Chabad House creates inviting environment

Chabad, a Hebrew acronym for the three intellectual faculties — chochmah for wisdom, binah for understanding and da’at for knowledge — has ties around the world.
 
Here at IU, the Chabad House, also known as the Jewish Student Center, has been the home for Jewish students and community members. Rabbi Yehoshua Chincholker, co-director of the center, and his wife, Zlata Chincholker, migrated from Israel and opened the Chabad House in the 1980s.

“We target all types of Jews. From observing backgrounds to non-observing backgrounds, from Jews that come from highly-religious Jewish families to Jews that were separated from organized Jewish communities,” said graduate student Alex Groysman, president of Chabad House located at the corner of Indiana Avenue and Seventh Street.

A student board assists them in operating the center’s affairs, including cultural activities and kosher meals.

Groysman said the center tries to have activities that make Jewish students feel at home, including kosher meals on Friday nights.

Besides these services, the center celebrates all major Jewish holidays, Groysman said. On Sept. 9, the center will celebrate the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah.

Throughout the year, the center will also work with different Greek organizations, such as Zeta Beta Tau and Sigma Delta Tau, as well as non-profit organizations such as The David Project and the Indiana Israel Public Affairs Committee.

This fall, the center is offering an educational program called The Sinai Scholars Society, which introduces students across the country to a significant Jewish cultural experience. Students who want to participate in the program will meet once a week in the form of an open seminar.

Chincholker will lead the seminar, which features teaching the Ten Commandments and how they apply to daily life.

“It’s a great program because it gets people to learn the foundation of Jewish religion and culture,” Groysman said. “Students will have discussion sessions featuring Jewish text study, and sometimes they will write a paper on the materials they read.”

The program will provide a stipend of $350 for students who take the course, and they will also receive college credit from the School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation.

Groysman said all the programs and activities the center coordinates on campus serve to create an open environment for everybody, regardless of religious observance and affiliation.

He said this Chabad House on campus is no different than any other Chabad House around the world in terms of serving that purpose.

Groysman traveled this summer around the Middle East. One Friday he ended up in Cyprus, a country with a relatively small Jewish population. But that night Groysman was amazed when he met more than 100 Jews in a Chabad House, an experience that gave him something to think about.

“I found that all these Jews came from different countries all over the world with different education and backgrounds,” he said. “But this Chabad House brought them together and to share the meal. It’s the mission of Chabad to provide services and kosher meals to Jewish people.”

The center at IU sees 50 to 60 people any given Friday night, talking about their weeks and sharing a meal.

Another program the center coordinates is a free trip to Israel through Taglit-Birthright Israel. Jewish young adults ages 18 to 26 have the chance to take educational trips to Israel. The program typically coordinates three trips a year.

Mayanot Institute of Jewish Studies, one of Taglit-Birthright Israel’s largest financial supporters, provides 10-day trips that consist of adventurous tours around Israeli cities, as well as cultural discussions and activities.

Groysman said each trip usually accommodates about 40 people.

“This allows Jews who have never been to Israel to make connections with their homeland,” he said.

Groysman went on one of the trips in the winter and described it as “a miraculous experience.”