Chabad-Lubavitch Shares Prayers and Blessings

FARMINGTON HILLS, MI — Farmington Hills, MIFarmington Hills business owner Michael Gold looks forward to his weekly visits with students of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement.

Each Friday, students Bentzion Shemtov and Shalom Klein visit Celebrity Placement Services, sharing Jewish prayers and blessings – and often times talking about news and politics – with Gold and other employees.

“I don’t go to services but they bring it to me,” Gold said. “I enjoy talking to them.”

Chabad-Lubavitch, which is celebrating 50 years in Michigan, is known for spreading history, customs and teachings to the Jewish community. There are several Chabad centers in the area, including at the Friendship Circle campus, on West Maple Road in West Bloomfield.

There will be an golden anniversary celebration, at 6 p.m. Sunday, June 22, at the Rock Financial Showplace, in Novi. The event features a dinner, a keynote address by former Chief Rabbi of Israel Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau and a performance by Ethan Bortnick, a 7-year-old musician and composer.

Tickets are $36 per person. For more information, call (248) 877-7978 or log onto www.lubavitchmi.com.

“Wherever there are Jewish people, we go,” Chabad spokesman Levi Stein said. “We believe in teaching and sharing whatever we know, even if it’s basic.”

Of the 30,000 Jews in metro Detroit, about 40 percent are involved with the Chabad organization. Among the organization’s activities are a Hanukkah parade from Oak Park to West Bloomfield, summer camps for kids and programs for those suffering with addictions.

In addition, about 100 Chabad students visit Jewish business professionals in West Bloomfield and many other communities on Friday afternoons, prior to the start of the Jewish Sabbath.

Shemtov and Klein have been visiting Celebrity Placement Services for about three years. They light candles and recite blessings – but mostly, they just share conversations, ranging from the weather to the presidential campaign.

“They really enjoy us coming,” Shemtov said. “We try to teach Judaism in ways that people can understand. We just try to be their friends.”