A £250,000 Chabad centre has opened in Manchester’s Whitefield area. A one-year refurbishment has transformed the former off-licence into a facility housing a Jewish resource library, Judaica store, lounge and a multimedia lecture hall.
However, director Rabbi Shmuli Jaffe says the centre’s greatest asset is its location. “It is opposite the Parkfield Inn pub, which is full of Jews on Thursday evenings, and its street corner is where the kids are on motzei Shabbos, being the only stretch of Jewish shops in the neighbourhood.”
Funding has come from local individuals and some small lottery grants. Rabbi Jaffe hopes the building will become a mini-community centre.
“We officially opened on Lag b’Omer with a community barbecue for 400 people.
“The idea is to cater for the 90 per cent of the community who only go to shul twice a year, according to a survey.” Chabad was offering “a place where people can drop in”.
Mother and baby sessions, adult education and kosher takeaway nights are some of the activities planned.
Showing posts with label new center. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new center. Show all posts
Friday, June 05, 2009
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Chabad center brings together Jews in Doral
When Rabbi Avrohom Brashevitzky established the Chabad Jewish Center of Doral, he only knew one Jew in Doral and hosted services in private homes.
Three years later, the congregation has grown to about 40 active members and occupies a two-floor space in a shopping center at 9725 NW 41st St.
Brashevitzky said that does not include several hundred Jews who are mostly of South American descent he has met -- who live or work in Doral -- but don't attend services.
''And there are Jews who live here that I don't know yet,'' said Brashevitzky, formerly a pulpit rabbi at Shalom Congregation at the Casablanca Hotel in Miami Beach.
Doral has a number of Catholic and Lutheran churches within city limits, but the Chabad Center is the only place of worship for the city's Jewish families.
Because Doral is home to a large South American population, most of the center's Jews, Brashevitzky said, hail from countries such as Uruguay, Chile, Argentina, Venezuela and Colombia, places where Jews are a religious minority -- though a distinct one.
Most Jews arrived in South America after fleeing anti-Semitic forces in Germany, eastern Europe and Russia.
A significant portion of the South American population also consists of Sephardic Jews, who are descendants of Jews from Spain and Portugal.
Jorge Ghitis, a Colombian Jew who attends services at Chabad Center of Doral, said his Jewish parents met in Colombia after his mother fled Germany and father fled Romania.
Although he practiced his Jewish faith growing up, Ghitis said he had abandoned it until Brashevitzky called him one day about three years ago and asked to meet.
''Before meeting the rabbi, my spiritual base was very low,'' said Ghitis, who stopped practicing after his Bar Mitzvah.
Now Ghitis spends much of his spare time at the Chabad center and doesn't miss Shabbat morning services at 9:30 a.m. on Saturdays.
''I have achieved a balance between the material, mental and spiritual,'' Ghitis said. ``All Jews have a spark that unites us inside of them. They just need to be reminded.''
Ghitis moved to Doral about 15 years ago because it was a convenient location for his wife, who worked at Miami International Airport. Ghitis now works near the airport, too, as a Miami-Dade police officer.
''I find people who moved to Doral and didn't put the Jewish faith at the top of their list,'' said Brashevitzky, noting that the closest synagogues are in Kendall.
Brashevitzky said that is the vision behind the Chabad movement, which aims to provide outreach services and activities through community centers, synagogues and schools to Jews in communities that lack a significant Jewish population.
''Our goal is to make sure Jews don't go a year without having contact with the faith,'' he said.
Chabad Lubavitch is one of the largest Hasidic movements in Orthodox Judaism with about 4,000 centers in more than 50 countries. According to www.Chabad.org, there are more than 60 Chabad centers in Florida. Most are in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
Brashevitzky said the Chabad movement is not about building a temple and increasing membership but awakening the dormant faith in some Jewish people.
''It's nice to have a big center, but the idea is to reach each and every individual,'' he said. ``The idea is to rekindle that spark of Judaism faith. That sense of belonging.''
Brashevitzky, who is planting seeds to someday build a synagogue, likens himself to a farmer overseeing barren soil with hope the land will produce beautiful crops.
''Doral keeps growing and there's a growth -- though a slow one -- of the Jewish population here,'' he said.
Three years later, the congregation has grown to about 40 active members and occupies a two-floor space in a shopping center at 9725 NW 41st St.
Brashevitzky said that does not include several hundred Jews who are mostly of South American descent he has met -- who live or work in Doral -- but don't attend services.
''And there are Jews who live here that I don't know yet,'' said Brashevitzky, formerly a pulpit rabbi at Shalom Congregation at the Casablanca Hotel in Miami Beach.
Doral has a number of Catholic and Lutheran churches within city limits, but the Chabad Center is the only place of worship for the city's Jewish families.
Because Doral is home to a large South American population, most of the center's Jews, Brashevitzky said, hail from countries such as Uruguay, Chile, Argentina, Venezuela and Colombia, places where Jews are a religious minority -- though a distinct one.
Most Jews arrived in South America after fleeing anti-Semitic forces in Germany, eastern Europe and Russia.
A significant portion of the South American population also consists of Sephardic Jews, who are descendants of Jews from Spain and Portugal.
Jorge Ghitis, a Colombian Jew who attends services at Chabad Center of Doral, said his Jewish parents met in Colombia after his mother fled Germany and father fled Romania.
Although he practiced his Jewish faith growing up, Ghitis said he had abandoned it until Brashevitzky called him one day about three years ago and asked to meet.
''Before meeting the rabbi, my spiritual base was very low,'' said Ghitis, who stopped practicing after his Bar Mitzvah.
Now Ghitis spends much of his spare time at the Chabad center and doesn't miss Shabbat morning services at 9:30 a.m. on Saturdays.
''I have achieved a balance between the material, mental and spiritual,'' Ghitis said. ``All Jews have a spark that unites us inside of them. They just need to be reminded.''
Ghitis moved to Doral about 15 years ago because it was a convenient location for his wife, who worked at Miami International Airport. Ghitis now works near the airport, too, as a Miami-Dade police officer.
''I find people who moved to Doral and didn't put the Jewish faith at the top of their list,'' said Brashevitzky, noting that the closest synagogues are in Kendall.
Brashevitzky said that is the vision behind the Chabad movement, which aims to provide outreach services and activities through community centers, synagogues and schools to Jews in communities that lack a significant Jewish population.
''Our goal is to make sure Jews don't go a year without having contact with the faith,'' he said.
Chabad Lubavitch is one of the largest Hasidic movements in Orthodox Judaism with about 4,000 centers in more than 50 countries. According to www.Chabad.org, there are more than 60 Chabad centers in Florida. Most are in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
Brashevitzky said the Chabad movement is not about building a temple and increasing membership but awakening the dormant faith in some Jewish people.
''It's nice to have a big center, but the idea is to reach each and every individual,'' he said. ``The idea is to rekindle that spark of Judaism faith. That sense of belonging.''
Brashevitzky, who is planting seeds to someday build a synagogue, likens himself to a farmer overseeing barren soil with hope the land will produce beautiful crops.
''Doral keeps growing and there's a growth -- though a slow one -- of the Jewish population here,'' he said.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Chabad La Costa plans new synagogue
Big changes are under way at the Chabad La Costa synagogue.
Last March, after years of renting the site, the Orthodox Jewish congregation purchased its half-acre parcel and building at 1980 La Costa Ave. Plans are now in the works to tear down the 1,600-square-foot structure and replace it with a worship center to better serve the congregation's needs.
Unlike the original structure, which is more than 40 years old, said Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort, the future building will be larger, wired for technology, and built "green," with the environment in mind. He said the plan represents "a new era" in the synagogue's growth and development.
If La Costa Chabad gets its "dream building," said Eilfort, the project will probably cost about $3 million and take at least two years to complete. A few hundred thousand dollars have been pledged, said Eilfort, who believes that contributions and fundraisers will help the dream become a reality.
"I am confident that when the time comes, the money will come," he said, "and that God will bless us."
The future synagogue "will offer a warm and inviting Old World-style atmosphere," Eilfort said, as well as meeting modern technology needs such as providing Internet access. The ideal new building would allow the synagogue to double the size of its sanctuary, add several classrooms for its Hebrew school and adult education program, and offer a larger social hall and kitchen for special events.
He said he would also like the new building to take advantage of the area's spectacular views, with the Bataquitos Lagoon to the west and the La Costa Resort golf course and rolling hills to the east.
Members of Chabad La Costa, founded in 1990, originally met in the home of Eilfort and his wife, Nechama. The couple, who now have eight children, moved to Carlsbad from Orange County, where Eilfort was director of education of Chabad of Irvine. As membership at the Carlsbad synagogue grew, he said, it became necessary to find a larger space to worship.
In 1991, the congregation settled in its current building, once owned by the nearby La Costa Resort & Spa. The land and nearby property, where an Albertsons grocery store and other businesses now stand, was later sold to a Newport Beach developer. The synagogue purchased its half-acre and building for $300,000, a transaction delayed until after the shopping center was completed.
"It was a long time coming," said Eilfort, "but it taught us patience." Money was raised through pledged donations and "with help from the Almighty," he said.
An architect and final plan for the future synagogue have not been selected, said Eilfort, but he has received help from congregation members who have construction, architectural and decorating experience. They are volunteering their time and materials to help bring the concept to life.
Non-members throughout the community could also play a role in the building's construction. Over the years, said Eilfort, "we've had tremendous community support. People like to see that a positive organization such as ours is here, and I think they know we try to help people outside of the Jewish religion as well."
General contractor and congregation member Mike Perez, who owns High Point Builders in San Marcos, has helped Eilfort with numerous projects at the site. He recently consulted with architect Russell Tsuchida of La Mesa, who provided a preliminary rendering of what the synagogue might look like.
"I'd like to be involved with this future facility from the ground up, if I'm asked," said Perez, whose parents, Elias and Rachel, were two of the synagogue's founding members.
Synagogue member Joel Barnett, owner of Light Bulbs Unlimited and Lighting Distinctions in Encinitas, has improved lighting at the building, which he said at one point was "falling apart." Barnett said he plans to be involved in designing lighting for the new building, which he said will be more energy-efficient and offer a warm, welcoming atmosphere for worshippers.
He said he enjoys giving to Chabad La Costa because "it is for such a good cause, and the people are so good to you. God has always been good to me. It's the least I can do."
Last March, after years of renting the site, the Orthodox Jewish congregation purchased its half-acre parcel and building at 1980 La Costa Ave. Plans are now in the works to tear down the 1,600-square-foot structure and replace it with a worship center to better serve the congregation's needs.
Unlike the original structure, which is more than 40 years old, said Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort, the future building will be larger, wired for technology, and built "green," with the environment in mind. He said the plan represents "a new era" in the synagogue's growth and development.
If La Costa Chabad gets its "dream building," said Eilfort, the project will probably cost about $3 million and take at least two years to complete. A few hundred thousand dollars have been pledged, said Eilfort, who believes that contributions and fundraisers will help the dream become a reality.
"I am confident that when the time comes, the money will come," he said, "and that God will bless us."
The future synagogue "will offer a warm and inviting Old World-style atmosphere," Eilfort said, as well as meeting modern technology needs such as providing Internet access. The ideal new building would allow the synagogue to double the size of its sanctuary, add several classrooms for its Hebrew school and adult education program, and offer a larger social hall and kitchen for special events.
He said he would also like the new building to take advantage of the area's spectacular views, with the Bataquitos Lagoon to the west and the La Costa Resort golf course and rolling hills to the east.
Members of Chabad La Costa, founded in 1990, originally met in the home of Eilfort and his wife, Nechama. The couple, who now have eight children, moved to Carlsbad from Orange County, where Eilfort was director of education of Chabad of Irvine. As membership at the Carlsbad synagogue grew, he said, it became necessary to find a larger space to worship.
In 1991, the congregation settled in its current building, once owned by the nearby La Costa Resort & Spa. The land and nearby property, where an Albertsons grocery store and other businesses now stand, was later sold to a Newport Beach developer. The synagogue purchased its half-acre and building for $300,000, a transaction delayed until after the shopping center was completed.
"It was a long time coming," said Eilfort, "but it taught us patience." Money was raised through pledged donations and "with help from the Almighty," he said.
