JUNE 15 • 2023 | 15

T

he Tugman Bais 
Chabad Torah Center 
of West Bloomfield 
is inviting the wider Detroit 
Jewish community to the grand 
opening of the state-of-the-art 
Mallor Walder Mikvah Center 
on Sunday, June 18. The center 
is comprised of three mik-
vahs — the Saul Saulson Men’s 
Mikvah, the Zekelman Family 
Keilim (vessels) Mikvah and, 
what Rabbi Shneur Silberberg, 
co-rabbi of the Chabad shul, 
affectionately calls the “crown 
jewel,” the women’s mikvah. 

FOUR DECADES
When Rabbi Elimelech and 
Chaya Sarah 
Silberberg 
moved to West 
Bloomfield from 
New York in 1975, 
the community 
was much smaller 
than it is now. 
For five years, the 

fledgling congregation held 
services in Ealy Elementary 
School on Maple Road. In 
the early 1980s, they bought a 
property and, in January 1982, 
their building was construct-
ed — built by congregant Ron 
Rogers. Eventually, they also 
raised the funds for a small, 
basic mikvah, which was com-
pleted in June 1983. 
This same mikvah has 
been in regular use by brides 
from West Bloomfield and 
the greater Detroit Jewish 
community before their 
weddings and by women who 
keep the mitzvah of taharat 
hamishpachah (family purity), 
which culminates in the wife 
immersing in the mikvah 
monthly. The same mikvah was 
also used by men. (According 
to Rabbi Elimelech Silberberg, 
there’s a Chassidic custom for 
men to immerse in the mikvah 
before Shabbat or holidays; this 
custom has recently become 

more widespread in other 
circles.) 
After so many years of con-
tinuous use — by both women 
and men — the mikvah was 
slowly slipping into a state of 
disrepair. 
A few years ago, some young 
women in the shul started to 
make their displeasure known. 
Sure, their mikvah was func-
tional, it was kosher, but they 
wanted to take this mitzvah to 
the next level.
“Women should feel com-
fortable at the mikvah. It 

should be an hour of self-care,” 
said Zeesy Silberberg, Rabbi 
Shneur’s wife. “We are two 
parts: body and soul, and both 
should be pampered at the 
mikvah.”
Four years ago, when Rabbi 
Elimelech Silberberg turned 70, 

Bais Chabad Torah Center invites 
Detroit’s Jewish community 
to the grand opening of the 
Mallor Walder Mikvah Center.

New 
Community 
Mikvah 
Center

Rabbi 
Elimelech 
Silberberg

ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

continued on page 16

Rabbi Shneur and Zeesy Silberberg

The new 
 
women’s mikvah 
with the mikvah 
blessing affixed 
to the wall 

