MJCC
By Jenn Director Knudsen
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Michelle Rosenbloom said her family is "walking the walk" when it comes to Mittleman Jewish Community Center involvement. Actually, it sounds like the group of five does a lot of walking—into, around and through—the MJCC.
And, as is so often the case, kids put things best.
Here's Hannah, 7, the Rosenbloom's second of three daughters: "Well, sometimes we go to these Family Fun Shabbat things," she said, a bit breathlessly, in a recent phone interview about the MJCC and what her family always has done there—and will do more of—as the Center nears completion of its multi-million-dollar renovation.
"And I enjoy those because all my friends are there and it's, like, free time, and I get to run around in the bubble, and I get to have fun with them and my family," added the Portland Jewish Academy second-grader.
Slightly less loquacious, but no less enthusiastic, eldest sister, Rachel, 10, thought aloud also about Shabbat celebrations, as well as her summer-camp experiences and indoor soccer, rock climbing, swimming and gymnastics lessons. (And her dad plays on the Center's basketball league.)
In 2004, the Center had to cease nearly all its services due to a $2.7 million debt and $900,000 operating deficit, according to Jordan Schnitzer, MJCC board president. Today, nearly 260 families, the majority Jewish, either have rejoined the MJCC or have become new members since 2005 when it reopened its membership rolls.
And Center staff is conducting up to eight tours of its facility every day, so membership is expected to keep increasing. At its peak, membership was 1,500 families.
More than half of planned construction prior to the Center's Jan. 7 grand opening is complete, and $8.5 million spent so far in the process. The Center's Board helped raise much of that money, and the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland is contributing nearly $531,000 this fiscal year to the facility, according to Laurie Rogoway, JFGP's associate executive vice president and campaign director.
Michelle, 40, and husband, Jay, 41, both Portland natives and members of Congregation Neveh Shalom, became MJCC members seven years ago. And the family was the second to rejoin once services restarted.
Annual membership dues range from $550 to $800. "Sustaining" members' dues are $1000; the additional money goes toward maintaining and supporting the facility, according to Lisa Horowitz, MJCC and PJA's director of advancement.
The Rosenblooms rejoined, in part, to make a statement.
"It showed signs of faltering," said Jay, one of 10 pediatricians with the Pediatric Association of the Northwest and a member of the PJA board. "We felt it was our duty to support (the Center)."
Michelle added: "When we first rejoined, there was nothing there. It was basically closed except for the bubble. We rejoined at the absolute valley of it providing services."
As the saying goes, What a difference a year (or more) makes.
"We certainly renovated the facility to 21st century standards," Schnitzer said in a phone interview. "And that was based upon strong sentiment from the community about its importance to the community," both Jews and non-Jews.
Gone is the flat-blue-and-concrete fa?ade. Visitors now are greeted by updated hues of cream, sage, soft ochre and yellow, and plush indoor carpeting covers cement floors.
Two kitchens, a kosher meat and kosher dairy, are in the works and will be overseen by Allen Levin, former Garbanzo's owner. The meat kitchen will prepare dishes for catered events. The dairy kitchen will prepare food-to-order throughout the day.
Additions include two family changing rooms, two massage rooms, a pilates studio and a separate dance studio. Racquetball courts are being updated and an arts-and-crafts room completed.
The more expansive women's locker room now has its own sauna, hot tub and spa, and its lockers are abundant and updated with fresh paneling and programmable locks.
The cardio and weight room faces outside windows and is more than three times larger than its old self, Horowitz said.
The rectangular room includes state-of-the-art elliptical trainers, stair steppers, recumbent and upright stationary bikes, treadmills and circuit-training and free-weight equipment. Many stations are equipped with flat-panel screens for TV viewing.
The Rosenblooms have tried many local athletic clubs, for socializing and working out. Minus the Jewish cultural and spiritual components, those other facilities no longer provide all that the MJCC now does.
"With the remodel, none of those places are as nice or as modern as the center," Jay said.
He added: "Each of our synagogues are subsections of the Jewish community. And so the JCC is a place where each of those subdivisions can come together as a whole."
Without the Jewish community center, he said, "There definitely is a loss."