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