OUR COMMUNITY

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16 | JUNE 15 • 2023 

ON THE COVER

he wondered how to mark this mile-
stone birthday. 
“I thought, ‘What would the Rebbe 
want me to do?’” Rabbi Silberberg 
said. “The Rebbe had described the 
women’s mikvah as the bedrock foun-
dation of every Jewish home, and I 
concluded that he would want me 
to make a beautiful mikvah for our 
community that has more than qua-
drupled in size.”

NEW MEETS OLD DESIGN
Zeesy embraced the mikvah project 
with a goal to not only make the 
project reach fruition but to make 
this mitzvah more enticing to every 
Jewish woman in Detroit. Never 
having been involved in the construc-
tion of a mikvah before, she started 
Googling. 
“I looked up mikvahs around the 
world, scrolled for pictures of beauti-
ful mikvahs, then called their owners 
and pumped them for information,” 
Zeesy said. One material in partic-
ular kept inspiring her: Jerusalem 
stone. “It’s so strikingly beautiful and 
ancient looking … and that’s exactly 
the point we were trying to make. 
We’re taking this age-old mitzvah and 
pulling it into modern times.”
She turned to Julia Weinberg of 
Julia Robin Interiors, and togeth-
er they developed the concept of 
“Jerusalem meets modern-day spa.” 
“It wasn’t an easy task to fuse the 
two seemingly opposite aesthetics,” 
Weinberg said. “We did it by incor-
porating calming Jerusalem stone 
colors, natural materials such as riv-
er-rock pebbles on the shower floor 
and modern spa features … I loved 

the opportunity to take 
an existing basic ritual 
bathhouse and elevate it 
into a luxurious retreat 
where women can be 
invigorated physically 
and spiritually.”
This was the first time 
Weinberg was involved 
in designing a mikvah; since then, it’s 
become one of her specialties. Now 
she’s working on new mikvah designs 
in Canada, Florida, Washington State 
and in Israel. 
Bais Chabad member Esther Trager 
volunteered her time and expertise 
as an architect and also threw herself 
into the project “one thousand per-
cent.”
“The mikvah project allowed me to 
combine my career and my passion 
for our Bais Chabad family,” she said.
“There are some things that never 
change,” Zeesy explained. “Our com-
mitment to Torah observance is the 
same as it was 3,000 years ago … and 
when women go to this mikvah, they 
see these ancient-looking stones and 
remember that they’re connecting 
with our matriarchs, Sarah, Rivkah, 
Rachel and Leah … and with all the 
mothers who have dipped in these 
waters before us.”

GOING UP
Actual construction was by Jason 
Rogers of Little Prince Properties. In 
a beautiful poetic twist, his was the 
first bar mitzvah to take place in the 
then-brand-new Bais Chabad build-
ing that his own father had built in 
the 1980s. 
“The paint was still drying!” Rogers 

Join Bais Chabad at the ribbon-cutting 
ceremony on Sunday, June 18, at noon at 
5595 West Maple Road in West Bloomfield. 
World-class violinist Daniel Ahaviel of Israel 
will be providing musical entertainment and 
brunch will be served. 
Ahaviel is a klezmer musician in the 
styles of Chassidic, Irish and gypsy music. 
Over the years, he has performed in con-
certs and music festivals around the world, 
including the United States, Canada, Brazil, 
Argentina, Britain, France, Belgium, the 
Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Hungary, 
Italy, Spain, Congo, Hong Kong, Russia, 
Siberia, Azerbaijan and South Africa.
Ahaviel was born and raised in London. “I 
fell in love with music when my older broth-
er, who was mentally handicapped, was 
sent for music therapy,” he said. “I came to 
those lessons with him and could not help 
but be fascinated by the healing power of 
music.” 
He earned his bachelor’s degree at the 
University of York, where he studied music 
composition and improvisation. In 1988, 
he settled in Israel and married soon after-
ward. He and his wife discovered religion 
and gradually became observant.
Ahaviel has boundless energy and danc-
es as he played. In addition to Chassidic 
melodies, his repertoire includes medleys 
of Turkish, Hungarian and Irish folk melo-
dies to which he applies some fancy foot-
work. Ahaviel has performed in many parts 
of the world, interspersing his playing with 
Chassidic tales and songs.
Couvert is $36 per person.

A Joyous 
Celebration

Daniel Ahaviel

“WE MIXED CALMING JERUSALEM STONE 
COLORS, NATURAL MATERIALS SUCH AS 
RIVER-ROCK PEBBLES ON THE SHOWER 

FLOOR AND MODERN SPA FEATURES.”

— INTERIOR DESIGNER JULIA WEINBERG

Julia 
Weinberg

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