I am sitting at The Dan Panorama Mall in Haifa writing this post at my favorite cafe. The upscale mall houses high-end clothing and jewelry stores. There are several restaurants, a beauty salon, and a pharmacy. The community Chabad center is located here as well. It is my spiritual home and favorite place to buy religious artifacts and home décor. The Rabbi is named Levi. He is about thirty, razor thin, with dark hair, and smiles consistently. He has six children ranging from in age from six months to seven years. My favorite is his six month year old daughter Devorah which means "bee" in English. She already beams her father’s smile. I visit the store almost daily in the hope that the kids will be there. Levi was born and raised in Tzfat the holy city where the Kabalah developed. His parents were "Chabadniks" long before Levi was born.
In the course of our two year friendship Levi and I have discussed the need for, and to develop, English language courses in our community on various topics of Judaism. Chabad is recognized throughout the world for the superb quality of its spiritual teachings. I chose to study at a Chabad center in Pittsburgh for a year before immigrating to Israel. My classes included Talmud, Tanach - Bible Studies, and tutoring in Hebrew. They have my deepest appreciation for their support.
So what actually is Chabad-Lubavitch?
Chabad-Lubavitch is a major movement within mainstream Jewish tradition with its roots in the Chassidic movement of the 18th century. In Czarist and Communist Russia, the leaders of Chabad led the struggle for the survival of Torah Judaism, often facing imprisonment and relentless persecution for their activities. After the Holocaust, under the direction of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchaak Schneerson and his successor, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, Chabad became a worldwide movement, caring for the spiritual and material needs of all Jews, wherever they could be found. Their goal is to teach and promote spiritual growth without judging or changing their "students".
Today, over 3,000 Chabad centers are located in more than 65 countries, with a new center opening on the average every ten days. In South Africa, South America, Russia, Australia, the UK, and many parts of the USA, and of course Israel. Chabad has become a dynamic and dominant force within the Jewish community.
Levi and I are now acting on our dream of establishing a study center for English speaking immigrants and visitors in Haifa.
We visited the Chabad center in Tzfat to meet their leader there Ayal. He has decades of experience in planning and administering programs for English speaking individuals. He speaks the tongue of Shakespeare wonderfully but sounds a bit British. He actually was born and raised in Israel. He is housed at The Tzfat Kabablah center in the old part of the city. He helped us to plan and organize our agenda. We recently added a new team leader Zecharya Gonsher, born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, made aliyah at age 28 where he meet his Israeli wife through the help of a Chabad shadchanit (matchmaker). He earned his MSW in family clinical therapy in St Louis, MO, where he connected to Chabad, and has cherished this ever since. Currently, Zecharya helps the Chabad House in establishing programs for the English speaking Haifa area community. He lives in Kiryat Ata with his wife, Liat, and newborn twins.
Ayal and Levy have a list of English speakers from Haifa and the surrounding communities who have inquired about starting classes in our community. Judaism is a knowledge based faith. I can not imagine a greater bruchah or blessing than offering the opportunity to learn with others.
The Reform Jewish Movement has some classes in our community. My very close friend Rabbi Edgar Nof hosts a Pirke Avot group one day a week for example. However, there are those Jews who are more oriented to other streams of Judaism or find the convenience of transportation to the Mercaz or center a big asset. We are planning to have an open house in the fall to build a garin - a seed or core group of those interested in supporting this program.
I am a retired American living in Haifa, Israel. My passon in life is promoting interfaith dialogue. Twenty five percent of Israelis are Muslims, Druze, Christians, and other denominations. We manage to live together in a fairly democratic, yet jaded society.
Israel is a small nation and therefore travel is easy and of course exciting. I can visit the Galilee, Jerusalem, and Nazareth in the same day, and the Dead Sea is only a two hour drive from my home.
I am looking forward to sharing my travel adventures with the readers.... full info
