In 5732 (1972), the Rebbe celebrated his 70th birthday. On that occasion, he called for the establishment of 70 new Chabad institutions. Rabbi Shlomo Cunin, director of Chabad activities in California, undertook to establish 10 of these by setting up 10 new Chabad Houses in that state.

At the same farbrengen, Rabbi Cunin brought several of the donors to the Rebbe to present him with the key to the Chabad House that had recently been established on the UCLA campus. The Rebbe told them: “If you’re giving me the key, then it becomes my house. And if it’s my house, I want its doors to be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for anyone in need.”

And he added: “This is going to start a pattern. It will be like a chain-store. Soon there will be Chabad Houses all over the country.”