Chabad

Original Article Published On The Chabad.ORG

KINGSTON, N.Y.—Rabbi Y. Yitzhak Hecht’s sense of humor is as admirable as his sense of determination. When I arrived at Congregation Agudas Achim, he greeted me enthusiastically and playfully with his smartphone in hand, ready to capture my reaction when he introduced me to my namesake, longtime shul member Howard Blas.

“Howard Blas, meet Howard Blas!” exclaimed the rabbi as we moved along into the congregation’s library and beit midrash, where the he shared news of a state-of-the-art mikvah set to open on Oct. 24, offered updates on daily Torah classes he conducts online with other Hudson Valley rabbis and enthused about the ongoing expansion of Chabad of Ulster County—just 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of New York City and 60 miles (95 kilometers) south of Albany.

When Hecht first walked into the synagogue 20 years ago, just a few days after the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001, the once-thriving 137-year-old Orthodox synagogue had fallen on hard times. The city and its Jewish community had been decimated by the departure of its biggest employer six years earlier. Only two people attended Simchat Torah services the year before, and the shul had six rabbis in seven years, recalls local potter and artist Howard Vichinsky.

But the congregation found the hard-working and good-natured rabbi and his wife, Leah, irresistible, and they have been serving and helping grow the community ever since. Their own family has grown as well with seven of their eight children natives of Kingston.

Today, with more people than ever before working remotely, Kingston is becoming a destination for Jewish families in search of open space, good air quality, scenic views, small-town warmth, culture and access to Jewish life. The quaint city on the west bank of the Hudson River has an area of 8.6 square miles and 1.3 square miles, and is about a two-hour commute from New York City.

At the groundbreaking for Kingston’s new mikvah are, l. to r. Rabbi Avrohom Boruch Itkin, Rabbi Y. Yitzhak Hecht, Leah Hecht, Binie Itkin. (File photo)

The Ups and Downs of a Hudson Valley City

Kingston has had many ups and downs in its history, briefly serving as New York State’s capital in 1777 before it was burned to the ground by the British. The city flourished in the 19th century when natural cement was discovered in the area, and with its proximity to the Hudson River and connection to the transcontinental railroad system, it became an important transportation hub.

Jewish families began to settle in the city; in 1864, Congregation Agudas Achim was established by Jewish immigrants from the city of Amdur in Belarus. In the early 20th century, Kingston’s coal and cement industries began to decline. Small machine manufacturing and garment production soon grew, followed by the biggest boom in the city’s history: the arrival of IBM.

In 1954, the computing giant built a 2.5 million-square-foot factory and research center in Kingston and employed more than 7,100 workers at its peak, making up as much as 30 percent of the local economy.

In 1995, IBM abruptly closed its doors and left the city, abandoning the factory. Thousands of people were impacted, and many simply left.

Blas, who has served as shul president four times, worked for IBM for four years. His in-laws have been connected to Kingston and to the Jewish community there for decades. His wife’s grandparents were members, and his daughter is the fifth generation to be davening here, Hecht tells Chabad.org. They have experienced Kingston’s ups and downs firsthand.

Invitation to opening of Mikvah

Blas recalls the years when the shul dwindled to only 25 members. “Chabad came in 2001. The Sept. 11 terror attacks happened that year, and Rabbi Hecht got here for Rosh Hashanah. The great energy he and his wife had at the start has only increased 10 times since then.”

“He started with a Sunday minyan, which we almost never had,” continues Blas. “Then he began Tuesday minyan with coffee and danishes.”

Blas credits fellow congregant, longtime president and dear friend Howard Vichinsky for getting him more involved in the shul. “I came because of him, and Shabbat was always a big thing for me.”

Today, the congregation has a daily morning minyan, and a full roster of services for locals and guests.
The Kingston congregation is more than 150 years old.

Roots in the Community

The Hechts have roots in the area that date back to the rabbi’s childhood. In 1953, his grandparents, Rabbi J.J. and Rebbetzin Chava Hecht, founded Camp Emunah in Greenfield Park, N.Y. Camp Emunah is the first girl’s overnight camp in the world of Lubavitch. The Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory—personally visited the camp. Of the three times the Rebbe travelled outside of New York City after ascending to the leadership of Chabad-Lubavitch, all three were to Camp Gan Israel and Camp Emunah.