An architect and final plan for the future synagogue have not been selected, said Eilfort, but he has received help from congregation members who have construction, architectural and decorating experience. They are volunteering their time and materials to help bring the concept to life.
Non-members throughout the community could also play a role in the building's construction. Over the years, said Eilfort, "we've had tremendous community support. People like to see that a positive organization such as ours is here, and I think they know we try to help people outside of the Jewish religion as well."
General contractor and congregation member Mike Perez, who owns High Point Builders in San Marcos, has helped Eilfort with numerous projects at the site. He recently consulted with architect Russell Tsuchida of La Mesa, who provided a preliminary rendering of what the synagogue might look like.
"I'd like to be involved with this future facility from the ground up, if I'm asked," said Perez, whose parents, Elias and Rachel, were two of the synagogue's founding members.
Synagogue member Joel Barnett, owner of Light Bulbs Unlimited and Lighting Distinctions in Encinitas, has improved lighting at the building, which he said at one point was "falling apart." Barnett said he plans to be involved in designing lighting for the new building, which he said will be more energy-efficient and offer a warm, welcoming atmosphere for worshippers.
He said he enjoys giving to Chabad La Costa because "it is for such a good cause, and the people are so good to you. God has always been good to me. It's the least I can do."
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Chabad Richmond Hill opens new building
TORONTO — After 11 years in temporary quarters, Chabad Lubavitch of Richmond Hill is gearing up for an inaugural banquet Jan. 15 and an open house three days later, featuring food, crafts, music and dancing at its new 10,000-square-foot building.
Chabad Lubavitch of Richmond Hill’s new building, the Chabad Romano Centre, features windows in the shape of a menorah. [Frances Kraft photo]
The open house will run from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 18.
The Chabad Romano Centre is located at 10,500 Bathurst St.on a 2.5-acre tract of land south of Teston Road.
Land developer Mario Romano, who is also contributing to the cost of the synagogue, donated the land to Chabad. In a 2006 article, Romano told The CJN that when he was growing up in Buenos Aires, most of his neighbourhood friends were Jewish, and that he wanted to “have respect for” the Jewish community in the area of the new centre.
The building’s sanctuary, featuring a dark-stained ark and windows forming the shape of a menorah, can seat “300 comfortably,” according to Rabbi Mendel Bernstein, spiritual leader of the congregation.
At 10,000 square feet, the $3 million building is more than triple the size of the 3,000-square-foot space Chabad occupied in rented premises diagonally across the road, at the northeast corner of Bathurst Street and Elgin Mills Road, for the past half-dozen years.
Rabbi Bernstein said that there is enough land to more than double the current size of the new synagogue, but that finances did not permit a larger building right now. “This is phase one,” he said.
“It’s absolutely a dream come true. A real shul is something we’ve looked forward to from the day we moved here,” said Rabbi Bernstein in an interview in a basement classroom of the the new centre Dec. 22, as construction continued upstairs.
Sitting in the as yet unfurnished classroom, its floor covered with fine dust from the ongoing work, the rabbi recalled that after he and his wife Toby first moved to Richmond Hill in 1997, their basement served as the synagogue for almost five years.
The congregation’s growth is also reflected by the hiring two years ago of Rabbi Shlomo Vorovitch as program and youth director.
Rabbi Bernstein said the new shul’s four classrooms would serve Chabad’s preschool students and “hopefully also [part of] the Hebrew school.”
Almost 250 children from senior kindergarten through Grade 7 attend Chabad’s Hebrew school in Richmond Hill. Classes are currently held in rented public school premises.
The new building had its ground-breaking on June 15. Its lease expired at the end of December.
In the rented premises, a large preschool classroom doubled as the sanctuary, which served about 100 worshippers on an average Shabbat morning.
“We had to fold away our small shul after every Shabbos,” said the rabbi. “Everything had to be on wheels.”
Chabad Richmond Hill also holds twice-daily services, mornings and evenings.
For further information about the synagogue or its opening events, go to www.chabadrc.org., or call 905-770-7700. Tickets for the banquet cost $150 per person; the daytime event is free.
Chabad Lubavitch of Richmond Hill’s new building, the Chabad Romano Centre, features windows in the shape of a menorah. [Frances Kraft photo]
The open house will run from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 18.
The Chabad Romano Centre is located at 10,500 Bathurst St.on a 2.5-acre tract of land south of Teston Road.
Land developer Mario Romano, who is also contributing to the cost of the synagogue, donated the land to Chabad. In a 2006 article, Romano told The CJN that when he was growing up in Buenos Aires, most of his neighbourhood friends were Jewish, and that he wanted to “have respect for” the Jewish community in the area of the new centre.
The building’s sanctuary, featuring a dark-stained ark and windows forming the shape of a menorah, can seat “300 comfortably,” according to Rabbi Mendel Bernstein, spiritual leader of the congregation.
At 10,000 square feet, the $3 million building is more than triple the size of the 3,000-square-foot space Chabad occupied in rented premises diagonally across the road, at the northeast corner of Bathurst Street and Elgin Mills Road, for the past half-dozen years.
Rabbi Bernstein said that there is enough land to more than double the current size of the new synagogue, but that finances did not permit a larger building right now. “This is phase one,” he said.
“It’s absolutely a dream come true. A real shul is something we’ve looked forward to from the day we moved here,” said Rabbi Bernstein in an interview in a basement classroom of the the new centre Dec. 22, as construction continued upstairs.
Sitting in the as yet unfurnished classroom, its floor covered with fine dust from the ongoing work, the rabbi recalled that after he and his wife Toby first moved to Richmond Hill in 1997, their basement served as the synagogue for almost five years.
The congregation’s growth is also reflected by the hiring two years ago of Rabbi Shlomo Vorovitch as program and youth director.
Rabbi Bernstein said the new shul’s four classrooms would serve Chabad’s preschool students and “hopefully also [part of] the Hebrew school.”
Almost 250 children from senior kindergarten through Grade 7 attend Chabad’s Hebrew school in Richmond Hill. Classes are currently held in rented public school premises.
The new building had its ground-breaking on June 15. Its lease expired at the end of December.
In the rented premises, a large preschool classroom doubled as the sanctuary, which served about 100 worshippers on an average Shabbat morning.
“We had to fold away our small shul after every Shabbos,” said the rabbi. “Everything had to be on wheels.”
Chabad Richmond Hill also holds twice-daily services, mornings and evenings.
For further information about the synagogue or its opening events, go to www.chabadrc.org., or call 905-770-7700. Tickets for the banquet cost $150 per person; the daytime event is free.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Hanukkah service dedicated to Mumbai victims
Hanukkah drew to a close yesterday and a final lighting of the menorah was held Sunday evening at Kukui Grove Shopping Center in commemoration of the lives lost at the Mumbai Chabad house 30 days ago.
“The terrorists came with guns, grenades and missiles, and the only thing we could come back with is to respond with kindness, love and light,” Rabbi Shmulik Schneerson said before lighting the giant island-style candelabra which stood before the mall’s center stage.
Alan and Claudia Jaffe of Long Island, N.Y., along with their family members, were a part of those who gathered Sunday to remember the lives tragically lost during the terrorist attacks in India.
When asked how they felt about the current crisis occurring in the Gaza Strip, Alan Jaffe said, “It’s troubling and we’re not quite sure what to make of it.”
The tragedy in Mumbai and the ongoing violence in Gaza are just recent examples of a long history of strife involving the Jewish people. The faith has often encountered attack, and the celebration of Hanukkah is one that honors the triumph of their religion over the Seleucids almost 2,500 years ago.
The tyrant emperor, Antiochus Epiphanes dramatically tried to suppress Jewish customs and a small band of Jewish rebels, the Maccabees, rose up against his mighty army and were victorious.
Following the rededication of the Jewish Holy Temple, the story goes that there was only enough oil to light the candle for one day, but, instead it miraculously burned for eight. Thus, the reason for celebrating eight days of Hanukkah.
“If you could put the meaning of Hanukkah into two words, it would mean ‘increasing light,’” Schneerson said. “The story happened many years ago but is just as relevant today.”
Rabbi Michoel Goldman, who organized the event, said the evening was special because it was not only the last night of Hanukkah, but it was a memorial service as well.
“When people open their eyes and their hearts, they will see we all deserve to live in peace,” said Ahmos Netanel of Anahola.
Four of the candles were dedicated in memory of his father, Yehosua Netanel.
Schneerson and Goldman are currently working on establishing a Chabad house on Kaua‘i.
“It’s a place where everybody can walk in and feel Jewish and connect to their roots no matter what their religious affiliations are, if any at all,” said Schneerson when describing what the purpose of a Chabad house is.
Schneerson, an insurance agent in Los Angeles, travels to Hawai‘i to help participate in Jewish festivities and is the seventh generation of Jews who established the concept of public menorah lighting and Chabad houses.
For more information, visit www.jewishkauai.org
“The terrorists came with guns, grenades and missiles, and the only thing we could come back with is to respond with kindness, love and light,” Rabbi Shmulik Schneerson said before lighting the giant island-style candelabra which stood before the mall’s center stage.
Alan and Claudia Jaffe of Long Island, N.Y., along with their family members, were a part of those who gathered Sunday to remember the lives tragically lost during the terrorist attacks in India.
When asked how they felt about the current crisis occurring in the Gaza Strip, Alan Jaffe said, “It’s troubling and we’re not quite sure what to make of it.”
The tragedy in Mumbai and the ongoing violence in Gaza are just recent examples of a long history of strife involving the Jewish people. The faith has often encountered attack, and the celebration of Hanukkah is one that honors the triumph of their religion over the Seleucids almost 2,500 years ago.
The tyrant emperor, Antiochus Epiphanes dramatically tried to suppress Jewish customs and a small band of Jewish rebels, the Maccabees, rose up against his mighty army and were victorious.
Following the rededication of the Jewish Holy Temple, the story goes that there was only enough oil to light the candle for one day, but, instead it miraculously burned for eight. Thus, the reason for celebrating eight days of Hanukkah.
“If you could put the meaning of Hanukkah into two words, it would mean ‘increasing light,’” Schneerson said. “The story happened many years ago but is just as relevant today.”
Rabbi Michoel Goldman, who organized the event, said the evening was special because it was not only the last night of Hanukkah, but it was a memorial service as well.
“When people open their eyes and their hearts, they will see we all deserve to live in peace,” said Ahmos Netanel of Anahola.
Four of the candles were dedicated in memory of his father, Yehosua Netanel.
Schneerson and Goldman are currently working on establishing a Chabad house on Kaua‘i.
“It’s a place where everybody can walk in and feel Jewish and connect to their roots no matter what their religious affiliations are, if any at all,” said Schneerson when describing what the purpose of a Chabad house is.
Schneerson, an insurance agent in Los Angeles, travels to Hawai‘i to help participate in Jewish festivities and is the seventh generation of Jews who established the concept of public menorah lighting and Chabad houses.
For more information, visit www.jewishkauai.org
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Chabad Jewish house to be ready in two weeks
BANGALORE: A Chabad Bangalore Jewish centre proposed to be set up by Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and Rivkah Holtzberg will cater to the cultural and spiritual needs of Jewish businessmen and technology professionals working in Bangalore. It'll also reach out to the larger community to spread the good word of selflessness.
Speaking to TOI over phone from California on Thursday morning, Mordechai Kirschenbaum, a childhood friend of Gavriel, said this centre, which will be ready in two weeks, will connect with members of the Jewish community living and visiting Bangalore to make them feel at home. "There aren't a whole lot of Jews in Bangalore. But some who are part of technology and call centre companies go there. We thought even if there are only a few, it's a good idea to set up the centre for them."
The underlying basis of the centre, Kirschenbaum said, was to inculcate selflessness in people. "Gavriel was selfless, reaching out to everyone in the community and ready to do anything for anyone. He and his family were an inspiration for everyone."
He added: "He has been a fantastic inspiration for me. We studied in the same school in New York. He decided to go to India. His death was the worst thing in my life. It is gut-wrenching. Hopefully, we'll filfil all his wishes when the new centre comes up in Bangalore. God willing, we'll do well."
A few members of the community have a temporary office on Brunton Road and have a blog to stay in touch. Some are meeting to pray for the departed souls on Friday evening with candle lighting, a gesture considered of high spiritual and philosophical value in Jewish culture.
