10 | JANUARY 5 • 2023
I
n 2000, a couple from West Bloomfield
had a child who attended Ganeinu pre-
school in Farmington Hills. So pleased
with the top-notch education their child
was receiving, the couple donated $75,000
toward installation of a top-of-the-line play-
ground.
Fast forward two decades. Ganeinu’s loca-
tion of 30+ years recently changed hands.
The school moved into the basement
classrooms of Adat Shalom Synagogue
in Farmington Hills and remains a thriv-
ing Montessori preschool, still run by
Mrs. Chaya Devorah Bergstein, now a
great-grandmother.
Her husband, Rabbi Chaim Moshe
Bergstein, is her true partner in all their
shared endeavors. For years now, Rabbi
Bergstein has been the daily bus driver for
the Ganeinu students, picking them up
and dropping them off in a specially mod-
ified white mini-bus with pre-installed car
seats. The Bergsteins have also run the Bais
Chabad of Farmington Hills since 1977.
As the Ganeinu preschool was packed up
and moved in early 2022, Rabbi Bergstein
looked nostalgically at the beautiful expen-
sive playground equipment that two gen-
erations of Ganeinu students and campers
have enjoyed.
“I thought after all that expense, it just
wasn’t right to let it get destroyed,
” Rabbi
Bergstein said. “I had the playground pulled
Bais Chabad of Farmington Hills breathes new life into “retired”equipment.
ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The lookout post.
An Old-New
MRS. CHAYA DEVORAH BERGSTEIN
Rabbi
Bergstein and
Tim Render
in front of the
playground
OUR COMMUNITY