Howard and Renee Vichinsky moved from Brooklyn to Kingston in 1983 and have been actively involved since 1984. “I have been president for the last 26 years and gabbai for seven years,” reports Howard proudly. He, too, experienced Kingston’s ups and downs and worked hard to keep the shul going.

He observes, “over time, things change in a rural community. Kids go to college and don’t come back. Jewish farmers no longer farm. Businesses close. By the late 90s, we were in low tide.” He pointed out sadly, “One Simchat Torah, me and another guy—we danced with the Torah.”

Vichinsky also emphasized the toll that IBM’s closing had on the community. “Losing 4,000 jobs in a community of 24,000 was a lot. The community took a big hit.”

(Map: Chabad Locator/Google maps)

‘There are Reasons Why We Don’t Have a Rabbi’

As the community’s numbers dwindled, Vischinsky approached a rosh yeshivah in Monsey, N.Y., who agreed to send rabbinical students every other week to keep the shul alive. This arrangement went on for several years.

“In 2001, Rabbi Hecht knocked on my door and said, ‘I’d like to be the rabbi of the shul.” I explained, ‘There are reasons we don’t have a rabbi.’ Vichinsky was intrigued with Hecht’s unusual offer, acknowledging that “the congregation was a little nervous. They had no familiarity with Chabad. We took a chance, and it has been a wonderful partnership. It was the right combination. It is Chabad’s mission to bring in and bring Jews back to tradition. I have been very happy!”

Vichinsky details some of Hecht’s additional accomplishments, including the Jewish Summer Fellowship. “Ivy League Torah Study—a woman’s summer Torah-study program—needed a home, so we cut the social hall in half and made seven rooms.”

Seven beautifully furnished guest rooms are used regularly by visitors to the community. “There is a very good head trauma center in Kingston, and family members have stayed over several times. Or people who want to spend the High Holidays out in the country stay here.”

Vichinsky, a self-described baal teshuvah, enjoys learning and appreciates the many classes Hecht and other Chabad rabbis in the area give. “For me, it is an important part of my life.” Vichinsky participated in an earlier learning initiative of Hecht’s—a 10-year weekly study of the entire Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, the popular abridgement of the “Code of Jewish Law” authored by 19th-century Rabbi Shlomo Ganzfried. Their efforts were celebrated in a communal siyyum (completion ceremony) in 2016.

Kingston’s Jewish community is looking forward to again gathered in town on Chanukah for the menorah lighting. (File photo)

A Daily Connection That Will Survive the Pandemic

Hecht has built an extensive learning program that involves other area shluchim and has continued virtually during the coronavirus pandemic, including Rabbi Mendy Karczag of Chabad of Woodstock, Rabbi Moshe Plotkin of Chabad of New Paltz, Rabbi Avrohom Itkin of Chabad of Greene County and Rabbi Shlomie Deren of Chabad of Ellenville. “Daily Connection classes were at 9 a.m. and 9 p.m.—every 12 hours,” Hecht noted proudly. He invited the Woodstock rabbi to teach Tanya on Mondays, and the New Paltz rabbi to teach about holidays on Tuesdays. Hecht leads a “Shmooze with Friends” class on Wednesdays, and Rabbi Yaakov Raskin teaches parsha on Thursdays.

Hecht is proud of the learning program he has designed and built. “It is here to stay, no matter what, even after the pandemic.” And it reaches far beyond Kingston. Hecht references a member of the community who recently relocated to a small town in Mexico, noting that “she has her Yiddishkeit and community because of this.”

Vichinsky and Hecht speak with excitement about the mikvah, which will soon serve the community. Hecht has also helped expand the Chabad shluchim presence in Kingston and in Ulster County, noting that now “my sister and brother-in-law are here in Kingston. My brother and sister-in-law are 20 minutes away in Rhinebeck. And more young people are coming here.”

In addition, there has been a Chabad presence on the SUNY New Paltz campus—14 miles to the south—since the Plotkin family arrived 17 years ago. Vichinsky notes that “they do wonderful work with the college students. It gives them a religious alternative in a liberal college.”

Hecht has seen a shift in Kingston’s Jewish community over the years, “from mostly 50-year-oldplus adults who attended shul mostly on the High Holidays to younger singles and married couples in their upper 20s and 30s.”

He notes another important sign of growth—the fact that “we are slowly finding more kosher products in the stores.” Kingston isn’t far from major Jewish population centers with extensive selections of kosher food; both Monsey and Albany are an hour away.

