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