area for likely sites, even plac-
ing letters into the mailboxes
of area residents, asking if they
were interested in selling their
homes. Fortunately, a home-
owner at 11 Mile and Bell
roads, across the street from
Congregation Shaarey Zedek,
was interested in selling.
Once the sale was complete,
the next hurdle was rezoning
for the property since it is on
a residential street. Although
the rezoning process took a
year, “The city of Southfield
is excited at the investment in
the community,
” Levi says.
DiClemente Siegel Design,
an architectural firm in
Southfield, began working on
the project with halachic input
from Rabbi Zeev Rothschild,
a specialist in mikvah design.
Sadly, Rabbi Rothschild died
of COVID. Levi says that the
mikvah committee was for-
tunate to connect with Rabbi
Yitzchok Trieger of New
Jersey, who has worked on
mikvahs for 30 years, includ-
ing the mikvah in Oak Park, to
assist with the building design.
Levi visited two mikvaot that
Trieger worked on in New
Jersey.
Levi explains that guidelines
for mikvah construction and
operation are contained with-
in the Gemara — part of the
Talmud. These specifications
include the source and collec-
tion method of the water used
in the mikvah, the location of
cisterns, the size and place-
ment of pipes, water heating
method and the height of steps
to the actual pool of water.
DiClemente Siegel is working
with Trieger to ensure that all
design elements follow rabbin-
ic rules for mikvahs.
The mikvah will be 1,400
square feet in size and the
building will be accessible
for those with disabilities.
According to the Lahser Road
Mikvah website, the mikvah
will have a spa-like atmosphere
and be “spiritually and physi-
cally rejuvenating for all sects
of the Jewish community.
”
FUNDRAISING EFFORTS
Fundraising is well underway
with $450,000 raised from the
YIS community alone — more
than $303,000 in collected
donations and the remainder
in pledges over five years. The
original fundraising goal is $1
million for construction and
ongoing operations, as individ-
ual mikvah usage fees will not
cover all costs. Final construc-
tion specifications will be com-
pleted soon so that contrac-
tors’ bids can be obtained. Due
to COVID-related increases in
building material costs, project
costs may be higher than the
initial estimate.
Levi said that initial fund-
raising was focused on the
Orthodox community with a
plan to expand to the larger
Jewish community once the
property was purchased and
demolition complete. For
more information, visit www.
lahsermikvah.org.
The mikvah’s fundraising
goal is $1 million.
S
hoshana Leah Greenberg,
originally from Brooklyn,
N.Y., moved to Michigan
to be near family. Greenberg
works with people with “special
gifts,
” as she calls them, as she
believes people with special
needs bring spiritual gifts into
the world. She works to help peo-
ple understand them.
As a direct support profession-
al, she is a private teacher and
a friend to the individuals she
works with.
Greenberg listens to her cli-
ents’ needs and figures out how
to get through to them. For
example, a client needed to learn
to wash netilat yadayim — a rit-
ual handwashing before eating
bread — and she used a song by
Jewish group Uncle Moishy and
the Mitzvah Men to teach it in a
fun way.
Her other main goal is to inte-
grate her clients into the commu-
nity with activities like shopping
— something she feels is lacking.
Greenberg didn’t plan to work
with people with special gifts.
While working as a cashier,
a friend told her she thought
she would be good at the job.
With little knowledge of the
field, she hesitated. A coworker
helped ease her into the field by
reminding her that people with
special needs are just people with
feelings who want to talk and
be heard. They, like all of us, are
normal and different at the same
time.
At the first home she worked,
some women were higher func-
tioning and some needed more
attention and care. The job
included trips, doing dishes and
chatting, arts and crafts, laundry,
yoga and even drumming. Before
this, Greenberg planned to study
music therapy; however, she fell
in love with the day program and
switched courses at college.
Greenberg said what she loves
the most is that “they are living
with their heart. They are always
shining; they are always in their
light; they are always feeling
their neshamah, they are always
focused on Hashem.
”
SEEING BEYOND
Greenberg is also an intuitive
healer and counselor. “I feel
beyond what is seen on the out-
side in people, in circumstances.
I see behind the curtain,
” she
said.
When someone comes to her
with a problem, she opens her
clients’ eyes to who they are as
a soul. Her goal is to “help peo-
ple feel good and better about
this world and themselves, thus
transforming their lives,
” she
said.
Greenberg is in the process of
moving back to New York where
she will continue working in the
field.
Her dream is to create a home
for frum men and women with
special gifts.
PEOPLE WE KNOW
& STORIES WE DON’T:
SHOSHANA LEAH
GREENBERG
DOVID NISSAN ROETTER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Shoshana Leah Greenberg
JULY 15 • 2021 | 19