The local Chabad shluchim have also found a creative solution for helping their children receive a Jewish education. “Four shluchim families drive their kids each day to Albany,” reports Hecht.

Families relocating from urban areas are already finding Kingston to be a desirable destination. Vichinsky has already noticed that “some families left the city during Covid and came to Kingston. It is touted as a place to be.”

Musician Ellie Macias had been planning to relocate from Brooklyn to Kingston even before the pandemic. In 2018, as their children got older and some were already out of the house, he and his wife purchased a house in Historic Hurley. They completed renovations just before March 2020. “Being in nature was very attractive.” Macias noticed a movement of others seeking an “alternative lifestyle and wanting to be in nature.”

Kingston’s cultural life also appealed to Macias. “There is a movement of musicians to the Hudson Valley. It has become a center for musicians.” Macias, originally from Gibraltar, studied Ladino Flamenco and jazz guitar at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. He now has a recording studio in his house.

Macias has noticed some young couples moving into town and feels there is “potential for more people to start to come.”

He acknowledges that the marketing of a shul can be a challenge. But he credits Hecht for his ongoing efforts to grow the community. “They are a great team, and they are amazing shluchim in terms of how much they give of themselves. They know everyone and genuinely enjoy chatting with everyone,” says Macias.

Macias is particularly pleased by the thriving congregation, as he has been saying kaddish daily this year in the synagogue thanks to the minyan there.

He also sees great potential in the future of Kingston as a whole: “It is a well-kept secret but once people know about this ideal lifestyle, they will come.”

Vichinsky feels the secret is already getting out. “Chabad in the Hudson Valley has grown exponentially over the last decade,” he says. As Hecht steps back and reflects on what the shluchim families have accomplished thus far in Ulster County, he reports: “This is what the Rebbe wanted from us—to see and feel a need, and to fill the needs of the community.”

Read more

Original Article Published On The eJP

By Helen Chernikoff

As a longtime administrator in the field of disability services, Avrohom Adler had gotten countless phone calls from people in the Jewish community seeking a service provider either on their own behalf, or for a family member or friend. He would do what he could to help them, but his inability to know the outcome nagged at him. Spurred by those experiences, he’s created a database, under the auspices of the Orthodox Union’s (OU) Yachad division, that aims to provide a central address for high-quality referrals, Adler told eJewishPhilanthropy.

“This has been something that I personally have been thinking about for 10 years,” said Adler, Yachad’s international director. “Any organization that provides supports for people with disabilities deals with this. You try to do your best, but there’s no way to follow up.”

Called REACH, the service will initially serve the New York region, although Yachad, which means “together,” plans to expand it to cover the United States. It will offer recommendations for government-funded programs, educational institutions, social and recreational programs, therapists, lawyers, advocates and social workers. Yachad draws on the entire Jewish community in compiling its database, in addition to non-sectarian organizations, such as JCCs, the Rebecca School, located in Manhattan, and Brooklyn’s Strivright/Auditory Oral School of New York.

“This is not a Yachad network,” Adler said of REACH. “This belongs to the community.”

REACH’s director spent a year researching the community’s offerings in order to create the database. Licensed professionals will train a team to operate the database and to work with the families, Adler said.

Founded in 1983, Yachad operates in the United States, Canada and Israel. Adler estimates that Yachad programs serve about 1,000 people annually. The OU was founded in 1898, and has over 400 congregations in its network, in addition to serving as the umbrella organization for NCSY, its youth group; OU Press; Yachad and other programs.

No one organization can serve every person or every need, Adler said — hence the database. He said the team that created the service is “most proud” of the technology, because it will help mitigate the natural human bias of the staff member answering the call.

Employees of Yachad, Adler said by way of example, might feel inclined — even unconsciously — to refer callers to a Yachad program over another. REACH’s software will generate the referrals after the staffer enters the caller’s information into the system. The initial call will take about 35 minutes, and the recommendations will be sent to the caller in an email. REACH will also follow up with surveys to evaluate the quality of the interaction, the referrals and the outcome, which will be fed back into the system, Adler said.

“It comes down to: How did everybody perform, including Yachad?” Adler said. “If people aren’t happy, and it wasn’t a good referral, we have to know that.”

