Supporters Toast UK Jewish Student Centers

University alumni and supporters of the growing network of campus Chabad Houses in the United Kingdom gathered at the newest such location to celebrate an unprecedented expansion of activities in recent years. The event coincided with the dedication of Chabad-Lubavitch of Bloomsbury’s new central London home, bringing 200 people from across the country to its multipurpose hall.

Philanthropist David Slager, whose financial backing of Chabad on Campus UK has allowed it to expand to 10 locations in the last couple of years, affixed a mezuzah to the venue’s doorpost. He told the crowd that as a student at Oxford University, he saw firsthand the transformative power of supporting Jewish life on campus.

“A Chabad House seeks to bring holiness into a mundane world,” he said, “and more so, into the staunchly secular environment of the university campus.”

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Along with Slager, Chabad of Oxford executive board member Allan Freinkel and Chabad of Bloomsbury supporter Alan Lee hosted the evening. Communal philanthropist Mendel Tajtelbaum was a guest speaker; he reflected on his experiences as the son of a Holocaust survivor, speaking about the importance of strengthening Judaism as a way to respond to the tragedies of the past.

“Having this reception as the very first event in our new venue marks the expansion and growth of Chabad of Bloomsbury in particular, and parallels the extraordinary growth of Chabad on Campus across the UK in general,” said Rabbi Yisroel Lew, director of Chabad of Bloomsbury.

Rabbi Eli Brackman, chairman of Chabad on Campus UK and director of Chabad of Oxford, echoed that point.

“With 12 centers on campuses in 10 cities across the UK, this audience reflects the local support that Chabad on Campus enjoys,” he said.

Philanthropist David Slager

Recent graduate David Stern, meanwhile, spoke on behalf of Jewish students and thanked Slager for his generosity and support.

“I don’t know what I would have done had it not been for Chabad on Campus at Nottingham University,” he said.

At the reception, attendees watched a video of other students detailing the impact that Chabad Houses had on their time spent at university.

“It’s somewhere I can go to eat or for advice,” Daniel Tannenbaum said of the Nottingham Chabad House run by Rabbi Mendy and Brocha Lent. It’s “somewhere away from home that has a young, comfortable and fresh environment. It’s not cliquey.”

“Not only can I go to university and learn things that are on my course,” offered Edinburgh student Meir Kojman, “but I can go to Chabad and learn a bit about Judaism.”

Rabbi Yossy Gordon, executive vice president of the New York-based Chabad on Campus International Foundation, congratulated the Bloomsbury center on its move, and noted that more and more campuses around the world are seeing Jewish life expand. At the Chabad on Campus international conference earlier this summer, officials announced that 10 more campus Chabad Houses would open in North America over the next year, joining more than 140 such centers across the globe.

“We are here to help Jewish students explore their heritage and find an anchor amidst a dizzying world of influences,” said Gordon. “Above all, students are looking for a home away from home.”