C

onstruction is pro-
gressing on two 
much-anticipated 
mikvahs — one in West 
Bloomfield and one in 
Southfield. The new Mallor 
Walder Community Mikvah 
at the Tugman Bais Chabad 
of West Bloomfield is expect-
ed to be completed within 
a few months. According to 
Rabbi Schneur Silberberg, 
outreach director of Bais 
Chabad, most major con-
struction, including instal-
lation of the ritual immer-
sion pools, is complete. 
Installation of extensive tile 

and appliances are the main 
components yet to be done. 
 The 2,500-square-foot 
mikvah will include desig-
nated separate spaces for 
women, men and dishes that 
need to be purified. This new 
mikvah will be triple the size 
of the previous ritual bath. 
Major funding came from 
the Walder Foundation and 
Mikvah USA, a nonprofit 
organization that supports 
construction of mikvahs.
The Lahser Road Mikvah 
board and building com-
mittee conducted a suc-
cessful Friends and Family 

Fundraising Campaign 
during the summer and 
also received a grant from 
Mikvah USA. 
Previous donations have 
been used to purchase the 
mikvah site, prepare the 
grounds and cover architec-
tural design for the project. 
The new mikvah, at 1,400 
square feet, will include an 
immersion pool for dishes 
and cookware to purify them 
before use. 
Additional philanthropic 
funds are being sought in 
part to cover possible cost 
increases above the original 

projections. (Construction 
costs throughout the U.S. 
have risen considerably in 
recent months.) In addition, 
Mikvah USA has requested 
some design changes. These 
revisions, along with con-
struction bidding and the 
city permit process, are likely 
to take a few months.
Observant women in this 
community previously used 
a mikvah located at the 
Farber Hebrew Day School, 
which was administered by 
Young Israel of Southfield. 
However, that building was 
demolished for the construc-
tion of a new Farber School 
facility. 
Cherie Levi, president of 
the all-women mikvah board 
and chair of its building com-
mittee, hopes that construc-
tion will begin this fall at the 
site located at 11 Mile and 
Bell roads in Southfield. 

22 | SEPTEMBER 15 • 2022 

OUR COMMUNITY

T

he David Labkovski 
Project (DLP) uses the 
narrative work of artist 
David Labkovski (1906-1991) 
as a tool to engage, enrich, 
educate and empower students 
about life before, during and 
after the Holocaust, while 
transferring ownership and 
responsibility onto the stu-
dents. 
“The David Labkovski 
Project creates a bridge from 
the lessons of the Holocaust to 
the realities of today’s world. 
The rise in antisemitism, 
bigotry and hatred makes 
Holocaust education even 

more crucial,” shares Leora 
Raikin, founder and exec-
utive director of the David 
Labkovski Project. 
Labkovski painted more 
than 1,000 pieces of art during 
his life. His art is a visual 
diary of his life trials and trib-
ulations, sharing lessons of 
survival, resilience and hope 
while documenting the evils 
of hatred. 
 The project-based curricu-
lum enables middle and high 
school students to engage in 
a multidisciplinary program 
that merges art, history and 
technology and involves cre-

ativity, critical 
thinking, histor-
ical knowledge, 
mediation, prob-
lem solving, pub-
lic speaking and 
the generation of 
QR codes. 

STUDENT DOCENTS
The DLP Student Docent 
Training Program offers 
insight into Labkovski’s 
narrative artwork and the 
historical context for each 
piece. Through the program, 
students become docents and 
form deep and meaningful 

connections with the artist, 
the artwork and the history. 
Many of the students who 
complete the student docent 
training program go onto 
become ambassadors for 
the DLP, mentors to future 
cohorts, and play a crucial 
role in bringing the interactive 

Students engage with art to understand 
the Holocaust, discrimination and hatred.

Student Docents Use Art 
to Educate their Peers

Oak Park High School student Aviva Medved 
installs the David Labkovski Project traveling 
exhibit “Documenting History through Art.” 

Progress on the Lahser Road Mikvah and Bais Chabad’s 
Mallor Walder Community Mikvah continues. 

Two New Mikvahs 
Move Closer to Completion

SHARI S. COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