The emergence of such an ecumenical project in the disabilities world does not surprise Howard Blas, director of the Conservative Movement’s Ramah Tikvah Network of summer programs for children with disabilities. “This is one of the places in the Jewish world where people really collaborate nicely. There’s a lot of crossover,” he said, mentioning that a third of the children in the Tikvah network come from Orthodox homes, and that he admires Chabad’s Friendship Circle program, which helps children with disabilities and their families establish relationships.

People with disabilities and their families will find REACH useful, especially in its ability to help callers understand and access government benefits, said Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, president of RespectAbility, a disability service and advocacy organization.

Some organizations, such as the Jewish Board, address this need for information by compiling lists of available services and providers on their websites. The lists can be challenging for their creators to keep updated and for users to sort through, said Adler, who worked at the Jewish Board for most of his career.

“All the information in the world that we need is out there, but we need aggregators and organizers to help us access it,” Blas said. “REACH is like a concierge service.”

Read more

Original Article Published On The Chabad.org

Professor Stephen Shore has an important place at the table—not only in the world of autism but at Shabbat and study tables at Chabad Houses around the world.

Shore, who is autistic himself, is clinical assistant professor at Adelphi University’s Ruth S. Ammon School of Education and a universally respected authority on the condition. For a number of years, he has been a frequent visitor of Chabad Houses from Texas to Moscow to Shanghai.

“I travel around the world and am usually in at least one country a month to talk about autism,” he tells Chabad.org. I always try to visit the local Chabad wherever I am.”

Shore does not keep his love for Chabad to himself. While in a city for a conference, he has been known to bring fellow conference attendees to Chabad as well. Shelly Christensen, a disabilities inclusion advocate, author of From Longing to Belonging—A Practical Guide to Including People with Disabilities and Mental Health Conditions in Your Faith Community and a member of the Ruderman Chabad Inclusion Initiative (RCII) core team, first met Shore at an Autism Society of America conference and they kept in touch, presenting together at conferences and often sending each other “Shabbat Shalom” text messages.

“When the Autism Society of America conference was in Milwaukee, we were excited to receive an invitation to come to Shabbos dinner from Rabbi and Rebbetzin Shmotkin of Chabad-Lubavitch of Wisconsin,” reports Christensen, who attended with her colleague and friend. “Sitting at their table, warmed by the glowing candles, we each said a blessing, enjoyed a meal that reminded me of my bubby’s Shabbos dinners, and shared our stories and how Judaism inspired our work.”

With his experience on campus as a professor and with Chabad worldwide, Shore was asked four years ago by Rabbi Yankel Lipsker of Chabad at Adelphi, right, to serve as a faculty advisor to Chabad.

Lectures and Presentations Around the World

Shore has taught and given workshops—impromptu and formal—at Chabad Houses around the world. In China, Rabbi Shalom D. Greenberg of the Shanghai Jewish Centers invited Shore to speak about autism. He has delivered more formal presentations on autism at Chabad of West Hempstead, N.Y., and at the Friendship Circle New Jersey in Livingston, N.J.

Closer to home, Shore has delivered Shabbat lectures for Chabad on Campus-Garden City at Adelphi University. With all of his experience both on campus as a professor, and with Chabad worldwide, he was asked four years ago by Rabbi Yankel Lipsker of Chabad at Adelphi to serve as faculty advisor to Chabad. He graciously accepted the offer.

In addition to Shore’s hundreds of conference presentations and articles, he has written three books: Understanding Autism for Dummies (2006), Ask and Tell: Self-Advocacy and Disclosure for People on the Autism Spectrum (2004) and Beyond the Wall: Personal Experiences with Autism and Asperger Syndrome (2003).

Shore with a mitzvah-tank outside a Russian center where he was lecturing

Shore, who holds a doctorate in education and a master’s degree in music education, has been known to play “Tumbalalaika” on random pianos he discovers in such public places as international airports. “It is one of the songs my parents played as part of the early intervention period.” Shore lost language skills before the age of 4 before starting to get them back. He was deemed “too sick” for outpatient therapy, and his parents were told to institutionalize him. Shore openly shares his personal story at conferences and at Chabad Houses around the world.

Found Chabad on the High Holidays

Shore was introduced to Chabad “about five or six years ago,” when he was commuting between his home and family in Newton, Mass., and the university. “The High Holidays were coming, and I said, ‘Let me see if I can find a shul,” he reports. Shore was warmly welcomed at Chabad of Mineola by Rabbi Anchelle Perl. “They called me for an aliyah, and I kept going.”

