20 | JANUARY 21 • 2021 

T

he Jewish Community 
Center of Metro Detroit 
is in the beginning 
stages of developing a concept 
called “Off-Center” — a satellite 
JCC operation to serve as an 
“east side hub” located in the 
Oak Park-Berkley area and a 
possible additional location in 
Downtown Detroit. 
JCC Assistant Executive 
Director Judy Loebl, who 
helped conceive of the idea, 
says this is the latest step in the 

JCC’s shift from 
being a “building” 
to a “concept” — 
the ability to pro-
vide programming 
to the entire Metro 
Detroit Jewish 
community. 
The Off-Center idea is part of 
the JCC’s current strategic plan, 
though the center has no time-
line yet for bringing it to fru-
ition. It was discussed by JCC 
CEO Brian Siegel in an inter-

view with MyJewishDetroit. 
Siegel said the JCC would 
explore leasing “hyper-efficient 
touchpoints of moderate scope 
and size — approximately 3,000 
to 8,000 square feet of floor-
space — where the community 
can easily gather for activities 
and events.
”
Loebl confirmed the JCC 
would lease, not own, its Off-
Center locations, and that it 
is looking for multi-purpose 
space: “Something that could be 
used from morning to evening.
” 
Possible uses would include 
“multi-generational programs,
” 
including exercise classes, 
Judaic studies, senior and chil-
dren’s programming, and book 
fairs. 
In 2015, the JCC closed its 
satellite Oak Park location, 
which upset many community 
members. 
Since then, the JCC has used 
synagogues and temples, Aish 
HaTorah and Jewish Senior Life 
facilities in the Oak Park area 

for events. 
But as it expanded its pro-
gramming, Loebl said, it began 
to look for a non-affiliated site 
of its own. 
“We saw the need for a place 
that the whole community 
could gather that was neutral,
” 
Loebl said. 
The JCC had been close to 
identifying an Off-Center loca-
tion in the Oak Park-Berkley 
area when the pandemic hit 
and put the search on hold, 
Loebl said. 
The JCC is also looking at 
doing more programming in 
Downtown Detroit, includ-
ing possible programming at 
the Isaac Agree Downtown 
Synagogue. 
These new plans don’t mean 
the JCC will stop working 
with congregations or facilities 
they’ve partnered with in the 
past, Loebl said.
“The logistics make it much 
easier when you have your own 
place.
” 

JCC to lease space in Oak Park- 
Berkley, and possibly Downtown.

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

JCC ‘Off -Centers’

Judy Loebl

IN 
THED
JEWS

H

illel International has 
launched its first-ever 
“Winterfest” through-
out the month — virtually 
connecting students through 
small group experiences at 85 
campuses.
University of Michigan Hillel 
is participating in Winterfest, 
and Rabbi Lisa Stella, U-M 
Hillel’s director 
of religious life & 
education, knows 
how valuable these 
opportunities are 
in a time where 
it’s difficult for students to learn 
and bond in ways they’re used 
to. 
“These learning experiences 

have been a way for students to 
connect with each other, build 
community and also develop 
their Jewish identity further,
” 
Stella said. 
U-M Hillel is doing a couple 
programs through Winterfest, 
including “New Year’s Boot 
Camp for the Soul,
” a program 
where students received daily 
messages in the 
first week of 
January including 
songs, podcasts 
and exercises to 
practice mind-
fulness and work on character 
traits, including gratitude and 
generosity. 
Another program is a cook-

ing class called “Knead to 
Know,
” which started with a lat-
ke-making class for Chanukah. 
Every class is themed either for 
a holiday or a Shabbat experi-
ence.
Rabbi Benjamin Berger, Hillel 
International’s vice president 
for Jewish education, believes 
Winterfest can help with the 
dramatic increase in mental 
health concerns for college stu-
dents.
“The reality is this situation 
has been hard on college 
students. There’s a profound 
sense of loneliness they’re 
feeling. One of the ways Hillel 
has been really effective over 
the course of the pandemic has 
been through the development 
of small group learning,
” Berger 
said. 

EVENTS AT CAPITOL
Hillel International is also using 
Winterfest as an opportunity to 

be responsive to the dramatic 
and traumatic events of the 
moment, and quickly developed 
a teaching session about the 
defilement of the U.S. Capitol. 
Berger said the teaching 
tied in Jewish history, Jewish 
text and what prayer looks like 
in times of crisis, having the 
students develop their own 
prayer for the nation in this 
moment.
“We put that out there to all 
these campuses saying, ‘use this 
as you wish,
’” Berger said. “Our 
teaching is a way of processing 
and providing a Jewish sense on 
what’s going on in this moment 
in our country.
” 
Hillel International will go 
back to regular programming 
in February. Representatives 
for Michigan State University 
Hillel and Hillel of Metropolitan 
Detroit told the Jewish News
they are not participating in 
Winterfest. 

U-M Hillel slates extra Jewish 
learning events during January.

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

Student ‘Winterfest’ 

