About an hour south of Cancun and an hour north of Tulum, Mexico – smack in the middle of the Riviera Maya – sits the scuba-diving haven of Playa del Carmen. With an infusion of capital and visitors, the once-sleepy fishing village is undergoing a rapid transformation into a tourist’s paradise.
Smack in the middle of such an unlikely hub of religious life sits the new Chabad-Lubavitch Jewish Center, established just last month by Rabbi Mendel and Chaya Goldberg, a young couple who themselves discovered the Playa in 2008 on a visit to assist Rabbi Mendel and Rochel Druk at the Chabad Center in Cancun.
The Goldbergs were appointed to their position by Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, vice chairman of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of Chabad-Lubavitch, and Mendel Druk, director of Chabad-Lubavitch activities in the Riviera Maya and Mexican Carribean. Druk visited Playa weekly for three years, and more recently, the community felt the need to have a permanent rabbi.
From their new home, the Goldbergs run prayer services and holiday programs, Torah classes and elaborate meals. But when they arrived, they didn’t know what to expect. Never before had the city played host to a Jewish organization.
Born travelers with experience in overcoming challenging situations, they quickly set to work getting to know the locals and the throngs of tourists.
A trained circumciser who has worked in Africa, Asia and the Pacific islands, the Parisian-born rabbi has earned the moniker of “Mohel of the Caribbean.” His wife, a Brooklyn-born educator who taught kindergarten in Shanghai, wants to start a youth program in Playa del Carmen.
Just before the High Holidays last month, the Goldbergs launched a website and hoisted a large banner to the front of their home to announce upcoming services. They soon discovered that approximately 100 Jews live in the surrounding area, a melting pot of people from all over the world. There’s a couple from Belgium, Israeli backpackers, part-time residents from Canada and American retirees, as well as transplants from Mexico City.
The day they raised the banner, a Canadian couple drove by, saw the sign and slammed on the breaks. Shocked, they knocked on the door and asked if it was true. Snowbirds from Toronto, they happened to be there in the waning days of summer to take care of business and were stuck without plans for the holidays. Without the Goldbergs, they said, they wouldn’t have known what to do.
More than 140 people showed up on the first night of Rosh Hashanah, and about 40 people came for Yom Kippur. Throughout the holidays, an average of 25 people took part in each meal.
“It took an hour to go around the table and hear everyone’s stories,” says Chaya Goldberg, “and they were all amazing stories.”
One woman, who speaks only Spanish, has lived in the area for 17 years. She discovered the center’s website the night before Yom Kippur, and learned that there would be a special memorial service for those who had lost their parents. She arrived just a few minutes before the service began, and with tears in her eyes and in broken English, told Goldberg that she had waited 17 years to be able to say a prayer for her loved ones.
Another young couple, who had moved from Mexico City, typically drove an hour each way to Cancun just to attend synagogue. Now they’re regulars at the Goldbergs’ home.
Feeding all those people on Shabbat and the Jewish holidays requires lots of kosher food. Chaya Goldberg bakes challah bread with her newfound friends, and buys fresh produce at local markets. Kosher processed food products can be found at some supermarkets, and the couple brings their meat and dairy products in from Mexico City.
A seed grant secured from the Rohr Family Foundation is helping fund the establishment of the Chabad House.
“There’s always plenty to eat,” says Goldberg.
Everything is in place, she adds, for a bright future.
“I certainly see a growing Jewish community, where we’ll attract new people, teach children and host many celebrations,” she predicts.
Her husband offers a tale.
He’d once gone to visit a Jewish family who lived off the beaten path in the older part of town. He never expected to get lost, because Playa del Carmen is laid out in a grid, but lo and behold, well after dark, he couldn’t find his way.
He called the Druks in Cancun for help.
“Rabbi Druk told me I must have gotten lost for a reason,” says Mendel Goldberg. “I was so frustrated with his response, I hung up the phone, rolled down my window and asked a man near the road for directions.”
“’English, Spanish or French?’ asked the man.
Goldberg chose his native tongue.
“When he was done giving me the directions, I asked him where he was from,” relates the young rabbi. “He said he was Quebecois. I asked him if he was Jewish. Of course, he said yes. I introduced myself as the rabbi of the new Jewish center in town, and invited him to join us.
“When I got back into the car, I called Rabbi Druk back and told him he was right. I had gotten lost for a reason. I’d found another Jew!”
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