He returned to Chabad for Shabbat dinner. “Rabbi Perl invited me for dinner in his home. It was a pretty cool thing.” Shore learned that there were also services on Saturday morning. He was curious, attended one Shabbat and was delighted. “It was worth it. There was Kiddush after davening.” He playfully notes, “I’ll go anywhere with food.”

Shore says, “I learned that if I stuck around a little longer, there was mincha after lunch. That seemed reasonable.” He has been hooked ever since, regularly attending services at the Chabad both Fridays and Saturdays when he’s on Long Island.

Shore has spent many Shabbats at Chabad in Moscow, where he was given a tour of the 11-story building by Rabbi Yaakov Klein, executive director of the International Jewish Community of Moscow.

An International Travel Companion

“When I realized that Chabad was international and is a big network, I thought, ‘Maybe I can go wherever I am,’ ” exclaims Shore, who began seeking out Chabad Houses and rabbis whenever he was in town for a conference over Shabbat. “I have probably been to more Chabads than anyone I know.”

“It is fascinating to see the variations and similarities,” the professor continues, noting that “wherever Chabad is, when you step over the threshold, you may as well be in Brooklyn.” Shore notes that some services are longer, some are shorter; there is more singing in some places and less singing in others; there are different melodies sung during the services, and the physical setup varies widely. “It can be really small, with services in the rabbi’s house, or it can seat hundreds,” yet there is something that makes them all seem as one, observes Shore.

When Shore is at a Chabad center, he is happy to give back. Once the local Chabad rabbi learns of the professor’s impressive credentials, he is often invited to give a short talk on the spot or a longer one the next day. “I tend to connect my Chabad talk to my life as an autistic person, so I focus on that, and throw in things I will be presenting at the upcoming conference.”

In his discussion, Shore often shares a moving story and video of the Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory—speaking on two occasions with the parents of an autistic boy who lived in an institution in England. “I like to talk about these two short video clips of the Rebbe. He seems to intuitively know and use a strength-based approach. He tells the father that the son should have a pushke [charity box] in his room and remind all visitors to put money in the pushke for tzedakah.”

Shore with Igor Shpitsberg, Director of Our Sunny World, a rehabilitation center in Moscow for children with autistic spectrum disorders.

Shore will sometimes go to great lengths to get to a Chabad House. “I was speaking at a conference and hunted down a Chabad House a few miles away,” reports Shore, who chanced upon Rabbi Yitzchok Schmukler and Chabad of the Bay Area in League City, Texas. “I had such a good time that when I was back in Texas and was 90 miles away, I rented a car so I could drive over!”

In Vancouver, Canada, Shore was pleased to find the Chabad-Lubavitch Okanagan in Kelowna, British Columbia, was within walking distance of his hotel. “I called up and came for Shabbat dinner. I got there and found the smallest Chabad I had ever seen. It was just the rabbi—Rabbi Shmuly Hecht, his family and one guest. Despite the small crowd, Shore observes, “I never saw more enthusiastic singing and dancing!” The rabbi intended to walk Shore halfway to his hotel. Before they knew it, they were at the hotel, where Shore reports there was “more dancing.”

The next day, Shore learned that the rabbi had a profound Jewish experience on his way home. Rabbi Hecht spotted a group of college students, potentially drunk, and he was a bit fearful. One person asked him, “Hey, are you Jewish?” The rabbi replied tentatively, “Yes, I am.” A Polish youth from the group explained that he, too, was Jewish, and was having a hard time fitting in. The rabbi, in his traditional Shabbat attire, replied, “Well, do you think I fit in?!” The two connected. The rabbi called Shore to tell him, “Hashem had a reason for me to walk you all the way to the hotel.”

Shore with Rabbi Berel Lazar, the chief rabbi of Russia

Shore has spent many Shabbats at the Chabad in Moscow, where he was given a tour of the impressive 11-story Chabad building by Rabbi Yaakov Klein, executive director of the International Jewish Community of Moscow. “It is the biggest Chabad I have ever seen,” reports Shore, noting their two restaurants, gyms and study halls. “It is like Chabad meets JCC!” When Klein learned of Shore’s work, he felt Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar should meet him. Shore was delighted, affirming that “they do a mean Shabbos. The dinner was amazing, and I got to do a good tefillin wrap while in Moscow.”