Speaking to TOI over phone from California on Thursday morning, Mordechai Kirschenbaum, a childhood friend of Gavriel, said this centre, which will be ready in two weeks, will connect with members of the Jewish community living and visiting Bangalore to make them feel at home. "There aren't a whole lot of Jews in Bangalore. But some who are part of technology and call centre companies go there. We thought even if there are only a few, it's a good idea to set up the centre for them."
The underlying basis of the centre, Kirschenbaum said, was to inculcate selflessness in people. "Gavriel was selfless, reaching out to everyone in the community and ready to do anything for anyone. He and his family were an inspiration for everyone."
He added: "He has been a fantastic inspiration for me. We studied in the same school in New York. He decided to go to India. His death was the worst thing in my life. It is gut-wrenching. Hopefully, we'll filfil all his wishes when the new centre comes up in Bangalore. God willing, we'll do well."
A few members of the community have a temporary office on Brunton Road and have a blog to stay in touch. Some are meeting to pray for the departed souls on Friday evening with candle lighting, a gesture considered of high spiritual and philosophical value in Jewish culture.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Wyoming Rabbi Reaches Out, One Challah At A Time
Morning Edition
November 10, 2008
When Rabbi Zalman Mendelsohn arrived in Jackson, Wyo., in May, the first thing he did was open the phone book in search of Jewish-sounding names.
"After making a few phone calls, I realized I wasn't getting anywhere,"
Mendelsohn says. "I was finding a lot of wonderful German people living
here in Jackson."
But no one was Jewish. Finding Jews in Wyoming — and bringing them the
traditions of their faith — is the young rabbi's mission, and he was
undeterred.
Mendelsohn created a Web site to reach out to Jews across the country, advertised his religious events in the Jackson newspaper and leveraged his most dramatic asset: his appearance.
"I am a walking advertisement for Judaism," he says.
With his black suit, black yarmulke and full black beard, he's straight out of
central casting — Warsaw rabbi, circa 1935. He cuts an anachronistic figure,
sitting in his backyard on a summer afternoon with the Grand Tetons slicing the horizon behind him. Mendelsohn, who is 26, and Raizy, his 21-year-old wife, are emissaries in the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, an Orthodox branch in which young Orthodox Jews move to remote areas of the world armed with their faith and rituals.
What The Soul Wants
The Mendelsohns, who moved to the resort town from New York, say they
encountered material wealth but spiritual hunger.
"The soul also has very particular needs, and those needs are spiritual in
nature," the rabbi says. "The soul wants godliness. The soul wants holiness.
The soul wants Shabbos [Sabbath]. The soul wants Torah. The soul wants
doing kindness and goodness and mitzvahs [good deeds]. This is what the
soul wants. And so therefore, in order to be able to satisfy the person,
spiritually, the person has to satiate himself with these types of things."
So Mendelsohn imported yarmulkes. He brought in scrolls called mezuzahs
for the doors of Jewish homes and items for Jewish rituals. "Educational
resources, classes, lectures, holiday-observance celebrations, traditional
Friday nights and Shabbat meals — these are all things that became
available, all of a sudden, that weren't here before."
Wyoming seemed an underserved spiritual market. Mendelsohn quickly realized he needed to create a market for Judaism: It's fine to offer Jews a
skullcap or a Shabbat dinner, but unless there's a demand — unless they
want to embrace the faith that underlies these things — all his efforts would
be meaningless.
So the Mendelsohns are trying to revive a yearning for Jewish spirituality
and community — one challah at a time.
Modern Rabbinic Marketing
Friday mornings find Raizy Mendelsohn lovingly slipping five braided loaves
of bread into Ziploc bags.
"This is the way I package them since I don't have a professional machine,"
she says, placing a label on the top. It says: "Zalman and Raizy Mendelsohn
wish you a tasty and peaceful Shabbaz" and includes their name and P.O.
box number.
They call it "21st century rabbinic marketing."
After his wife packages the bread, Zalman Mendelsohn makes a surprise visit to the homes of Jews in Jackson, fresh challah in hand. On this particular day, he is off to see Reuben Tambor, one of the 500 or so Jews who live in Jackson year-round. Mendelsohn has dropped by before, and Tambor has always been nothing more than
cordial — until today.
When Mendelsohn arrives, Tambor and his two dogs greet him warmly.
"I have a number for you," Tambor says. "Somebody asked me if I knew a rabbi — can you believe it? — and I took down the name. Let me find it."
Mendelsohn is thrilled. "Wow, Reuben, thank you!" he says. It's unclear whether he's happier about Tambor's friendliness or a new lead on a Jew in town.
Tambor writes down the name and number and then happily takes the bread. The two men chat briefly, and before the rabbi wears out his welcome, he leaves for his next delivery.
In the car, Mendelsohn breaks out in a large grin.
"See! This is the way it works," he says. "This is how we network. We've been doing it for so many years — and it works!"
Eventually, Mendelsohn says, people usually come around.
"This is a lifelong campaign," he says. "It doesn't stop after I've found 50 Jews. It doesn't stop after I've found 100 Jews. It doesn't stop, it doesn't end. The campaign continues."
Chabad-Lubavitch
Mendelsohn signed on to the Chabad movement when he was very young.
"I always looked around, and I saw that the most passionate, loving, enthusiastic and caring people in my life were Chabad rebbes," or rabbis, he says. The Chabad-Lubavitch movement — a branch of Hasidism — began in Russia 250 years ago. It hews to an Orthodox Judaism — including fairly strict gender roles as well as keeping
kosher — and takes a scholarly and mystical view of the Torah.
Under the guidance of its most recent leader, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Chabad became a sort of Jewish Peace Corps, sending out young people as emissaries to revive the traditions that had often fallen by the wayside.
But Mendelsohn is quick to say that the goal is not to make Jews Orthodox; rather, it is to make Orthodox rituals and learning available to Jews.
"We don't expect them to become as we are. We don't expect them to start wearing a yarmulke, or for the women to wear a long skirt and dress as we do," he says. "We accept people as they are."
Meet Mendelsohn
It's gotten busy for the Mendelsohns since they arrived in Jackson.
"Every half-hour, we get a phone call or e-mail, nonstop. Every half-hour," Mendelsohn says.
Along with his challah outreach, his Web site and newspaper ads, Mendelsohn also recently organized a "meet the rabbi" open house at a Jackson hotel.
About 50 people attended the gathering — a fair showing in a city that has about 500 Jews. Over cookies and cake, Jackson resident Ken Begelman says the new rabbi has revived Jewish life in the state.
"There was never a rabbi here before, and he's also brought a sense of Yiddishkeit [devotion to Jewish tradition]to the community, which was really missing," Begelman says.
Wrong Impression?
Lisa Finkelstein, who serves on the board of the Jackson Hole Jewish Community, a group of mainly Reform Jews that began about 30 years ago, disagrees.
"The Chabad rabbi is not the rabbi of Jackson Hole," Finkelstein says.
Finkelstein, who did not attend the open house, says she doesn't like Mendelsohn's style.
"He contacts people on the phone, by e-mail, in the parking lots," she says. "And we don't necessarily do that."
Nor are most Jews in the area as conservative as the Mendelsohns. The rabbi always wears a yarmulke and declines to shake hands with women. His wife wears long skirts and spends much of her time cooking. (She also manages the Web site as well as helps in the planning and directing of all of their activities.)
Fellow board member Rachel Ravitz worries that the Mendelsohns may give people the wrong impression of Judaism.
"People in Wyoming might not necessarily know what a Jew is in the first place," Ravitz says, "and if they meet a Chabad rabbi, they might not realize he represents a certain sect of Judaism."
But the big problem, several people say privately, is competition. The new rabbi's outreach programs cost $11,000 to $12,000 a month. The Mendelsohns have received a small grant for startup costs, but they must raise all other funding on their own. The current Jewish community group fears that if people start attending Mendelsohn's congregation, their money will follow.
Raizy Mendelsohn says a little competition can be healthy.
"It's great, because the people are getting more," she says. "It's kind of like when you have one store and then another store opens up. The first store is all mad, but the people are all very happy because they get better bargains and better deals, and they get more variety."
Her observations echo the findings of sociologists, who say religions thrive in the United States precisely because they compete in the marketplace of ideas. And if success is measured in Shabbat dinners attended, the Mendelsohns are grabbing market share.
Shabbat Dinner
For Shabbat dinner at her home, Raizy Mendelsohn prepares five courses, including fish, chicken, dips, salad and
dessert.
She must finish the preparations before the sun sets and all work, including driving cars and using electricity,
must cease. She says she has no idea how many people will come to dinner — maybe a dozen, give or take five.
There is a lot of uncertainty when you start a religious enterprise.
"I remember our first week here," she says. "We had one woman come, and she sat there through the whole service. And later, I said to Zalman, 'You know, in a couple years, she'll be telling people, "When the rabbi started, I was the only one who came to services, and now look at how many people there are!" ' "
Soon 11 people — including two young men from Israel who heard about dinner from the Web site — are seated around the formal table overflowing with food and wine.
They begin to sing a prayer, clapping, the tempo picking up.
All the planning and marketing and technology is for this moment — bringing Jews back to Shabbat and back to their community, the rituals so long neglected.
S Myers (smyers7897) wrote:
It seems pretty clear that this is about money. If this were really about reaching out and helping people, the Mendelsohn's would have gone somewhere truly remote where Jewish families might be struggling. The 500 Jews who live in Jackson are all a part of the highest echelon in that community. This visit to Jackson will certainly help fund future endeavors for the Mendelsohn's. I hope they choose to use this money to assist those who really need it. The poor have faith too.
Monday, November 10, 2008 8:51:31 AM
Jessica Smith (Ruah) wrote:
SM, did you hear the story? Jewish people are struggling...with their faith. Man does not live by bread alone. It seems to me Lisa Finkelstein and the Jewish Community Group are upset that someone is becoming successful in bringing people back to their Jewish faith and culture, and it seems *they're* the ones worried about money. Also, Lisa's use of the word "sect" to refer to Rabbi is clearly not out of sociological precision, but of condescension. I respect NPR's journalistic integrity that they interviewed Lisa and they're group, but the piece really just shines a light on Rabbi Mendelsohn and his faithfulness and Ms. Finkelstein's bitter reformed outlook.
Monday, November 10, 2008 9:04:28 AM
Ellyn Camp (Colliegirl) wrote:
I think that the reform synogogue should be more open to idividuals of their own faith. I live in a community in Florida that only has two reform synoguges and I do not like them. There should always be room for another synogogue for jews. I cannot believe that she actually said that she is worried about the money. Chabad in open to all jews no matter how religious you are. You are discriminating against jews. Why does everyone that is jewish have to go to your shul if there is something out there that offers a more comfortable environement for jews. Chabad does not force anything on any jew. They only bring awareness that there is something more if you want it. I thing that you should all unite just because you are jews.
Monday, November 10, 2008 9:20:25 AM
Rose Novk (RLaR) wrote:
I'm writing from Jackson to tell you that this story was taped some months ago when congregants of the Jackson Hole Jewish Community were concerned that Zalman was advertising himself as the first and only Rabbi in Wyoming. Now things have settled down. I happen to like the Mendelsohns, but I could never be a part of his congregation for many reasons. Most important, women are not considered equal to men. The JHJC welcomes all Jews and all those who are interested in our faith.
We do not neglect the rituals or building community, having recently conducted two baby namings, two Brit Milots, High Holy Days, and Shabbats.
Monday, November 10, 2008 9:23:04 AM
Eric Schmitt (studybuddy) wrote:
Its beautiful to see such a warm and friendly Rabbi and his wife do such nice work on behalf of such an age old tradition. Keep the spirit alive! Pastor Eric
Monday, November 10, 2008 9:32:59 AM
Ben Paisy (Ben_Paisy) wrote:
The selfless work that these Chabad couples do around the world is humbling. It’s tough moving out to Wyoming, but helping their brethren is what inspires them.
They inspire people with their unconditional love and deep reservoirs of knowledge.
Chabad/Lubavitch is the future of Judaism. They are growing globally by leaps and bounds while others are receding and for good reason.
(to say this is about money is laughable…)
Monday, November 10, 2008 9:51:30 AM
Steve Covey (steeev) wrote:
Rabbi Zalman and Raizy, keep up the good work. Its your grassroots mentality that will endear you ultimately to all the nay sayers. There is so much positive energy in your voices and tone, there is so much hope in your attitude and your motto of change is very potent.
