FEBRUARY 15 • 2024 | 41
J
N
A
n Adat Shalom
Synagogue project
that started during
COVID-19 is finally being
brought to life after experienc-
ing delays due to the health
pandemic.
Phase one of the expan-
sive 1,800-plus-square-foot
Immersive Israel Playscape is
undergoing final safety checks
before being opened to Adat
Shalom’s youngest members.
The space, which is entirely
inspired by Israel, will soon
launch with a Masada-inspired
climbing wall and Judean
Hills-inspired smaller climbing
features.
Still, the Israel theme won’t
end there. Once the space is
fully complete, which Adat
Shalom Synagogue director
of education Dr. Melissa Ser
says should be in late summer,
Adat Shalom youth will have a
chance to fully immerse them-
selves in Israeli culture.
The Immersive Israel
Playscape will have a play
Israeli market with foods
and goods for sale labeled
in Hebrew and English; a
cash register with faux Israeli
money; a “northern kibbutz”
collaborative building area
with a LEGO wall; and a fully
functional teaching kosher
kitchen capable of serving up
real kosher food.
The kibbutz area will also
have a pretend restaurant
where kids can serve pretend
food and play creatively, mean-
ing they don’t have to rely on
adults to do the “cooking.”
“My goal was to have a space
where kids from birth through
14 years of age could get some-
thing out of it,” Ser explains.
“We can make it a really nice
space for people to gather.”
There also will be an archae-
ology “digging” area where
children can dig for pottery
in play sand. Adat Shalom’s
youngest members can also
climb aboard a play Jeep
climber that includes bin-
oculars to look out over the
“Negev.”
Nearby is also an IDF-
inspired obstacle course activ-
ity where kids can fit physical
activity into their playtime
as well. Ser also hopes to add
indoor soccer nets so children
can play Israel’s biggest sport
safely indoors.
However, it’s not just the
floor space or even the walls
that makes the room immer-
sive. Windows will receive a
visual treatment to reflect a
photograph of the Dead Sea
taken by an Adat Shalom con-
gregant, applied to the glass as
a window film.
“When you’re standing at
the climbing wall at Masada
and you look out, it’s the view
of the Dead Sea from Masada
that you’ll be able to see,” Ser
explains.
Much of the work being
done, including design work,
is a combined effort of Adat
Shalom congregants pooling
their time and skills into mak-
ing the project a reality.
In total, the Immersive Israel
Playscape has a budget of just
over $62,000, funded in part
by a grant from the Hermelin
Davidson Center. Ser is
thrilled to see the idea come to
life and the space repurposed
after pandemic delays ground
the playscape to a halt for sev-
eral years.
Previously, the space served
as a gym, but wasn’t used to its
max potential.
Now, Ser says the room’s
new lease on life as the
Immersive Israel Playscape
will give Jewish youth a chance
to develop fine and large
motor skills in a unique way,
but also gain an appreciation
and understanding of Israeli
culture and Hebrew language.
“We had to get all the pieces
in place,” Ser says. “Now, it
feels like it’s coming together
in a way that’s pretty amazing.
We’re excited to make it
happen.”
The 1,800-plus-square-foot space
at Adat Shalom Synagogue recently
completed phase one.
Immersive
Israel
Playscape to
Open in Metro
Detroit
ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Maya Ser, 8, of West Bloomfield, climbs the wall at Masada at Adat
Shalom’s new Immersive Israel Playscape.