MENORAH PARK CENTER FOR THE AGING, a residential home and care center for the elderly, was established in 1906 as the Hebrew Orthodox Old Age Home, Bet Moshav Zekenim, because MONTEFIORE HOME did not satisfy the religious needs of Orthodox JEWS in the city. Membership dues of $0.10 per month supported the home on Orange Avenue near East 40th Street. The five residents maintained a rigid schedule, including kitchen, laundry, and garden work. In 1911, under the leadership of the first president, Herman (Eschler) Peskind, the home constructed a forty-six-bed building at 59th and Scovill. The new structure soon proved inadequate, however, and in 1921 the home relocated to 736 Lakeview Avenue in GLENVILLE.
The new building accommodated eighty residents, providing medical facilities and a neighborhood synagogue seating 800. In 1928 the home added an eighty-bed wing, and in 1948 a fifty-five-bed wing with occupational, recreational, and physical therapy facilities, and a medical clinic. The name changed in 1950 to the Jewish Orthodox Home for the Aged. In 1961 a Women's Association formed; members volunteer for the gift and snack shops and special events. In 1993, renamed the Women's and Men's Assn., this association included over 2,000 members.
On April 9, 1968 the home moved to 27100 Cedar Road, BEACHWOOD, on thirty-seven acres, and adopted the name Menorah Park Jewish Home for the Aged. (The Lakeview home was sold to the National Health Care Center and renamed Forest Hills Nursing Home.) Along with full-service care, the home offers meals for the homebound, cosponsored with the JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE ASSN. and the B'NAI B'RITH Women's Auxiliary, respite care, geriatric assessment, and Orthodox religious services. In June 1978 the home opened the R.H. Myers Apts., an independent-living center for more than 240 older persons, adjacent to Menorah Park. Five years later the home added an Applied Research Institute to study long-term care. In June 1994 Menorah Park dedicated the Dr. Marvin Schermer Community and Professional Services Building Stone Gardens, a three-level assisted-living facility with a capacity for sixty-six residents, opened in December 1994. In 1995 the entire center had a capacity for 350 residents and Steve Raichilson served as executive director.
In 2020, Menorah Park and Montefiore became one organization under the Menorah Park name. James (Jim) Newbrough, who joined Menorah Park in 2016, served as CEO of the new Menorah Park. (See Montefiore Home)
By 2022, the Menorah Park Center for Senior Living 42-acre campus included Menorah Park and Montefiore of Menorah Park for skilled long-term care; Maltz Hospice House for end-of-life care; Vinney Palliative Care and Hospice of Menorah Park; R.H. Myers, apartments for independent living (1997); Stone Gardens, an assisted living residence (1994); The Weils, an assisted living, memory care, and rehabilitation center located in Chagrin Falls; Wiggins Place, an assisted living residence (2004); Helen’s Place, a memory care residence (2013); The Willensky Residence, for assisted living memory care; and the David and Freda Robinson Residence, for assisted living memory care. The Menorah Park Men’s and Women’s Association provided volunteers and operated beauty and barber shop services for residents.
In addition to its residential facilities, the Peter B. Lewis Aquatic & Therapy Center (2001) offered aquatic and land-based therapy and rehabilitation needs; the DriveWise (2003) program met the needs of aging drivers; Mandel Adult Day Care Center, the longest established Center in the nation, provided day-time care; and the Medical Transportation Service provided non-emergency ambulette and ambulance services to and from the hospital and doctors’ appointments. Off campus services included post-hospital rehabilitation in three locations in Beachwood and Chagrin Falls, focused on helping individuals continue recovery after a hospital stay. Menorah Park Home Health Services provides specialized in-home care and services in Akron, Beachwood, Canton and the surrounding suburbs. The facility served more than 1,000 older adults daily either on the campus or through its at-home care programs. James (Jim) Newbrough, continued as CEO in 2022.
Menorah Park Center for the Aging is a member of the ONE HUNDRED YEAR CLUB OF THE WESTERN RESERVE.
Updated by Sylvia Abrams
Last updated 12/16/2022
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See also JEWS AND JUDAISM; OLD AGE/NURSING HOMES.