24 | NOVEMBER 28 • 2019 

A Place 
to Gather

Clover Hill gets ready to open the 
Berman Shiva Center on the grounds 
of the cemetery.

JACKIE HEADAPOHL ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Jews in the D

S

hortly after Clover Hill 
Park Cemetery Executive 
Director Kim Raznik and 
Clover Hill Board Chairman 
Gregg Orley came to their posts 
in the summer of 2018, they 
shared a discussion 
about consistent 
changes in the 
way shiva was 
being observed by 
families in Metro 
Detroit. 
 Specifically, 
shivas were getting 
shorter, one or two 
days, and many 
were being held at 
impersonal places.
“Long ago, a number of peo-
ple moved out of state,
” Orley 
said. “
As their parents died, 
they’
d come back home but not 
have a place to hold shiva, so 
they would go to a restaurant, 
for example. That struck us as a 
sad way to celebrate a life.
”
Orley and Raznik wanted to 
create a place at Clover Hill for 
families to celebrate the lives 
of their loved ones, and they 
realized the Mandell L. Berman 
Administration Building 

would be ideal. Renovations 
at the building, now called 
the Berman Shiva Center, are 
nearly complete, and families 
will be able to hold shivas and 
gatherings there beginning in 
December.
“We’
ve removed walls and 
created a comfortable space for 
families to gather with friends 
and loved ones after an unveil-
ing or after an interment for 
shiva and services. Families 
will be able to bring in a kosher 
meal as friends come to comfort 
one another,
” Raznik said. 
 “Geographically, we are cen-
trally located so the Berman 
Shiva Center is ideal for out-
of-towners who have few local 
connections or for those who 
want to gather with friends 
and family in a convenient and 
meaningful space.
”
According to Rabbi Aaron 
Starr of Congregation Shaarey 
Zedek, which 
owns the cemetery, 
“Clover Hill Park 
Cemetery seeks to 
fulfill the Jewish 
values of kavod 
hamet (honoring 

Orley 

continued on page 26

TOP: The Mandell L. Berman Administration Building has 
been transformed into the Berman Shiva Center. ABOVE: The 
Davidson/Hermelin Chapel was recently renovated.

PHOTOS BY RUDY THOMAS

Raznik

Starr