Some people take to a new job and hit the ground running. That can certainly be said about Rabbi Shlomo Litvin and his wife, Chaya Shoshana (known to all as “Shoshi”), who before the High Holidays officially launched the Chabad House at the University of Kentucky in Lexington.
For months, the Litvins—both of whom grew up as children of Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries—had been commuting 75 miles from Louisville, Kentucky’s largest city, to Lexington, where the University of Kentucky is located. They settled near the university in August.
The rabbi knows the area well, having grown up in a Chabad House in Louisville, where he attended the only Jewish day school in Kentucky. “The school was run by my mother,” he explains. “In addition to the solid Jewish education and identity the school fostered, it was a strong general education, and my fellow graduates were well-prepared as they went on to attend top rabbinical schools, as well as to New York University, Columbia University and so many other great programs.”
The new Chabad center—Chabad of the Bluegrass—is a branch of Chabad of Kentucky in Louisville, under the leadership of Rabbi Shlomo Litvin’s parents, Rabbi Avrohom and Goldie Litvin, who have also run Chabad programs in Lexington for the last 30 years.
As with all Chabad Houses, the new center will provide educational, social and cultural events for Jewish students at the University of Kentucky and other nearby universities, and for Jewish individuals and families living in the surrounding area. The younger Litvins, both 25, estimate that of the 30,000 students in total at the university, approximately 1,000 are Jewish.
“Our focus now,” says the rabbi, “is on them.”
Catering to Diverse Needs
Since 2011, the University of Kentucky has also had a Jewish president, Eli Capilouto. “He has been very supportive of us and of Jewish life on campus,” attests Litvin.
The rabbi says that the administration has invested heavily in the University of Kentucky Medical Center and the student dorms—the latter of which has not only improved the campus, but contributed tremendously towards bringing in new students. Capilouto has also reached out to potential Jewish students, speaking to those affiliated with Jewish peer groups and institutions. Most recently, he hosted a large Rosh Hashanah gathering in his home.
According to the Litvins, “the university draws students from all over the country and the world.” As such, the Chabad couple will cater to their diverse needs. The new Chabad House—the only one in eastern Kentucky—will serve as a branch under the Chabad of Kentucky.
Rabbi Litvin notes that the University of Kentucky has received prestige on several fronts, from academics to athletics, including for the University hospital, the Kentucky Wildcats and its Judaic-studies program.
Lexington is the second biggest city in Kentucky, with a Jewish population of approximately 2,000.
Adjusting to a Slower Pace
While the rabbi spent much of his life in Kentucky, Shoshi Litvin was raised in Brooklyn, N.Y. She is the daughter of Rabbi Yonason and Laya Biggs, Chabad emissaries in Great Neck, N.Y.
After high school, she attended a teaching seminary in Israel and worked at a Chabad center in New Orleans. Once married, she and her husband worked at a Chabad House in Australia before relocating to Kentucky earlier this year.
Shoshi Litvin is already getting used to the differences between Kentucky and New York. “I find it very relaxing and laid-back, with a slower pace,” she says. “Being from New York, I’m used to people being so busy. The pace here really lends itself to a particular shlichus style. For example, there’s time during the week for people to meet the rabbi for a coffee date.”
The rabbi adds that they will host Friday-night meals every week, as well as weekly classes on the Torah portion. There will be monthly bonfires and a spiritual retreat for the students. And, of course, all kinds of programs will focus on Jewish holidays. Along those lines, he says they held a very successful pizza party this year in their mobile sukkah placed near the campus library.
“It’s very exciting for Jewish students, and for me personally, that the rabbi and his wife have moved here,” says Misha Meerkov, a fourth-year general surgery resident at the university’s hospital, who relocated to Kentucky from Ann Arbor, Mich. “The new Chabad House fills an important niche for Jewish students. Until they arrived, there was little Jewish activity on campus.”
Meerkov says he hopes to participate in Chabad events as much as his schedule allows, including davening (prayer), Shabbat meals, Saturday-night post-Havdalah bonfires and other events. “The Litvins are playing a valuable role in the community,” he says, “and now I am meeting other Jewish students who I never would have known if not for them.”
On Friday, Nov. 6, Shoshi Litvin will host a “Women’s Shabbat” at the Chabad House. Those interested in attending can email the Chabad center: here
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