Monday, November 10, 2008 9:57:16 AM
Justin Forral (jfl) wrote:
The most reasonable story covering religion I've come across to date. Only in America, here one can see that religion regardless of faith is merely a business service offering to assuage customers from their fear of the unknown. Image all the marketing potential, 2 for 1 deals, guarantees of ascension, etc. It boggles both the mind and spirit, but will it pay? Only time will tell, if you were right in buying the service that is.
Monday, November 10, 2008 10:44:25 AM
Zalman T (Zalman) wrote:
By the Grace of G-d
Response to Rose Novk
First of all thank you for reporting that positive follow up it is so rear and very heart-warming.
Of course Chabad doesn’t consider women equal to men – they’re not. The Russians made that same mistake 70 years ago when they executed my great-grandfather, a Chabad Rabbi. They assumed that his work would end since his now-single wife and six small children would not have any significance in the Jewish world.
They were wrong.
My great-grandmother passed away 2 years ago with 535 direct decedents, a large number of them leading Jewish communities and programs around the globe.
Her husband may have led the services but she led the family and ultimately was the strength of not only her community but many communities around the world.
No, Chabad doesn’t consider women equal to men; we recognize that they are truly infinitely greater
Monday, November 10, 2008 10:48:40 AM
john glenn (lewis) wrote:
Jackson Hole (a place where the billionaires are pushing out the millionaires) isn’t representative of Wyoming, it’s people, and it’s culture… Rabbi Zalman Mendelsohn’s focus in Jackson is a fixation on $$$$!
Monday, November 10, 2008 10:51:03 AM
Jim Shulruff (Maggidjim) wrote:
Thank G-d for Chabad! Many of Jewerys best and brightest call Chabad home. Money and outreach go together like money and living. To say this is only about money is lacking in any depth of analysis, because everything, and everyone, in our society needs money to survive and thrive! This includes me, you, Microsoft, and Chabad.
My comment is not about money, but more to say that Chabad is not the only legitemate entry point for Jews to return to active observance. Communities of Jews around the world are observing and practicing in countless ways, there is something for everyone. All one needs to do is step foot into any local synagogue to feel the life and love that is Judaism and the Jewish G-d. And just like the above Colliegirl comment, we should all unite just because we are Jews.
Monday, November 10, 2008 11:15:50 AM
November 10, 2008
When Rabbi Zalman Mendelsohn arrived in Jackson, Wyo., in May, the first thing he did was open the phone book in search of Jewish-sounding names.
"After making a few phone calls, I realized I wasn't getting anywhere,"
Mendelsohn says. "I was finding a lot of wonderful German people living
here in Jackson."
But no one was Jewish. Finding Jews in Wyoming — and bringing them the
traditions of their faith — is the young rabbi's mission, and he was
undeterred.
Mendelsohn created a Web site to reach out to Jews across the country, advertised his religious events in the Jackson newspaper and leveraged his most dramatic asset: his appearance.
"I am a walking advertisement for Judaism," he says.
With his black suit, black yarmulke and full black beard, he's straight out of
central casting — Warsaw rabbi, circa 1935. He cuts an anachronistic figure,
sitting in his backyard on a summer afternoon with the Grand Tetons slicing the horizon behind him. Mendelsohn, who is 26, and Raizy, his 21-year-old wife, are emissaries in the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, an Orthodox branch in which young Orthodox Jews move to remote areas of the world armed with their faith and rituals.
What The Soul Wants
The Mendelsohns, who moved to the resort town from New York, say they
encountered material wealth but spiritual hunger.
"The soul also has very particular needs, and those needs are spiritual in
nature," the rabbi says. "The soul wants godliness. The soul wants holiness.
The soul wants Shabbos [Sabbath]. The soul wants Torah. The soul wants
doing kindness and goodness and mitzvahs [good deeds]. This is what the
soul wants. And so therefore, in order to be able to satisfy the person,
spiritually, the person has to satiate himself with these types of things."
So Mendelsohn imported yarmulkes. He brought in scrolls called mezuzahs
for the doors of Jewish homes and items for Jewish rituals. "Educational
resources, classes, lectures, holiday-observance celebrations, traditional
Friday nights and Shabbat meals — these are all things that became
available, all of a sudden, that weren't here before."
Wyoming seemed an underserved spiritual market. Mendelsohn quickly realized he needed to create a market for Judaism: It's fine to offer Jews a
skullcap or a Shabbat dinner, but unless there's a demand — unless they
want to embrace the faith that underlies these things — all his efforts would
be meaningless.
So the Mendelsohns are trying to revive a yearning for Jewish spirituality
and community — one challah at a time.
Modern Rabbinic Marketing
Friday mornings find Raizy Mendelsohn lovingly slipping five braided loaves
of bread into Ziploc bags.
"This is the way I package them since I don't have a professional machine,"
she says, placing a label on the top. It says: "Zalman and Raizy Mendelsohn
wish you a tasty and peaceful Shabbaz" and includes their name and P.O.
box number.
They call it "21st century rabbinic marketing."
After his wife packages the bread, Zalman Mendelsohn makes a surprise visit to the homes of Jews in Jackson, fresh challah in hand. On this particular day, he is off to see Reuben Tambor, one of the 500 or so Jews who live in Jackson year-round. Mendelsohn has dropped by before, and Tambor has always been nothing more than
cordial — until today.
When Mendelsohn arrives, Tambor and his two dogs greet him warmly.
"I have a number for you," Tambor says. "Somebody asked me if I knew a rabbi — can you believe it? — and I took down the name. Let me find it."
Mendelsohn is thrilled. "Wow, Reuben, thank you!" he says. It's unclear whether he's happier about Tambor's friendliness or a new lead on a Jew in town.
Tambor writes down the name and number and then happily takes the bread. The two men chat briefly, and before the rabbi wears out his welcome, he leaves for his next delivery.
In the car, Mendelsohn breaks out in a large grin.
"See! This is the way it works," he says. "This is how we network. We've been doing it for so many years — and it works!"
Eventually, Mendelsohn says, people usually come around.
"This is a lifelong campaign," he says. "It doesn't stop after I've found 50 Jews. It doesn't stop after I've found 100 Jews. It doesn't stop, it doesn't end. The campaign continues."
Chabad-Lubavitch
Mendelsohn signed on to the Chabad movement when he was very young.
"I always looked around, and I saw that the most passionate, loving, enthusiastic and caring people in my life were Chabad rebbes," or rabbis, he says. The Chabad-Lubavitch movement — a branch of Hasidism — began in Russia 250 years ago. It hews to an Orthodox Judaism — including fairly strict gender roles as well as keeping
kosher — and takes a scholarly and mystical view of the Torah.
Under the guidance of its most recent leader, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Chabad became a sort of Jewish Peace Corps, sending out young people as emissaries to revive the traditions that had often fallen by the wayside.
But Mendelsohn is quick to say that the goal is not to make Jews Orthodox; rather, it is to make Orthodox rituals and learning available to Jews.
"We don't expect them to become as we are. We don't expect them to start wearing a yarmulke, or for the women to wear a long skirt and dress as we do," he says. "We accept people as they are."
Meet Mendelsohn
It's gotten busy for the Mendelsohns since they arrived in Jackson.
"Every half-hour, we get a phone call or e-mail, nonstop. Every half-hour," Mendelsohn says.
Along with his challah outreach, his Web site and newspaper ads, Mendelsohn also recently organized a "meet the rabbi" open house at a Jackson hotel.
About 50 people attended the gathering — a fair showing in a city that has about 500 Jews. Over cookies and cake, Jackson resident Ken Begelman says the new rabbi has revived Jewish life in the state.
"There was never a rabbi here before, and he's also brought a sense of Yiddishkeit [devotion to Jewish tradition]to the community, which was really missing," Begelman says.
Wrong Impression?
Lisa Finkelstein, who serves on the board of the Jackson Hole Jewish Community, a group of mainly Reform Jews that began about 30 years ago, disagrees.
"The Chabad rabbi is not the rabbi of Jackson Hole," Finkelstein says.
Finkelstein, who did not attend the open house, says she doesn't like Mendelsohn's style.
"He contacts people on the phone, by e-mail, in the parking lots," she says. "And we don't necessarily do that."
Nor are most Jews in the area as conservative as the Mendelsohns. The rabbi always wears a yarmulke and declines to shake hands with women. His wife wears long skirts and spends much of her time cooking. (She also manages the Web site as well as helps in the planning and directing of all of their activities.)
Fellow board member Rachel Ravitz worries that the Mendelsohns may give people the wrong impression of Judaism.
"People in Wyoming might not necessarily know what a Jew is in the first place," Ravitz says, "and if they meet a Chabad rabbi, they might not realize he represents a certain sect of Judaism."
But the big problem, several people say privately, is competition. The new rabbi's outreach programs cost $11,000 to $12,000 a month. The Mendelsohns have received a small grant for startup costs, but they must raise all other funding on their own. The current Jewish community group fears that if people start attending Mendelsohn's congregation, their money will follow.
Raizy Mendelsohn says a little competition can be healthy.
"It's great, because the people are getting more," she says. "It's kind of like when you have one store and then another store opens up. The first store is all mad, but the people are all very happy because they get better bargains and better deals, and they get more variety."
Her observations echo the findings of sociologists, who say religions thrive in the United States precisely because they compete in the marketplace of ideas. And if success is measured in Shabbat dinners attended, the Mendelsohns are grabbing market share.
Shabbat Dinner
For Shabbat dinner at her home, Raizy Mendelsohn prepares five courses, including fish, chicken, dips, salad and
dessert.
She must finish the preparations before the sun sets and all work, including driving cars and using electricity,
must cease. She says she has no idea how many people will come to dinner — maybe a dozen, give or take five.
There is a lot of uncertainty when you start a religious enterprise.
"I remember our first week here," she says. "We had one woman come, and she sat there through the whole service. And later, I said to Zalman, 'You know, in a couple years, she'll be telling people, "When the rabbi started, I was the only one who came to services, and now look at how many people there are!" ' "
Soon 11 people — including two young men from Israel who heard about dinner from the Web site — are seated around the formal table overflowing with food and wine.
They begin to sing a prayer, clapping, the tempo picking up.
All the planning and marketing and technology is for this moment — bringing Jews back to Shabbat and back to their community, the rituals so long neglected.
S Myers (smyers7897) wrote:
It seems pretty clear that this is about money. If this were really about reaching out and helping people, the Mendelsohn's would have gone somewhere truly remote where Jewish families might be struggling. The 500 Jews who live in Jackson are all a part of the highest echelon in that community. This visit to Jackson will certainly help fund future endeavors for the Mendelsohn's. I hope they choose to use this money to assist those who really need it. The poor have faith too.
Monday, November 10, 2008 8:51:31 AM
Jessica Smith (Ruah) wrote:
SM, did you hear the story? Jewish people are struggling...with their faith. Man does not live by bread alone. It seems to me Lisa Finkelstein and the Jewish Community Group are upset that someone is becoming successful in bringing people back to their Jewish faith and culture, and it seems *they're* the ones worried about money. Also, Lisa's use of the word "sect" to refer to Rabbi is clearly not out of sociological precision, but of condescension. I respect NPR's journalistic integrity that they interviewed Lisa and they're group, but the piece really just shines a light on Rabbi Mendelsohn and his faithfulness and Ms. Finkelstein's bitter reformed outlook.
Monday, November 10, 2008 9:04:28 AM
Ellyn Camp (Colliegirl) wrote:
I think that the reform synogogue should be more open to idividuals of their own faith. I live in a community in Florida that only has two reform synoguges and I do not like them. There should always be room for another synogogue for jews. I cannot believe that she actually said that she is worried about the money. Chabad in open to all jews no matter how religious you are. You are discriminating against jews. Why does everyone that is jewish have to go to your shul if there is something out there that offers a more comfortable environement for jews. Chabad does not force anything on any jew. They only bring awareness that there is something more if you want it. I thing that you should all unite just because you are jews.
Monday, November 10, 2008 9:20:25 AM
Rose Novk (RLaR) wrote:
I'm writing from Jackson to tell you that this story was taped some months ago when congregants of the Jackson Hole Jewish Community were concerned that Zalman was advertising himself as the first and only Rabbi in Wyoming. Now things have settled down. I happen to like the Mendelsohns, but I could never be a part of his congregation for many reasons. Most important, women are not considered equal to men. The JHJC welcomes all Jews and all those who are interested in our faith.
