Chabad of Harlem Everyone Is Welcome

Chabad of Harlem first opened its doors in the fall of 2007, to serve the small but growing Jewish community of Harlem. The vibrant and welcoming synagogue offers a fantastic children’s summer camp and Hebrew School, Torah classes for adults, as well as year-round family friendly events for all the Jewish holidays.

Jews of all backgrounds and traditions—American, Israeli, Sephardic and Ashkenazic—participate at Chabad. Families and singles, traditional and modern, yeshivah educated and secular— everyone is welcome to join our Chabad family.

Chabad of Harlem was established by Rabbi Shaya Gansbourg A”H. In 2004. Upon returning from a trip to Florida where he was visiting his elderly father Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh Ganbsourg, he decided that instead of taking a cab to his home in Crown Heights, he would take the M-60 bus to Manhattan and from 125th Street, he would take the train the rest of the way.

When he noticed big name stores, like Staples, Marshalls and Old Navy on 125th Street, ever the adventurer, Rabbi Ganbsourg decided to walk around a little. Then he saw Starbucks. As he told the story many times afterwards, “I thought to myself, in the whole of Brooklyn (at least at that time) there’s only one Starbucks. Why would there be a Starbucks on 125th Street? There must be something happening here. I’m going to open a Chabad Center in Harlem.”

With the support of his wife Goldie, co-founder and director of Chabad of Harlem, the project took off. They began with outreach on the City College campus and soon after, thanks to the generous support of Mr. Boruch Singer, they established a Chabad Center for the Harlem community.

Rabbi Shaya and Goldie established the Chabad Club of City College with the help of Professor David Rumschitzki, Rabbi Shaya’s good friend and faculty advisor to both Chabad and Hillel Clubs. On Chol Hamoed of that year, Rabbi Shaya assembled a prefab sukkah at the college. He was a man who liked to do things big, so it wasn’t enough just to have a sukkah, he also presented a huge concert on campus. When Jewish students and faculty heard familiar tunes coming from the center of the campus, they went to investigate and were pleasantly surprised to see a beautiful sukkah, and to be greeted by Rabbi Shaya, Goldie, and son Rabbi Yossel, as well as other family members who invited them into the Sukkah. There they were given the opportunity to make a bracha and shake the lulav and the etrog. Thus, Chabad Club of City College was established.

A couple of years later, the Gansbourgs were introduced to Mr. Boruch Singer, who comes from a prestigious rabbinical family. He decided to partner with Chabad of Harlem, allowing Rabbi Shaya to open a Chabad House inside a building he owned, in Central Harlem, on 118 Street.

The Chabad of Harlem reached out to young Jewish families that had moved to the neighborhood for the beautiful and affordable real estate, which was easily accessible to Midtown and Downtown Manhattan. Rabbi Shaya and Goldie began hosting children’s programs and events before each major Jewish holiday. They threw a community Hanuka party, a Purim party, and a Pesach Seder and  they invited people to join them for Shabbat morning services. As the community became more established, and young families grew a bit older, Chabad Hebrew School was opened. Chabad’s Hebrew School program has grown to include two classes and provides a full curriculum which instills a love of Judaism in its students.

It took many years for the Shabbat Minyan to become self-sustaining. The Gansbourgs invited everyone to come to 118 Street for Mincha every day—and everyone replied that it was too far away. Then someone told Rabbi Yossel to call Stephen Betesh, who suggested they have the Minyan on 125th Street. He called people he knew, they found a couple of shopkeepers who said they would try to come and some office workers, then for a bonus, right on top of Stephen’s electronics store there’s a branch of Touro College called The Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, and some of their faculty and students joined the Minyan. The rest is history. Now close to 20 people attend on most days, and they have not missed a workday Minyan since they began.

In 2011, Rabbi Gansbourg,  and Goldie initiated the writing of the first Torah scroll in Harlem in more than seven decades. “We wanted our own Torah for the community,” said Rabbi Shaya. “We’ll read from it and dance with it. It will illuminate and guide our community and will bring blessing to all of us.” On Sunday, October 27, 2013, the Torah was completed and welcomed to the community. Sadly, Rabbi Shaya was not there to see it. On February 17, 2013, Rabbi Shaya passed away, tragically and prematurely, but his labor of love continues. It is now headed by his son and daughter–in-law, Rabbi Yossel and Mushka Gansbourg.

Rabbi Yossel said, “The more we work here, the more we realize, the most effective way for a community to grow, and for more Jews to take part in the programs, is through education—and not just for the children. It is just as important for the adults to be educated. We began teaching a Tuesday night Parashah class in the Chabad House. We are now a registered affiliate of the Jewish Learning Institute’s weekly Parashah class curriculum, a prepared series of Torah classes based on a theme from the week’s Parashah.” The class is very popular, and every week attendance is growing.

Rabbi Yossel sees this as the beginning of a much larger adult education effort. He would like all  the Jews of Harlem to appreciate their heritage and traditions. “When we can appreciate our traditions, we also tend to fulfill them in a fuller manner, and with much joy.”

Rabbi Yossel and Mushka would like to build a mikva in the neighborhood. “It is important for such an essential mitzvah like mikva to be readily available and accessible to all Jewish women in the neighborhood. This is the foundation for a healthy Jewish family, and in turn for a healthy Jewish community.”

They recently began the Shabbat Story Hour for little children  every Shabbat in an adjacent apartment to the shul. They are also planning a program once a month for children who have outgrown the story hour—a Shabbat Children’s Adventure (for ages 5-8 years).

This past Sukkot, Chabad held the first ever Harlem Sukkah Hop! Children and their parents visited a few sukkahs in the neighborhood. It was amazing for community members to see how much Judaism in the area has grown.

Rabbi Yossel feels that this is just the beginning of many more exciting things to come to the Jewish community in Harlem.

Chabad of Harlem can be contacted through their website www.jewishharlem.com