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.

