don’t have the wherewithal
to drive to a gym elsewhere. There
are a few vestigial classes that meet at
Beth Shalom or the Mondry Building
[on the campus], but what was a
truly ‘Jewish’ community — chil-
dren to seniors, Russian-speakers
to Holocaust survivors, Orthodox,
Conservative, Reform or none-of-the-
above — is denied by distance equal
access to an agency funded with our
dollars.”
The JN shared her concerns with
Wolfe and asked why Oak Park com-
munity members should feel comfort-
able donating to the annual campaign.
He responded by email: “Annual
Campaign dollars are essential for
the community and fund critical
social service agencies that serve the
Oak Park area, including programs
for seniors, families in crisis, the
unemployed and other vulnerable
Jewish individuals. Federation also
support Jewish camps, BBYO and
Campus Hillels, along with a number
of Jewish day schools in the area and
has recently invested in significant
security upgrades to protect our com-
munity’s children.” •
36 Under 36
Nominations
Are Open
Once again, the JN and The Well
have teamed up for 36 Under 36.
We know so many amazing young
people are contributing to this com-
munity, and we’d like to highlight 36
of them in the Detroit Jewish News
early next year.
Nominate someone who inspires
you, motivates you and enhances
the Detroit Jewish community. We’re
looking for go-getters, doers, philan-
thropists, activists, entrepreneurs
and community organizers whose
lives make an impact on those
around them and our community at
large. Nominations are being accept-
ed until Sept. 28 and can be made at
https://tinyurl.com/y7or7jrg.
A group of community leaders will
choose the 36 nominees for 2018,
who will be announced in the JN in
early January.
To view last year’s honorees, visit
https://tinyurl.com/ybykxweh. •
New Radio Program
Rabbi Tzvi Jacobson has started a new live talk show on
the internet called Let’s Talk Torah on NewRadioMedia.
com every Sunday from 2-3 p.m. He discusses the weekly
Torah portion, Jewish holidays and other topics. You can
follow the show by going to NewRadioMedia.com, click
on “Community” and “Let’s Talk Torah.” Listeners can call
(844) 999-9249 with their Torah questions. •
Rabbi Tzvi
Jacobson
Higher
Hopes!
Feeds
Kids In
Need
Higher Hopes! announced that its
spring/summer feeding program
was a huge success. By the program’s
end on July 31:
• 4,000 meal kits containing 30-35
pounds of healthy food were dis-
tributed to the neediest families
whose children are enrolled in Early
Head Start Child Care Partnership
Programs in Metro Detroit.
• 10 Head Start locations each
received 100 meal kits each month
April through July. (Total 4,000)
• A total of 140,000 pounds of
healthy and nutritious food was pro-
vided (over 75,000 meals).
• Thanksgiving donations have
already started to come in and
hopes are that more than 1,000
families will be fed.
“The showers of blessings that
Higher Hopes! continues to receive
is incredible,” says Bill Birndorf,
founder of Higher Hopes and
owner of Commerce-based Apple
Marketing Company. “Our hope is
that this Thanksgiving and future
giving campaigns grow each year.”
Corporate and individual con-
tributions are always welcome and
can be made at higherhopesdetroit.
org. •