We do not neglect the rituals or building community, having recently conducted two baby namings, two Brit Milots, High Holy Days, and Shabbats.
Monday, November 10, 2008 9:23:04 AM
Eric Schmitt (studybuddy) wrote:
Its beautiful to see such a warm and friendly Rabbi and his wife do such nice work on behalf of such an age old tradition. Keep the spirit alive! Pastor Eric
Monday, November 10, 2008 9:32:59 AM
Ben Paisy (Ben_Paisy) wrote:
The selfless work that these Chabad couples do around the world is humbling. It’s tough moving out to Wyoming, but helping their brethren is what inspires them.
They inspire people with their unconditional love and deep reservoirs of knowledge.
Chabad/Lubavitch is the future of Judaism. They are growing globally by leaps and bounds while others are receding and for good reason.
(to say this is about money is laughable…)
Monday, November 10, 2008 9:51:30 AM
Steve Covey (steeev) wrote:
Rabbi Zalman and Raizy, keep up the good work. Its your grassroots mentality that will endear you ultimately to all the nay sayers. There is so much positive energy in your voices and tone, there is so much hope in your attitude and your motto of change is very potent.
Monday, November 10, 2008 9:57:16 AM
Justin Forral (jfl) wrote:
The most reasonable story covering religion I've come across to date. Only in America, here one can see that religion regardless of faith is merely a business service offering to assuage customers from their fear of the unknown. Image all the marketing potential, 2 for 1 deals, guarantees of ascension, etc. It boggles both the mind and spirit, but will it pay? Only time will tell, if you were right in buying the service that is.
Monday, November 10, 2008 10:44:25 AM
Zalman T (Zalman) wrote:
By the Grace of G-d
Response to Rose Novk
First of all thank you for reporting that positive follow up it is so rear and very heart-warming.
Of course Chabad doesn’t consider women equal to men – they’re not. The Russians made that same mistake 70 years ago when they executed my great-grandfather, a Chabad Rabbi. They assumed that his work would end since his now-single wife and six small children would not have any significance in the Jewish world.
They were wrong.
My great-grandmother passed away 2 years ago with 535 direct decedents, a large number of them leading Jewish communities and programs around the globe.
Her husband may have led the services but she led the family and ultimately was the strength of not only her community but many communities around the world.
No, Chabad doesn’t consider women equal to men; we recognize that they are truly infinitely greater
Monday, November 10, 2008 10:48:40 AM
john glenn (lewis) wrote:
Jackson Hole (a place where the billionaires are pushing out the millionaires) isn’t representative of Wyoming, it’s people, and it’s culture… Rabbi Zalman Mendelsohn’s focus in Jackson is a fixation on $$$$!
Monday, November 10, 2008 10:51:03 AM
Jim Shulruff (Maggidjim) wrote:
Thank G-d for Chabad! Many of Jewerys best and brightest call Chabad home. Money and outreach go together like money and living. To say this is only about money is lacking in any depth of analysis, because everything, and everyone, in our society needs money to survive and thrive! This includes me, you, Microsoft, and Chabad.
My comment is not about money, but more to say that Chabad is not the only legitemate entry point for Jews to return to active observance. Communities of Jews around the world are observing and practicing in countless ways, there is something for everyone. All one needs to do is step foot into any local synagogue to feel the life and love that is Judaism and the Jewish G-d. And just like the above Colliegirl comment, we should all unite just because we are Jews.
Monday, November 10, 2008 11:15:50 AM
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Chabad to establish presence in Frederick
An international Jewish organization is looking to establish a new presence in Frederick in order to reach out to local, unaffiliated Jews.
Boruch Labkowski, a New York-based rabbi, has started a local chapter of Chabad in Frederick and is also the group's director.
Chabad-Lubavitch is a philosophy, movement and organization that is rooted in Hasidism, a religious movement in Judaism.
The word "Chabad" is an acronym for the Hebrew words for wisdom, comprehension and knowledge. Lubavitch is the name of a Russian town where the movement was based for more than 100 years.
According to Labkowski, the Jewish community in Frederick County is large and interested enough to support the Chabad of Frederick. The organization held its first event in September, when nearly 70 people fashioned rams' horns into shofars, used to celebrate Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year.
"People are interested … and they're thirsty for more Judaism," Labkowski said earlier this month.
Labkowski said Chabad's purpose is to deepen Jews' understanding of their faith through an array of different events and programs from adult lectures and children's workshops to Kabbalah classes and holiday programs.
The group has yet to find a permanent meeting space in Frederick; Labkowski said he is planning to move to Frederick soon with his family.
Chabad of Frederick is open to Jews of all backgrounds, and specifically targets Jews who are unaffiliated with a local synagogue or congregation, he added. Chabad also has locations in Gaithersburg, Potomac, Germantown and Bethesda.
Boruch Labkowski, a New York-based rabbi, has started a local chapter of Chabad in Frederick and is also the group's director.
Chabad-Lubavitch is a philosophy, movement and organization that is rooted in Hasidism, a religious movement in Judaism.
The word "Chabad" is an acronym for the Hebrew words for wisdom, comprehension and knowledge. Lubavitch is the name of a Russian town where the movement was based for more than 100 years.
According to Labkowski, the Jewish community in Frederick County is large and interested enough to support the Chabad of Frederick. The organization held its first event in September, when nearly 70 people fashioned rams' horns into shofars, used to celebrate Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year.
"People are interested … and they're thirsty for more Judaism," Labkowski said earlier this month.
Labkowski said Chabad's purpose is to deepen Jews' understanding of their faith through an array of different events and programs from adult lectures and children's workshops to Kabbalah classes and holiday programs.
The group has yet to find a permanent meeting space in Frederick; Labkowski said he is planning to move to Frederick soon with his family.
Chabad of Frederick is open to Jews of all backgrounds, and specifically targets Jews who are unaffiliated with a local synagogue or congregation, he added. Chabad also has locations in Gaithersburg, Potomac, Germantown and Bethesda.
Friday, October 03, 2008
Chabad Pushes Big Development in L.A.
Los Angeles — The ultra-Orthodox Chabad movement is famous for multitasking, with its religious services, schools and museums, but a new development in Los Angeles is taking Chabad in an unexpected direction: the commercial and residential real estate business.
Chabad of California is angling to build a massive, mixed-use development that would include a girl’s high school with its own dormitories, 32 residential condominiums, and seven retail shops, in the heart of the heavily Jewish Pico-Robertson neighborhood. The proposed complex — which is raising hackles amongst some neighborhood activists — would dwarf other existing buildings that line the pedestrian-friendly stretch of Pico Boulevard.
Hasidic sects are not new to the residential real estate business. The Satmars, for example, have long managed housing complexes in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. But Chabad has gotten into the act more recently.
The most glaring difference between the Satmar community — which has spread beyond the confines of Brooklyn and established itself in the Catskill village of Kiryas Joel — and Chabad is that Chabad is staking its claim within the urban confines.
“Unlike the Satmars, who want to escape the city,” said David Myers, director of the Center for Jewish Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, “Chabad wants the menorah in the public square.”
Nomi Stolzenberg, a professor at University of Southern California’s Gould School of Law, said that the Chabad proposal is part of a wider trend that has taken hold across the country. Religious groups, she said, have become far more aggressive in recent years when it comes to real estate development. Passage of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 gave religious organizations greater latitude to sue local zoning authorities if their permits were denied, she explained.
“A lot of religious groups have really been emboldened to pursue development plans that formerly they would have not been likely to get through the zoning process,” Stolzenberg said. “The basic reason for that is because of pretty significant changes in the law, but the changes in the law also reflect changes in the broader political culture with regard to attitudes about the relationship between church and state.”
Whether Chabad gets its permit has yet to be determined. A cadre of local residents is incensed by the sheer size of the proposed project, which well exceeds what the zoning laws permit. Chabad is seeking variances on building height and density and on parking capacity.
“They want to build this monolith, this huge structure that is out of character with the neighborhood,” said Lorrie Stone, a physician who has lived right behind the proposed building site for some 30 years. “They want three times the density than what’s allowed on this little plot of land.”
Benjamin Reznik, a lawyer who has long represented Chabad in its real estate dealings, said that because the area is zoned for retail, Chabad has no choice but to ask for variances in order to build a school.
“If you look at the Pico-Robertson area as a whole,” Reznik said, “where should institutions go?”
It appears to be the first time that Chabad — the Hasidic movement that sends emissaries across the globe — has conceived an entire communal village. While Chabad’s missionary reach has expanded outward, with outposts in such far-flung locales as Katmandu, observers note that this represents the first time that Chabad has established such a large, visible presence in the heart of L.A.’s symbolic Jewish center.
The proposed development, which would occupy the block between Westerly Drive and Crest Drive, would replace four buildings that currently sit on the property. Chabad is hoping to erect a building that is roughly 108,000 square feet and rising five stories high, which would include two levels of belowground parking and 9,000 square feet dedicated to retail shops. A girls’ high school, which now has about 100 students, would be nearly quadrupled — Chabad is seeking an occupancy permit for up to 400 — and a 150-bed dormitory would be added to house the students.
According to Chaim Cunin, CEO of Chabad of California, the 32 residential condominiums are being built with an eye toward affordable housing. Chabad hopes to use the units for various residents — teachers, school administrators, senior citizens and Holocaust survivors — who otherwise couldn’t afford the pricey Pico-Robertson neighborhood.
“This is being planned with our senior citizen community in mind, and our Holocaust survivor community in mind, that otherwise might be all alone in their homes or apartments,” Cunin said.
The Pico-Robertson area has seen explosive growth in recent years, as the Modern Orthodox community has expanded and retail shops and restaurants have proliferated to meet their needs. As a result of the neighborhood’s rapid growth, reasonably priced housing there has become a scarce commodity.
Chabad also owns the block directly west of the proposed development site. In 2003, the organization erected a large brick building modeled after the one in Brooklyn where the Chabad rebbe lived until his death.
Chabad of California is angling to build a massive, mixed-use development that would include a girl’s high school with its own dormitories, 32 residential condominiums, and seven retail shops, in the heart of the heavily Jewish Pico-Robertson neighborhood. The proposed complex — which is raising hackles amongst some neighborhood activists — would dwarf other existing buildings that line the pedestrian-friendly stretch of Pico Boulevard.
Hasidic sects are not new to the residential real estate business. The Satmars, for example, have long managed housing complexes in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. But Chabad has gotten into the act more recently.
The most glaring difference between the Satmar community — which has spread beyond the confines of Brooklyn and established itself in the Catskill village of Kiryas Joel — and Chabad is that Chabad is staking its claim within the urban confines.
“Unlike the Satmars, who want to escape the city,” said David Myers, director of the Center for Jewish Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, “Chabad wants the menorah in the public square.”
Nomi Stolzenberg, a professor at University of Southern California’s Gould School of Law, said that the Chabad proposal is part of a wider trend that has taken hold across the country. Religious groups, she said, have become far more aggressive in recent years when it comes to real estate development. Passage of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 gave religious organizations greater latitude to sue local zoning authorities if their permits were denied, she explained.
“A lot of religious groups have really been emboldened to pursue development plans that formerly they would have not been likely to get through the zoning process,” Stolzenberg said. “The basic reason for that is because of pretty significant changes in the law, but the changes in the law also reflect changes in the broader political culture with regard to attitudes about the relationship between church and state.”
Whether Chabad gets its permit has yet to be determined. A cadre of local residents is incensed by the sheer size of the proposed project, which well exceeds what the zoning laws permit. Chabad is seeking variances on building height and density and on parking capacity.
“They want to build this monolith, this huge structure that is out of character with the neighborhood,” said Lorrie Stone, a physician who has lived right behind the proposed building site for some 30 years. “They want three times the density than what’s allowed on this little plot of land.”
Benjamin Reznik, a lawyer who has long represented Chabad in its real estate dealings, said that because the area is zoned for retail, Chabad has no choice but to ask for variances in order to build a school.
“If you look at the Pico-Robertson area as a whole,” Reznik said, “where should institutions go?”
