36 | MAY 26 • 2022 

W

hen Moishe Pod 
Detroit opened in 
December 2021, 
there was one goal: to build 
upon Detroit’s already vibrant 
Jewish community. Geared for 
young adults and organized 
by couple Jeremy Rosenberg, 
23, and Menuchah Bluth, 24, 
who goes by Chella, Moishe 
Pod Detroit puts on events, 
social gatherings and more 
to create a hub for Jewish 
Detroit.

 Rosenberg and Bluth 
live in-house at Moishe Pod 
Detroit (or MoPo), located in 
Woodbridge. It slightly differs 
from a Moishe House, which 
operates as co-op housing 
with several young Jewish 
adults. Instead, a pod is run 
by two. 
“The previous Detroit 
Moishe House was closing, 
and they weren’t going to 
refill it,” Rosenberg recalls. 
“Instead of trying to open a 

new house, they wanted to 
start a pod.”
For the Modern Orthodox 
couple, who recently got 
married, the opportunity felt 
like a great fit as a next step 
in their journey. When asked 
to be the pod’s residents, they 
were all in for the experience. 
“We welcome everyone [to 
the pod],” says Bluth, who 
explains that the pod can 
feel like a home to Jews of 
all levels of observance and 
interests.

NAVIGATING 
THE PANDEMIC
The December opening 
started off strong. “We 
had a great kickoff party,” 
Rosenberg recalls. 
 However, COVID-19 was 
surging at the same time, 
particularly with the highly 
contagious Omicron wave, so 
the ongoing pandemic slowed 
the pod’s plans down.
“It was harder to get people 
to come to events,” Rosenberg 
continues. 
 After three months, how-
ever, things began to look 
up. COVID-19 case numbers 
once again dropped and, by 
February and March of 2022, 
Moishe Pod Detroit was back 
in action. 
Frequently partnering 
with a wide variety of Jewish 
organizations in the area, 
such as Chabad Detroit, 
Hebrew Free Loan and more, 
Moishe Pod Detroit is steadily 
becoming a promising figure 
in the local young adult 
community. Now, as summer 
rolls in and the weather turns 
warmer, they plan to up the 
ante on events, especially 
outdoor ones.
“We’re more looking 
forward than we are looking 

into the past,” Rosenberg 
says. “We’ve strengthened 
our partnerships with other 
organizations here because 
in the summer, everyone’s 
coming out of the woodwork, 
and everyone’s experienced 
the same challenges when it 
comes to COVID-19 and lack 
of engagement.”
Both Rosenberg and Bluth 
are in awe of the combined 
work being done across 
Detroit to boost engagement 
and continue to build upon 
the Downtown Jewish 
community. 
“There are so many great 
organizations doing great 
things in the city,” Bluth 
says, “and only so big of an 
audience. As opposed to 
contributing to that overlap, 
we’re trying to create that 
overlap at the organizational 
level, to get people familiar 
with different offerings or 
industries.”

EVENTS FOR 
ALL INTERESTS
They’re also working on 
creating programming 
through Moishe Pod 
Detroit that caters to a 
variety of individuals. “We 
want to create programs 
that complement people’s 
interests,” Bluth continues. 
“People want to volunteer and 
also go to brunch.”
Rosenberg says Moishe Pod 
Detroit events have drawn 
a variety of ages, anywhere 
18-year-olds to those in their 
mid- to late-30s. They’re not 
structured, but rather provide 
an opportunity for young 
adults to simply hang out and 
make new friends. 
“There’s no one answer,” 
Rosenberg says of age 
requirements. “Whenever 

Moishe Pod Detroit creates
events for young Jewish adults. 

A New Jewish 
Hub in Detroit

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

NEXT DOR

Chella Bluth 
and Jeremy 
Rosenberg at a 
Chanukah party

VOICE OF THE NEW
JEWISH GENERATION

