Chabad house

Menachem Mendel Schneerson (the Chabad rebbe) sent Rabbi Shlomo Cunin to Los Angeles in 1965 to lay the groundwork for Chabad's West Coast activities.^[1] The first Chabad house for university students was opened in March 1969 at the University of California, Los Angeles by Cunin.^[2]

In 1972, Cunin opened additional Chabad houses at the University of California, Berkeley and University of California, San Diego, ^[3] and, by 2003, had overseen the establishment of nearly 100 Chabad houses in California.^[1]

Chabad houses are independently funded by the local community (apart from those in tourist destinations or Asian business hubs).

In a Chabad house, the shaliach (a Chabad rabbi) and shalucha (often his wife) host programs, activities, and services for the local Jewish community and tourists.^[4]

Chabad centers exist around the world and serve as Jewish community centers that provide educational and outreach activities for the entire Jewish community regardless of degree of observance.^[5] Each center aims to provide a cozy and informal place to learn about and observe Judaism,^[6] and provides an atmosphere such that all Jews feel comfortable at Chabad events.^[7] Some are in or very near college campuses, others are not.

Chabad houses are typically run by a rabbi and his wife—often with the assistance of unmarried young men or women affiliated with Chanad, or, in the case of more developed Chabad houses, with the assistance of a second or even third married couple.

Some typical Chabad house programs include: Hospital and prison visits; holiday activities such as "Sukkah Mobiles," Chanukah and Purim gift baskets and kits, holiday rallies and festivals; counseling and social Services; Jewish studies classes, lectures and seminars; Judaica services; regular newspapers and kosher meals.^[8] Classes may also be provided for non-Jews in the Noahide laws, as per rabbi Schneerson's Noahide campaign.^[9]

Chabad houses at universities—known as Chabad on Campus—often provide housing for students, peer counseling and drug prevention centers, student activity offices, a synagogue, a publications center, library, kosher dining hall, student lounges, and a computer area.^[10] These facilities provide a social environment for young Jewish men and women on campus.^[11]

•  
  Chabad Bais Sonia Gutte Campus, Los Angeles.
•  
  Chabad of Boca Raton, Florida.
•  
  Chabad House, in Athens, Greece

• Chabad of Poway
• List of Chabad houses in California
• Nariman House
• Soho Synagogue
• Yeshiva Gedolah Frankfurt

• Fishkoff, Sue (2003). The Rebbe's Army: Inside the world of Chabad-Lubavitch. New York: Schocken Books. ISBN 0-8052-1138-1.

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chabad houses.

• Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters
• Chabad Lubavitch on the Web
• Chabad on Campus International