It appears to be the first time that Chabad — the Hasidic movement that sends emissaries across the globe — has conceived an entire communal village. While Chabad’s missionary reach has expanded outward, with outposts in such far-flung locales as Katmandu, observers note that this represents the first time that Chabad has established such a large, visible presence in the heart of L.A.’s symbolic Jewish center.
The proposed development, which would occupy the block between Westerly Drive and Crest Drive, would replace four buildings that currently sit on the property. Chabad is hoping to erect a building that is roughly 108,000 square feet and rising five stories high, which would include two levels of belowground parking and 9,000 square feet dedicated to retail shops. A girls’ high school, which now has about 100 students, would be nearly quadrupled — Chabad is seeking an occupancy permit for up to 400 — and a 150-bed dormitory would be added to house the students.
According to Chaim Cunin, CEO of Chabad of California, the 32 residential condominiums are being built with an eye toward affordable housing. Chabad hopes to use the units for various residents — teachers, school administrators, senior citizens and Holocaust survivors — who otherwise couldn’t afford the pricey Pico-Robertson neighborhood.
“This is being planned with our senior citizen community in mind, and our Holocaust survivor community in mind, that otherwise might be all alone in their homes or apartments,” Cunin said.
The Pico-Robertson area has seen explosive growth in recent years, as the Modern Orthodox community has expanded and retail shops and restaurants have proliferated to meet their needs. As a result of the neighborhood’s rapid growth, reasonably priced housing there has become a scarce commodity.
Chabad also owns the block directly west of the proposed development site. In 2003, the organization erected a large brick building modeled after the one in Brooklyn where the Chabad rebbe lived until his death.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Aspen awaiting first synagogue
$16 million structure on Main Street slated for completion in 2010
By By Julie Hutchinson, Special to the Rocky
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Jews have been a part of life in Aspen since miners first staked claims in 1879.
There has been a Jewish congregation in the resort town for 30 years, meeting in a church. Now a second congregation is about to give Aspen its first synagogue.
The $16 million, 34,000-square-foot structure will occupy half a city block at 435 W. Main St. alongside exclusive boutiques, restaurants and high-priced hotels.
The Jewish Community Center Chabad of Aspen, which will incorporate six existing structures declared as historic, will include a sanctuary and lecture hall, ballroom, classrooms, library, gym, mikvah (ritual bath), kosher cafe and retail shop.
The Jewish Community Center bought the land in 2003 for $6.3 million and construction will begin this summer, with completion slated for 2010.
New York-based Chabon Architects worked for more than a year with the city's preservation commission on the design. Aspen-based John Olson Builders will be the general contractor.
Chabad of Aspen will be the first synagogue in the Roaring Fork Valley, according to Executive Director Rabbi Mendel Mintz, 32, who was sent to Aspen eight years ago with his wife, Leiba, after teaching in California and Georgia.
"This is important for many reasons, first and primarily that none of those things that we are building exist now," Mintz said. "Secondly, there is no Jewish home in Aspen. It's a place that has a strong Jewish presence and people who are very proud to be Jewish, not to mention visitors."
The Aspen Jewish Congregation, which is not affiliated with any denomination of Judaism, never built its own facility. Though separate from Mintz's group, the two congregations are friendly.
"We have a good working relationship with them," Mintz said.
Chabad Aspen currently holds classes for about 65 children in a small building on the West Main Street site and counts as many as 1,000 participants during major religious holidays, when services are held at a hotel to accommodate crowds.
Chabad, one of the fastest-growing branches of Orthodox Judaism with centers around the globe, reaches out to all Jews regardless of their level of observance. Mintz said his aim is not to build an Orthodox community but a place where all Jews feel welcome.
He estimates that about 1,000 Jews consider Aspen their primary residence. "If you asked me to prove it, I couldn't - it's based on people you meet on the street," he said.
Aspen isn't the only high-end skiing mecca where new centers of Jewish worship and culture are opening. Mintz's brother, Dovid Mintz, founded the Chabad Center of the Vail Valley in 2006. In May, Jackson Hole, Wyo., will welcome Rabbi Zalman Mendelsohn, who visited Aspen for a weekend "to see how we did it," Mintz said.
Certainly one reason Aspen's Jewish population is growing so fast is the rabbi's family. Mintz and his wife have welcomed four children since they arrived in 2000.
"And they're all Aspen natives," Mintz said. "Two of them were on the mountain yesterday."
Major synagogue donors
Chabad Aspen's fundraising goal is $22 million. As of December, $10.2 million had been raised. Some of the million-dollar-plus donors include:
* Steel Partners Foundation. This Aspen-based nonprofit is funded by Steel Partners, a hedge fund operated by entrepreneur Warren Lichtenstein, an ally of billionaire corporate raider Carl Icahn.
* Roland and Dawn Arnall. Roland Arnall, who died in Los Angeles on March 17, was ranked No. 85 on the Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans in 2006. He founded Ameriquest Mortgage Co., which ceased doing business last year. Arnall helped found the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles.
* Gerald and Barbara Hines. Gerald Hines is founder and chairman of Hines Interests, an international real estate development firm based in Houston. Hines owns the 460,438-square-foot Mountain View Corporate Center in the Interlocken Office Park. Hines developed the 52-story Wells Fargo Center in downtown Denver, better known as the cash register building, completed in 1983, and the 180-acre Five Trees ski-in/ski-out residential community in Aspen.
© Rocky Mountain News
By By Julie Hutchinson, Special to the Rocky
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Jews have been a part of life in Aspen since miners first staked claims in 1879.
There has been a Jewish congregation in the resort town for 30 years, meeting in a church. Now a second congregation is about to give Aspen its first synagogue.
The $16 million, 34,000-square-foot structure will occupy half a city block at 435 W. Main St. alongside exclusive boutiques, restaurants and high-priced hotels.
The Jewish Community Center Chabad of Aspen, which will incorporate six existing structures declared as historic, will include a sanctuary and lecture hall, ballroom, classrooms, library, gym, mikvah (ritual bath), kosher cafe and retail shop.
The Jewish Community Center bought the land in 2003 for $6.3 million and construction will begin this summer, with completion slated for 2010.
New York-based Chabon Architects worked for more than a year with the city's preservation commission on the design. Aspen-based John Olson Builders will be the general contractor.
Chabad of Aspen will be the first synagogue in the Roaring Fork Valley, according to Executive Director Rabbi Mendel Mintz, 32, who was sent to Aspen eight years ago with his wife, Leiba, after teaching in California and Georgia.
"This is important for many reasons, first and primarily that none of those things that we are building exist now," Mintz said. "Secondly, there is no Jewish home in Aspen. It's a place that has a strong Jewish presence and people who are very proud to be Jewish, not to mention visitors."
The Aspen Jewish Congregation, which is not affiliated with any denomination of Judaism, never built its own facility. Though separate from Mintz's group, the two congregations are friendly.
"We have a good working relationship with them," Mintz said.
Chabad Aspen currently holds classes for about 65 children in a small building on the West Main Street site and counts as many as 1,000 participants during major religious holidays, when services are held at a hotel to accommodate crowds.
Chabad, one of the fastest-growing branches of Orthodox Judaism with centers around the globe, reaches out to all Jews regardless of their level of observance. Mintz said his aim is not to build an Orthodox community but a place where all Jews feel welcome.
He estimates that about 1,000 Jews consider Aspen their primary residence. "If you asked me to prove it, I couldn't - it's based on people you meet on the street," he said.
Aspen isn't the only high-end skiing mecca where new centers of Jewish worship and culture are opening. Mintz's brother, Dovid Mintz, founded the Chabad Center of the Vail Valley in 2006. In May, Jackson Hole, Wyo., will welcome Rabbi Zalman Mendelsohn, who visited Aspen for a weekend "to see how we did it," Mintz said.
Certainly one reason Aspen's Jewish population is growing so fast is the rabbi's family. Mintz and his wife have welcomed four children since they arrived in 2000.
"And they're all Aspen natives," Mintz said. "Two of them were on the mountain yesterday."
Major synagogue donors
Chabad Aspen's fundraising goal is $22 million. As of December, $10.2 million had been raised. Some of the million-dollar-plus donors include:
* Steel Partners Foundation. This Aspen-based nonprofit is funded by Steel Partners, a hedge fund operated by entrepreneur Warren Lichtenstein, an ally of billionaire corporate raider Carl Icahn.
* Roland and Dawn Arnall. Roland Arnall, who died in Los Angeles on March 17, was ranked No. 85 on the Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans in 2006. He founded Ameriquest Mortgage Co., which ceased doing business last year. Arnall helped found the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles.
* Gerald and Barbara Hines. Gerald Hines is founder and chairman of Hines Interests, an international real estate development firm based in Houston. Hines owns the 460,438-square-foot Mountain View Corporate Center in the Interlocken Office Park. Hines developed the 52-story Wells Fargo Center in downtown Denver, better known as the cash register building, completed in 1983, and the 180-acre Five Trees ski-in/ski-out residential community in Aspen.
© Rocky Mountain News
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Los Angeles rabbi, wife start a Chabad in Moorpark
Because of the lack of places for Moorpark's Jewish community to meet on a regular basis, a Los Angeles rabbi and his wife have decided to start a Chabad in the city.
Rabbi Shimon and Devorah Heidingsfeld held the first gathering of the Chabad last week, and about 50 residents gathered for a Purim celebration at the Arroyo Vista Community Center in Moorpark. The event featured an interactive reading of the Megillah, the biblical book of Esther, as well as a costume party and food.
A Chabad is an educational and social service organization, with more than 200 centers in California and 3,500 synagogues, schools and centers worldwide. Its mission is to create vibrancy in small Jewish communities and assist them in celebrating Jewish heritage and traditions.
The Heidingsfelds said they plan to move to Moorpark, where they hope more Chabad events will take place in the next few months. They are already planning a Passover Seder in April in Moorpark, but a location is being finalized.
Rabbi Shimon, who also goes by the name Rabbi Shimy, is originally from Australia and served as an assistant rabbi at Chabad of Westlake Village.
Although he and his wife are Orthodox, he said, the Chabad of Moorpark will be open to all Jews, regardless of background and affiliation. He said growing up in the warm and giving environment of Chabad outreach in Australia profoundly affected his life goals and his vision for the future. He wants to bring that same atmosphere to Moorpark.
"Many of the Jewish people here currently attend temples and services in surrounding cities, but nothing here. And many Jewish people here don't know about other Jewish people in the community, so we want to bring them together to promote Jewish pride, study and celebration," he said.
Heidingsfeld received his rabbinic ordination from the Central Lubavitcher Yeshiva in New York in 2004.
Devorah Heidingsfeld, who studied and received her diploma of Jewish Studies from Beth Chana Seminary, worked in the Ventura County area leading and organizing youth programs, Hebrew School and Jewish awareness.
Shimon Heidingsfeld said many people have already thanked him for his efforts.
"I've been already asked Where were you 20 years ago? My kids are all grown now,'" he said with a laugh.
Moorpark resident Ben Fishman, who went to last week's event with his 10-year-old son, Ethan, said he is pleased something is being done for Moorpark's Jewish community.
Moorpark resident Ken Starr, who came to the celebration with his wife, Linda, and their daughters Danielle, 15, and Alyssa, 12, said his family will be going to future events hosted by the Moorpark Chabad.
"It's nice to meet the other Jewish people in the community. They were very welcoming," said Danielle Starr.
For more information about Moorpark Chabad, visit http://www.JewishMoorpark.com.
Rabbi Shimon and Devorah Heidingsfeld held the first gathering of the Chabad last week, and about 50 residents gathered for a Purim celebration at the Arroyo Vista Community Center in Moorpark. The event featured an interactive reading of the Megillah, the biblical book of Esther, as well as a costume party and food.
A Chabad is an educational and social service organization, with more than 200 centers in California and 3,500 synagogues, schools and centers worldwide. Its mission is to create vibrancy in small Jewish communities and assist them in celebrating Jewish heritage and traditions.
The Heidingsfelds said they plan to move to Moorpark, where they hope more Chabad events will take place in the next few months. They are already planning a Passover Seder in April in Moorpark, but a location is being finalized.
Rabbi Shimon, who also goes by the name Rabbi Shimy, is originally from Australia and served as an assistant rabbi at Chabad of Westlake Village.
Although he and his wife are Orthodox, he said, the Chabad of Moorpark will be open to all Jews, regardless of background and affiliation. He said growing up in the warm and giving environment of Chabad outreach in Australia profoundly affected his life goals and his vision for the future. He wants to bring that same atmosphere to Moorpark.
