Thursday, May 11, 2006
Those wanting to learn about and practice Judaism have another option at the University of Kansas.
Two weeks ago, Rabbi Zalman Tiechtel, his wife Nechama, and his infant daughter Mina, opened a Chabad Jewish Center in their new home at 1201 W. 19th St.
Chabad offers an opportunity for Jewish students to experience what it’s like in an Orthodox Jewish home — a home that practices all 613 laws of Judaism.
“We like to call ourselves the Google for anything Jewish,” he said.
Chabad is one of the largest Jewish outreach organizations in the world. One of its original goals was to rebuild Judaism after the Holocaust.
The KU Chabad Center is one of many, including 151 on university campuses and one in each state except Montana.
“Wherever there’s Coca-Cola, there’s Chabad,” Tiechtel joked.
Chabad offers classes about Jewish law, customs and holidays. It also offers trips, weekend retreats, kosher barbecues, Shabbat dinners and other social events.
Though Tiechtel practices Orthodox Judaism, he said the goal of the center is to reach each of the 1,800 Jewish students on campus, no matter their level of practice. He said he didn’t believe that anyone was more or less of a Jew depending on how many rules they followed or what type of services they attended. He said he wanted to help students proudly identify themselves as Jewish and to “learn it, live it and love it.”
The center will work in conjunction with KU Hillel on many of its programs next fall, Tiechtel said.
Chabad and Hillel provide different atmospheres that suit different students. Tiechtel said Chabad is different in that it is more like a home and family because he, his wife and his daughter are there 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Jay Lewis, executive director of KU Hillel, said Hillel’s job, as the most broad-based Jewish organization on campus, is to support anything Jewish at the University, ranging from the Jewish studies minor through the University and KU Chabad. He said he was happy that there were more options for Jewish students and thought few students would choose only one organization to attend. Lewis himself plans to attend Chabad events.
“It’s going to be kind of an overall partnership,” Lewis said, adding that there was “no sense of competition for students” between the organizations.
Tiechtel said Chabad had been well-received at the University and he has felt a “warm, welcoming, open-minded” feeling from everyone.
He said the center came to the University after Chabad headquarters received many requests from students, faculty and parents. When he heard it was looking to open a chapter, he wanted to get involved.
Tiechtel moved to Lawrence from Brooklyn, New York, where he taught at a Talmudic seminary with his wife, to start the center. He said he had brothers all over the world who operate Chabad centers, including centers in Berlin and Tennessee,
“It’s been in my blood,” Tiechtel said. “I’ve always been aspiring to it.”
— Edited by Cynthia Hernandez
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