serve is as a Jewish student
lounge, which will be open
throughout the day for Jewish
OU students to use however
they choose.
“There will be a quiet space
for them to study, to use the
facility to hang out and get to
know each other, and there will
also be kosher food for them to
enjoy,
” Caytak said.
He says the center will have no
membership or fees, it’s simply
to come and enjoy with other
Jews.
“People don’t realize how

many Jews there are in the area;
they don’t realize their neighbor
is Jewish or that the next block
over someone is Jewish,
” he
said. “People really enjoy getting
together as a Jewish community,
and this is something they didn’t
have access to until we opened
our doors.
”
The lease began in mid-Octo-
ber and Caytak is currently there
with classes almost every day.
Due to supply chain shortages,
the center has not been com-
pletely furnished yet.
He hopes to have the place

completely set up by mid-De-
cember with an official rib-
bon-cutting event around that
time. He also says they haven’t
settled on a specific name for the
new center, but they have a few
ideas in mind.
Brian Granader, a member of
the Troy Jewish community, is
one of many in the area looking
forward to what the center will
bring.
“I’m really excited because
there are very few places in
north Oakland County where
Jews can gather, and Rabbi
Menachem’s approach is so wel-
coming and open,
” Granader
said. “Before, if you wanted to do
any Jewish programming, you
pretty much had to be a member
of a synagogue. This is more just
being a member of a commu-
nity, so this definitely fulfills a
large niche and need as well.
”
Caytak says Granader’s excite-
ment is reflective of the response

from the larger community:
“People are ecstatic that this
is the next move toward the
continued growth of the Jewish
community east of Woodward,
and we’ve got something special
about our organization,
” he said.
“There’s no outside funding,
all of the funding that comes
is local, so we’re talking about
families who want this to hap-
pen and are actively supporting
and pushing us to do more and
more.
“We hope to build up the
community even more, bring
together even more families and
grow the community until the
space we’re currently at doesn’t
fit our needs anymore,
” Caytak
said. “If you want to learn about
Judaism, we have that; if you
want to celebrate the customs,
we have that; if you just want to
hang out with other Jews and
enjoy some great Jewish food,
come!”

NOVEMBER 25 • 2021 | 25

Classes for OU students were
recently held at the center