While his travels have slowed down due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, he is eager to get back on the road to share his experience with and knowledge of autism with the world—and, he says, to “nourish his neshamah [soul]” with Chabad in places near and far.

Read more

Original Article Published On The Jerusalem Post

The Danish Jewish Museum in Copenhagen presents 400 years of Jewish life in Denmark.

This High Holy Days period – when most synagogues around the world have made the difficult decision to tell members not to come for in-person services – I am transported back to a special Yom Kippur four years ago at Copenhagen’s Great Synagogue.

I spent the holiday in the synagogue where the current rabbi, Jair Melchior’s great-grandfather, Chief Rabbi Marcus Melchior, also told the congregation on Rosh Hashanah Eve 1943 (September 29) not to come for Rosh Hashanah services. His congregants were not facing a pandemic; rather the Jews of Denmark were facing a roundup and likely extermination by the Nazis.

The miraculous outcome for nearly all of the Jews of Denmark offers inspiration and hope to all of us living through difficult times.

A compassionate German diplomat tipped off Rabbi Melchior, who stood at the bimah and urged the Jews to hide or flee, and to share the urgent message with their friends and family members. Non-Jews in Denmark mobilized and hid Jews in homes, churches, convents, schools and hospitals.

Nearly 7,200 Jews and 680 of their non-Jewish family members were helped to safety by Danish fishermen who shuttled the Jews by fishing boats across the water separating Denmark from Sweden. Nearly 500 Danish Jews who did not make it out in the fall of 1943 were eventually deported to the Czech town of Terezin, or Theresienstadt in German. Yad Vashem planted a tree in the Avenue of the Righteous Among the Nations in honor of the Danish underground and its rescue of the Jews.

I think of this incredible story every Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. I had the wonderful opportunity to pray with the Jewish community of Copenhagen for slihot (penitential poems and prayers) and Shacharit (morning services) during the week leading up to Yom Kippur, and for all Yom Kippur services. My wife and several other observant Jews were in Copenhagen for a conference and knew it would be impossible to return home to America or Israel in time for the start of the holiday. Some left the conference early; a handful were lucky enough to experience Yom Kippur in Copenhagen.

On my early morning walks through the dark streets of Copenhagen to the synagogue built in 1833, on Krystalgade 12, and during my long daily walks through the beautiful city, I learned that there are many reminders of the Holocaust, both obvious and subtle. A fellow worshiper, a 6th-generation Dane who informed me of the sizable Danish-Jewish community in Ra’anana I never knew about, pointed out a nondescript law office building that once served as Nazi headquarters and was rebuilt after a bombing by the Allies.

When I first arrived in Denmark, I set out for the Chabad House to introduce myself to Rabbi Yitzi and Rochel Loewenthal, the Chabad shluchim (emissaries), to arrange Shabbat and holiday meals. The Chabad House, located at 10 Ole Suhrs Gade, is on a street with old-world charm, between the Botanical Gardens and Sortedams Lake. A careful observer may spot a green door with a mezuzah – and a gold sign overhead that reads: Chabad Huset, or Chabad House. The building was once used as Nazi headquarters.

IT IS now the Chabad House and the home of the Loewenthals, who arrived in Copenhagen in 1996 to serve the Danish-Jewish community. This community traces its history in Denmark back to the 1600s. In the early 1600s, King Christian IV founded the town of Glückstadt and allowed Albert Dionis, a Jewish merchant, to settle in the city. He later extended this right to a few other Jews in 1628. Jews were offered protection, and the right to hold private religious services and maintain their own cemetery, which they founded in 1693. Since 1900, another Jewish cemetery has been used as the burial ground in Copenhagen for more than 6,000 Jewish people.

By 1780, approximately 1,600 Jews lived in Denmark. At this time, the king instituted a number of reforms that helped Jews integrate more fully into Danish society; they were permitted to attend university, join guilds, build schools and own real estate. In 1814, Danish Jews were granted civic equality; they received full citizenship rights in 1849 – one of the first countries in Europe to do so. Nearly 3,000 Jews came to Denmark in the early 1900s to escape such events in Russia as the Kishinev pogrom of 1903 and the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905.