"Many of the Jewish people here currently attend temples and services in surrounding cities, but nothing here. And many Jewish people here don't know about other Jewish people in the community, so we want to bring them together to promote Jewish pride, study and celebration," he said.
Heidingsfeld received his rabbinic ordination from the Central Lubavitcher Yeshiva in New York in 2004.
Devorah Heidingsfeld, who studied and received her diploma of Jewish Studies from Beth Chana Seminary, worked in the Ventura County area leading and organizing youth programs, Hebrew School and Jewish awareness.
Shimon Heidingsfeld said many people have already thanked him for his efforts.
"I've been already asked Where were you 20 years ago? My kids are all grown now,'" he said with a laugh.
Moorpark resident Ben Fishman, who went to last week's event with his 10-year-old son, Ethan, said he is pleased something is being done for Moorpark's Jewish community.
Moorpark resident Ken Starr, who came to the celebration with his wife, Linda, and their daughters Danielle, 15, and Alyssa, 12, said his family will be going to future events hosted by the Moorpark Chabad.
"It's nice to meet the other Jewish people in the community. They were very welcoming," said Danielle Starr.
For more information about Moorpark Chabad, visit http://www.JewishMoorpark.com.
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Jewish center welcomes arrival of Torah
For the 250 or so families involved, it is a time of great happiness at the Chabad of the South Hills.
The Jewish Center for Living and Learning in Mt. Lebanon formally welcomed the addition of its own Torah scroll last evening.
"Purchasing or refurbishing a Torah is considered to be a huge, huge celebration in the Jewish community," said Rabbi Mendel Rosenblum, co-director of the Chabad with his wife, Batya.
Ten days of the High Holidays begin Wednesday with Rosh Hashana and conclude at Yom Kippur.
The synagogue's ark currently has three other scrolls -- the text, written in Hebrew, is literally considered the words of God as given to Moses -- on loan through various long- and short-term arrangements.
"Typically, the first time the [scroll] arrives, it is welcomed to the synagogue, but the timing just didn't work out for us," Rabbi Rosenblum said, explaining that the Chabad of the South Hills received the Torah several months ago.
Last night's festivities included dancing and dinner, as well as an education program for the children.
The cost of obtaining a Torah "is significant," he said. "which ranges anywhere from $20,000 to $70,000.
"But the spiritual achievement is great as well. It's always welcomed into the synagogue, even if it's not the first Torah scroll."
The scroll was purchased from another conservative synagogue, Poale Tzedek in Squirrel Hill.
"One of the members of our congregation grew up in this synagogue and their family is still very active. They were the ones who made the connection for us.
"It was a huge donation [but] the family wants to remain anonymous. They just wanted to see the Torah restored."
The scroll, he said, "was not fit for use when we purchased it," so they sent it to a scribe in New York who restores Torahs.
The process took about five months; all of the characters are handwritten on parchment and those handling the scrolls must be painstakingly careful due to age and wear.
When the restoration was complete, the entire Torah was run through a computer scanner to check for accuracy.
"We found two letters missing entirely," Rabbi Rosenblum said. "So in a sense, this is the first time it's really fit for use. It's really a cause for celebration in our community."
The Chabad of the South Hills began in the Rosenblum's home almost nine years ago, but is currently renting property from the Bower Hill Swim Club. A new center on McFarland Road will be dedicated this winter.
"There's a lot of symbolism here, between the holidays and our moving to a new place," Rabbi Rosenblum said.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Movie theater to close over parking lot rent dispute
Sept. 04, 2007
(Crain’s) — The owner of the Lincoln Village Theater plans to shutter the popular Northwest Side movie complex following a dispute over the rent for an adjacent parking lot, owned by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.
The six-screen theater, 6341 N. McCormick Blvd., and several other adjacent property owners have leased the nearly 1.9-acre parking lot since 1985. After negotiations over a proposed rent increase broke down earlier this summer, the district sealed off the lot with thick concrete barriers, preventing access by theater patrons. The district has demanded a more than 14-fold rent hike, to more than $800,000 a year, according to a lawsuit challenging the proposed increase filed by the property owners.
"There's no way these businesses can pay that much for parking purposes," says Alderman Bernard Stone (50th), who supports the property owners.
But Richard Lanyon, the district's general superintendent, defended the eye-popping rent increase, saying state law requires that the rent is pegged to a percentage of the fair-market value of the property, based on appraisals.
As a result of the dispute, the theater’s owner plans to give the building to a private elementary school, Alderman Stone says.
The Philip and Rebecca Esformes Girls School, currently located at 2801 W. Jarvis Ave., would move in about two years, confirms Rabbi Yitzchok Wolf, dean of Skokie-based Cheder Lubavitch Hebrew Day School, which runs the girls school.
Rabbi Wolf declines to identify the theater’s owner or comment on the financial aspects of the move, except to say the property is being “donated, for the most part.”
"We are fortunate we got this building," Rabbi Wolf says. "It's very exciting. We're confident it will be good for the community."
When construction would start to convert the building to classrooms hasn’t been decided, he says. The date of the theater’s closing could not be determined.
The theater is owned by A.A. McCormick L.P., property records show. An executive with A.A. did not return a call requesting comment.
Terri Sween, president of Chicago-based Village Entertainment Inc., which operates the movie house, says she is unaware of the proposed closing.
Last year, the district and the property owners agreed to new 39-year lease, under which the annual rent would be 10% of fair market value, according to the lawsuit.
But the district contends that the land is worth $8 million, a value boosted by the potential residential use of the property. The business owners say the site is worth no more than $540,000, according to the complaint, which was filed in May in Cook County Circuit Court.
An ordinance to downzone the site, and reduce the value, is pending before the Chicago City Council, says Mr. Stone, who sponsored the measure.
While the two sides were still negotiating, the rent was just $36,000, under an interim agreement, according to the complaint. After that deal expired in May, the district closed the lot.
The district’s Mr. Lanyon denied the barricades were a negotiating tactic, saying, "We did it to protect our property from improper use by people who weren't authorized to be there.”
Monday, August 13, 2007
Chabad of Bradenton & Lakewood Ranch moving to new location
HERALD STAFF REPORT
LAKEWOOD RANCH - Chabad of Bradenton & Lakewood Ranch will be moving to larger quarters in the new First Priority Bank building in Lakewood Ranch.
The Chabad congregation, which will be celebrating its third year anniversary Aug. 24, will make the move to 11509 Palm Brush Trail beginning Nov. 1, Chabad of Bradenton & Lakewood Ranch, Rabbi Mendy Bukiet said.
"This is a significantly larger center which will suit our expanding needs," said Bukiet, whose congregation will continue to meet at 6311 Atrium Drive # 204 until the move.
The new location will allow the Chabad to expand its Friday night services and early morning Shabbat classes, Bukiet said.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Berlin Jewish Center Builds 1,000 Sq. Foot Replica of Jerusalem's Western Wall
by KRISTEN ALLEN
The Associated Press
BERLIN
The German capital's new $8.2 million Jewish community center will feature a replica of Jerusalem's Western Wall accurate down to the plants sprouting from its cracks, the center's leaders said.
The 1,000 sq. foot replica will be part of Szloma Albam House. The center's Sept. 2 opening will symbolize the growth and vitality of Berlin's 12,000-member Jewish community. Germany's Jewish community is the world's fastest growing, fed by immigrants from the former Soviet Union, according to the World Jewish Congress.
"This is a symbolic part of making Berlin a central hub of Jewish life again," the center's executive director, Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal told the Associated Press on Wednesday.
The project began when a team from the Chabad-Lubavitch organization traveled to Jerusalem to photograph a section of the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site, famous for the tradition of inserting tiny prayers on paper into its many cracks.
Almost 19 tons of "Jerusalem Gold" sandstone quarried in the region arrived in Berlin on July 11, and has since been chiseled and installed to match the photographs. The complete replica, located in the center's entryway, will also include identical plants sprouting from the cracks.
The Western Wall replica is not meant to be used for worship, but as a symbol and reminder of the center's mission.
Teichtal told the AP that the center's architecture directly reflects center's philosophy. A large cobalt and light blue glass window greets visitors as a symbol of transparency. The sleek, contemporary design by Russian architect Sergei Tchoban, shows that Szloma Albam House focuses on the future.
"Within the transparency is tradition, and that's why we're building the wall," he told The Associated Press. "It's the strongest symbol of the survival of the Jewish people."
Rabbi Chaim Rozwaski, an orthodox rabbi from New York who serves at Berlin's Pestalozzistrasse Synagogue, said the replica has "no more meaning than a picture."
"But the wall itself has a tremendous attraction and obviously a deep-felt meaning for many people, so it's still nice to have a replica."
The Szloma Albam House, located on Muenstersche Strasse in Berlin's Charlottenburg neighborhood, has been under construction for three years. But its synagogue is already open for worship.
The Central Council of Jews in Germany says the Jewish community has some 110,000 registered members.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Chabad on the Avenue one of four new Toronto centres
By FRANCES KRAFT
Staff Reporter
Rabbi Menachem Gansburg and his wife Chana have brought Chabad to a trendy section of Avenue Road north of Lawrence Avenue, causing some initially confused reactions from people who wonder why they’re not on nearby Bathurst Street, with its many Jewish shops and institutions.
Thirty years ago, large North American cities like Toronto typically had one Chabad institution. Today, “almost every zip code has representation,” said Rabbi Zalman Grossbaum, director of Chabad Lubavitch activities for Ontario.
“You have Chabad spilling into every community, every pocket where Jews are situated.”
In Toronto and the surrounding area, there are about 17 Chabad centres, including in Mississauga, Hamilton and Niagara Falls.
Typically, Chabad shluchim (emissaries) are young married couples who start their endeavour from scratch, creating programs and raising funds to become self-sustaining. “It’s challenging, because these rabbis come without being invited,” said Rabbi Grossbaum. “We create the demand.”
In Toronto, Chabad on the Avenue – as Rabbi Gansburg’s fledgling centre is known – is one of just four new Chabad centres that have opened in recent months, and plans are in the works to open one in the Beach area as well.
• Chabad Lubavitch of Downtown Toronto (jewishdt.com), run by Rabbi Mendel Chaikin and his wife Chanie out of their Queen’s Quay condo, serves the area south of College Street, between Bathurst and Yonge Street. They serve area residents, tourists, people who work downtown, and downtown hospital patients.
• Rabbi Moshe and Yehudis Steiner at Uptown Chabad Lubavitch (uptownchabad.com), cater to, for the most part, young families, many of whom are unaffiliated, who live in Bathurst Manor. The Steiners operate out of their home, but recently began holding Shabbat morning services at C.H. Best Middle School.
• York University also has a new Chabad, a student club run by former York student Vidal Bekerman, a 30-year-old ba’al tshuvah, and his wife Chanah Leah Medina. Bekerman, who is not a rabbi, said that there are about 300 students on his mailing list. He said he is on good terms with Hillel staff, who offer a variety of programs and services to York’s 4,500 Jewish students. However, noted Bekerman, there is still a large percentage “that needs to be reached.”
The Gansburgs have been on Avenue Road in a 6,000-square-foot former restaurant, across from the upscale food store Pusateri’s, since December. They are reaching out to Jews in the area bounded by Wilson Avenue and Eglinton Avenue, Yonge Street and the Allen Road.
On an initial visit to the area west of Avenue Road and north of Lawrence, where many small postwar homes have been replaced by newer, larger ones, the Gansburgs noted that a large percentage of the homes had mezuzot.
They introduced themselves to about 50 neighbours by going door-to-door with challah for Shabbat. Many residents told the Gansburgs they didn’t even know their neighbours.
The rabbi, a 25-year-old Toronto native who grew up in Thornhill, said he wants to “create a tight-knit community.” Typically, he said, residents of the area are young families with parents who are “very successful, but very overworked.
“We are here to service the local Jewish community in anything they need.” Programs include a “Kiddie Care” afternoon drop-in centre that features weekly challah-baking, evening Torah classes, a women’s program and the Avenue Road Synagogue, which attracts more than 40 people to Shabbat morning services – and almost double that when services are followed by a kiddush.
Most of the “members” (there is no membership fee) belong to other synagogues, the rabbi noted, referring to existing institutions that service area residents.
