14 | MARCH 11 • 2021 

O

ak Park has a new 
place for Detroit’s 
entire Jewish 
community to curl up with 
a book and a mask, or to 
borrow a few reads to enjoy 
from the social distance of 
one’s home. 
Realizing the need for a 
library that caters not only to 
Oak Park’s Orthodox Jewish 
population but 
to any local 
Jewish person in 
the area seeking 
knowledge and 
community, 
 
Rabbi Ari 
Kostelitz of 

Congregation Dovid ben 
Nuchim opened the library 
to instill a love of reading 
and Jewish learning for all 
Jews. 
“We believe in educating 
children to be proud of 
their Jewish background 
and history and a lot of that 
can happen through books,” 
Kostelitz said. 
“In today’s world, kids are 
so in tune with technology, 
but not enough are reading 
books. Creating this library 
has been a lot of work, but 
when we opened and saw 
kids sitting on the new 
colorful furniture with an 

open book, it was all worth 
it. Anyone who wants a 
Torah education is welcome 
to come in and borrow a 
book.”
On Feb. 13, the Detroit 
Jewish Library, located inside 
the Dovid ben Nuchim 
building, 14800 W. Lincoln, 
opened to nearly 500 people 
in its first hours of operation, 
with some coming back 
later in the week to check 
out even more books. Due 
to COVID precautions, only 
10 patrons at a time entered 
to browse the shelves and 
wore masks throughout their 
visit. As visitors — mostly 
mothers with children — 
waited their turn, they kept 
warm and socially distant 
in the synagogue’s spacious 
banquet hall. 
The 900 square-foot 
Detroit Jewish Library 
contains a growing collection 
of almost 4,000 brand-new 
books. The project cost 
$200,000 and was made 
possible by the generosity of 
an anonymous donor. The 

enticing colorful interior 
with cozy shelves and 
sitting areas is designed to 
be a welcoming space for 
children, but the library also 
features adult books from 
topics that range from Torah 
commentary to history to 
cookbooks to inspirational 
self-help books with an 
Orthodox twist. Expecting 
that the books will get a lot 
of love and use, all have been 
carefully double bound for 
durability. 
The library is open three 
days per week: Sunday 
1:30-4 p.m., Tuesday 5:30-7 
p.m. and Friday 1:30-2:45 
p.m. Families pay an annual 
membership fee of $35 to 
join and can take out two 
books per family member 
per visit. Books can be 
loaned for a week with an 
opportunity to renew for 
an additional week over 
the phone. Patrons receive 
their own library card with a 
barcode and patron number 
just as they would from a 
public library. 

Rabbi Ari 
Kostelitz

OUR COMMUNITY

New Jewish library
opens in Oak Park.

STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Book
People
of the

COURTESY OF THE DETROIT JEWISH LIBRARY