The Danish Jewish Museum in Copenhagen, designed by architect Daniel Libeskind, presents 400 years of Jewish life in Denmark. The design of the museum offers another reminder of the Holocaust experience in Denmark. The word “mitzvah” constitutes the emblem and concept of the museum, and the museum was reportedly designed around the courage demonstrated by the Danes.

The Chabad House itself contains some important pieces of Danish Jewish history. The England-born rabbi and his American wife, who have learned Danish and continue to speak to their children in English, Yiddish and Hebrew, proudly display two pieces of local history on the wall of the main room of the Chabad House: a 400-year-old coin from King Christian the Fourth, bearing the tetragrammaton in Hebrew; and a yellow Jewish star from the Holocaust.

The Loewenthals have the important responsibility of helping to look after the Danish-Jewish community, which now numbers about 7,000 people. There are few kosher shops or restaurants in Copenhagen, few kosher-certified products in local grocery stores and kosher meat is hard to find and expensive, mainly because of Denmark’s laws prohibiting shechita (kosher ritual slaughter). Thus, all kosher meat must be imported. Rabbi Loewenthal regularly visits companies where he oversees kosher supervision, teaches local Danish school students about Judaism and teaches at the Jewish day school.

Rabbi Loewenthal prays each morning, either next door to the Chabad House at Machsike Hadas (if there is a minyan) or at the Great Synagogue, a 15-minute walk from his home, through the Botanical Gardens or up Gothersgade Street, or even past Rosenborg Castle, the National Gallery of Denmark or Copenhagen University. I met the rabbi at services each pre-Yom Kippur morning. Security was tight, even on a weekday morning, partly as a result of the February 2015 shooting death of Jewish security guard Dan Uzan, 38, by Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein, during a bat mitzvah celebration outside the Great Synagogue.

SECURITY WAS especially tight on Yom Kippur evening, when the entire community assembled for Kol Nidre. A Danish police officer, after questioning those seeking to enter, used a special key to open the shul gate. Flowers outside the synagogue served as a reminder of the killing a year and a half earlier.

I was struck by the range of people – and by their outfits. Some wore fancy dresses, jewels and furs; others wore shorts and Guns & Roses T-shirts. Some stayed for the entire service – led by a cantor and an all-male choir. Some stayed only for the brief Kol Nidre part; yet others left after the very moving reading of “the names” in Danish. The rabbi movingly read the names of the members of the community killed by the Nazis.

Community members were welcoming, though most were not well-versed in the High Holy Day liturgy. The voices of the Israeli cantor and choir were heard while those of congregants were barely audible.

The current chief cantor, Edan Tamler, is a very hip 20-something, American-born Israeli who made aliyah in 2012 and lives in the mixed religious/secular yishuv of Esh’har in the Lower Galilee. Tamler was a contestant on The X Factor Israel TV show in its first season, reaching the finals as part of a boy band named Fusion that the judges built around him. He was subsequently signed by Israeli pop star Ivri Lider, X-Factor judge and mentor to Tamler.

Tamler has been in Denmark for several weeks this August, serving as full-time cantor and teaching music at the Jewish school. “It’s been great to be back in Denmark and getting to pray with a congregation once again,” reports Tamler. “It hasn’t really been possible in Israel since the novel coronavirus started. I’m so excited to be reunited with the community and looking forward to leading the Yamim Noraim (Ten Days of Repentance) services that are less than a month away! It’s a true honor to be able to lead prayers in such a magnificent synagogue and beautiful community with so much history.” The Loewenthals, who provided tasty pre- and post-Yom Kippur sustenance when I was there for the holiday, continue to care for the needs of the community – even during these unusual times. “Obviously COVID-19 has had an effect. Denmark closed down very early, but started reopening in April with the shuls – big and small – opening since Shavuot. We have reopened the shuls – big and small–  albeit with precautions and a limited capacity.

“The same is true of the Chabad House, where we have classes, though most are also online, and for meals we have families sitting together with space between the family groups. We have seen that some people are concerned and stay home, and I suspect that will last for a while. Most families with children are more or less back to normal business. For Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur we are taking precautions and will probably put a tent outside to help accommodate more people in the correct fashion,” says Rochel Loewenthal.

The Lowenthals are busy preparing for the High Holy Days. Yet, she has time to say kind words about the talented young cantor in town. “Edan is a great guy. A wonderful hazan and he brings a youthful perspective and fresh tunes to the shul.”

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in Denmark promise to be meaningful – even during these unusual COVID-19 times.

Read more