Although Chabad’s highest priority is outreach to unaffiliated Jews,“if someone happens to be a member [elsewhere] and wants to come to our synagogue,” they are welcome, he said. The shul, where men and women sit on either side of a row of artificial trees, offers Friday night and Saturday morning services.
Although Chabad is Orthodox, it’s “non-threatening,” said Rabbi Gansburg. There’s “no obligation” to become religious, but he is happy to help anyone who wants to “advance” in their Judaism.
Joy Kaufman, a 47-year-old mother of two who is affiliated with a synagogue that is not close to her home, describes the Avenue Road facility as “a great place to be.
“You’ve got to come on a Saturday. It’s magical,” she said, adding that she is “not the least bit religious.” She was at the centre to help organize last weekend’s Purim program that was scheduled to feature a smoothie bar from Pusateri’s and costume judges from Canadian Idol.
Chana, a 21-year-old teacher who grew up in Montreal, runs the children’s program and the “Jewish Women’s Circle,” which offers programs every six to eight weeks. For Tu b’Shvat, a local chef demonstrated fruit carving, and Chana talked briefly about the holiday.
“I wanted to show this neighbourhood, especially the kids, that Judaism can be as hip as anything else out there,” said Rabbi Gansburg.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Chabad opens Vienna center
By Dinah A. Spritzer
VIENNA (JTA) -- As a slender violinist with flowing black hair played ``Oseh Shalom" to an audience peppered with at least a dozen long-bearded rabbis, Bukharian Jews in this capital city ushered in a new era.
Their cause for celebration: Unlike many of those from Central Asia who came to Austria more than 25 years ago, immigrants to the country now have a new center to help them find their way.
On Feb. 18, Chabad opened a $6.05 million facility in Vienna aimed at serving their needs.
``The House of the Future," as the center has been dubbed, is expected to cater mainly to Bukharian Jews from Central Asia with whom Chabad is already deeply involved.
``The main purpose of the center is to provide help with integration," said Rabbi Jacob Biderman, chairman of the extensive Chabad organization in Austria. ``Yes, this is initiated by Chabad and there will be a chance for Jewish classes, but job skills, language skills and adult education are the focus."
The five-story building, which features a polished, 19th century facade, is across the street from the Lauder Chabad School for kindergarten through 12th grade.
It represents a natural extension of ties with Chabad for a large portion of the community, and also the general vitality of the Bukharians, who have managed to retain their traditions and a high level of observance as immigrants.
Shlomo Ustoniazov, a businessman in his 50s and artist from Uzbekistan who has lived in Vienna for several decades, said the center ``is an expression of unity of the Bukharian community."
``We are developing, we have our own identity, but we are also part of the Kultusgemeinde," he said, referring in German to the Jewish Community of Vienna, an umbrella organization.
Estimates put the Bukharian population at 3,000 to 4,000 of the approximate 10,000 Jews in Vienna.
The center will offer activities for seniors, job training, women's programs and a youth club. It also will be available to other immigrant groups such as Turks, according to Biderman.
Many Jews who came to Vienna from the former Soviet Union in the late 1970s and early 1980s on their way to Israel said they felt unwelcome in Austria. Bukharians in particular, with their large families and mostly lacking higher education, seemed backward to the integrated Ashkenazim.
Tamar Yusupov, a Bukharian Jew who hosted the center's opening ceremony and an active member of Chabad, said she didn't want future immigrants to feel the way she did when she arrived, ``not speaking the language, not having any friends, not having a home."
Bukharians over the decades have become successful businesspeople. Although they have become more integrated within the Jewish community and Vienna at large, many continue to feel comfortable with Chabad's Chasidic approach to Judaism.
Integration has slowed, and Biderman said that some 20 to 60 new families from the former Soviet Union each year seek out education for their children at the Lauder Chabad School. He estimated that of the school's some 410 students, 60 percent are Bukharian.
Many Bukharians say Chabad was the first to recognize that preserving their mostly Sephardi identity, and not looking askance at traditions such as marriage in the late teens, was vital to having them feel comfortable in their new home.
``It is true that when they first began arriving, the Jewish community of Vienna did not understand their need for separate traditions, but that is all in the past," Austria's chief rabbi, Paul Chaim Eisenberg, said in an interview last December.
Chabad has been particularly successful at attracting financing for its projects in Vienna that cater to Jews from the former Soviet Union. ``The House of the Future," for instance, received city and state funding.
The center features a Hebrew inscription, Beit haLevy Chabad, in honor of a key donor for the project, Lev Leviev, who was on hand for the opening ceremonies. Leviev, a Bukharian billionaire from Uzbekistan now living in Israel, is a major funder of Chabad in Austria and the former Soviet Union.
He was among 300 people at the center's opening, along with city and state officials. The crowd was mostly Bukharian, but there were also large numbers of Georgian and Caucasus Jews.
Oleg Sivan, 31, from the Republic of Dagestan, said, ``It is great what Chabad does; it brings us all together. There are some minor differences between us, but that is normal."
Not everyone was happy with the new center.
The president of the Vienna Jewish community, Ariel Muzicant, said at the center's opening that it would duplicate existing community programs, detract from an existing Sephardi center that receives community funding and siphon potential government money from the community.
His criticism reflects a history of tense competition between the community and Chabad, although they have cooperated often as well.
``It's the same story over and over with Chabad," he said. ``They sell it to the Austrian government officials as an open center for integration to get funding, but it's all about Chabad."
Biderman strongly denied the accusations, saying he had worked with all elements of the Jewish community to gain support and approval for the project.
``The people on our board are also on the board of the Sephardi center, so there is no competition," he said, adding that the center was open to all immigrants.
Ustoniazov, one of the board members to whom Biderman referred, said the suggestion of competition was outrageous.
``It is absurd to even think that we would duplicate activities or do anything to split the community," he said.
The Sephardi center, which opened in 1989, also was a Chabad-led effort but under the auspices of the Jewish Community of Vienna. The center, in the historically Jewish Second District, caters to the Georgian and Bukharian Jewish congregations. It has two synagogues and facilities for gatherings and study.
More recently the Bukharians have split into three congregations -- one oriented toward Chabad and two non-Chabad.
Two organizations represent the Bukharians: the Bukharian World Congress, with links to Chabad, and the non-Chabad Association of Bukharian Jews in Austria. Biderman said they were working together to set aside their differences and form one group.
Signaling that unity approach, the head of the Association of Bukharians Jews in Austria, Uri Gilkarov, attended the center's opening, and Biderman said he was seeking his input on programming.
Natalia Usopov, 29, and Marina Aminov, 31, who were celebrating the opening of ``The House of the Future," seemed to embody the mood among some of the Bukharian guests.
Aminov, an Uzbek native asked about the differences between the Bukharian groups, said: ``That's for the husbands to worry about. We just say 'Shalom.' ''
Posted: 2/20/2007
VIENNA (JTA) -- As a slender violinist with flowing black hair played ``Oseh Shalom" to an audience peppered with at least a dozen long-bearded rabbis, Bukharian Jews in this capital city ushered in a new era.
Their cause for celebration: Unlike many of those from Central Asia who came to Austria more than 25 years ago, immigrants to the country now have a new center to help them find their way.
On Feb. 18, Chabad opened a $6.05 million facility in Vienna aimed at serving their needs.
``The House of the Future," as the center has been dubbed, is expected to cater mainly to Bukharian Jews from Central Asia with whom Chabad is already deeply involved.
``The main purpose of the center is to provide help with integration," said Rabbi Jacob Biderman, chairman of the extensive Chabad organization in Austria. ``Yes, this is initiated by Chabad and there will be a chance for Jewish classes, but job skills, language skills and adult education are the focus."
The five-story building, which features a polished, 19th century facade, is across the street from the Lauder Chabad School for kindergarten through 12th grade.
It represents a natural extension of ties with Chabad for a large portion of the community, and also the general vitality of the Bukharians, who have managed to retain their traditions and a high level of observance as immigrants.
Shlomo Ustoniazov, a businessman in his 50s and artist from Uzbekistan who has lived in Vienna for several decades, said the center ``is an expression of unity of the Bukharian community."
``We are developing, we have our own identity, but we are also part of the Kultusgemeinde," he said, referring in German to the Jewish Community of Vienna, an umbrella organization.
Estimates put the Bukharian population at 3,000 to 4,000 of the approximate 10,000 Jews in Vienna.
The center will offer activities for seniors, job training, women's programs and a youth club. It also will be available to other immigrant groups such as Turks, according to Biderman.
Many Jews who came to Vienna from the former Soviet Union in the late 1970s and early 1980s on their way to Israel said they felt unwelcome in Austria. Bukharians in particular, with their large families and mostly lacking higher education, seemed backward to the integrated Ashkenazim.
Tamar Yusupov, a Bukharian Jew who hosted the center's opening ceremony and an active member of Chabad, said she didn't want future immigrants to feel the way she did when she arrived, ``not speaking the language, not having any friends, not having a home."
Bukharians over the decades have become successful businesspeople. Although they have become more integrated within the Jewish community and Vienna at large, many continue to feel comfortable with Chabad's Chasidic approach to Judaism.
Integration has slowed, and Biderman said that some 20 to 60 new families from the former Soviet Union each year seek out education for their children at the Lauder Chabad School. He estimated that of the school's some 410 students, 60 percent are Bukharian.
Many Bukharians say Chabad was the first to recognize that preserving their mostly Sephardi identity, and not looking askance at traditions such as marriage in the late teens, was vital to having them feel comfortable in their new home.
``It is true that when they first began arriving, the Jewish community of Vienna did not understand their need for separate traditions, but that is all in the past," Austria's chief rabbi, Paul Chaim Eisenberg, said in an interview last December.
Chabad has been particularly successful at attracting financing for its projects in Vienna that cater to Jews from the former Soviet Union. ``The House of the Future," for instance, received city and state funding.
The center features a Hebrew inscription, Beit haLevy Chabad, in honor of a key donor for the project, Lev Leviev, who was on hand for the opening ceremonies. Leviev, a Bukharian billionaire from Uzbekistan now living in Israel, is a major funder of Chabad in Austria and the former Soviet Union.
He was among 300 people at the center's opening, along with city and state officials. The crowd was mostly Bukharian, but there were also large numbers of Georgian and Caucasus Jews.
Oleg Sivan, 31, from the Republic of Dagestan, said, ``It is great what Chabad does; it brings us all together. There are some minor differences between us, but that is normal."
Not everyone was happy with the new center.
The president of the Vienna Jewish community, Ariel Muzicant, said at the center's opening that it would duplicate existing community programs, detract from an existing Sephardi center that receives community funding and siphon potential government money from the community.
His criticism reflects a history of tense competition between the community and Chabad, although they have cooperated often as well.
``It's the same story over and over with Chabad," he said. ``They sell it to the Austrian government officials as an open center for integration to get funding, but it's all about Chabad."
Biderman strongly denied the accusations, saying he had worked with all elements of the Jewish community to gain support and approval for the project.
``The people on our board are also on the board of the Sephardi center, so there is no competition," he said, adding that the center was open to all immigrants.
Ustoniazov, one of the board members to whom Biderman referred, said the suggestion of competition was outrageous.
``It is absurd to even think that we would duplicate activities or do anything to split the community," he said.
The Sephardi center, which opened in 1989, also was a Chabad-led effort but under the auspices of the Jewish Community of Vienna. The center, in the historically Jewish Second District, caters to the Georgian and Bukharian Jewish congregations. It has two synagogues and facilities for gatherings and study.
More recently the Bukharians have split into three congregations -- one oriented toward Chabad and two non-Chabad.
Two organizations represent the Bukharians: the Bukharian World Congress, with links to Chabad, and the non-Chabad Association of Bukharian Jews in Austria. Biderman said they were working together to set aside their differences and form one group.
Signaling that unity approach, the head of the Association of Bukharians Jews in Austria, Uri Gilkarov, attended the center's opening, and Biderman said he was seeking his input on programming.
Natalia Usopov, 29, and Marina Aminov, 31, who were celebrating the opening of ``The House of the Future," seemed to embody the mood among some of the Bukharian guests.
Aminov, an Uzbek native asked about the differences between the Bukharian groups, said: ``That's for the husbands to worry about. We just say 'Shalom.' ''
Posted: 2/20/2007
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