Chabad of Greater Boynton To Expand and Open New Satellite Chabad Centers

Jill Shayna Brody – Lubavitch.com

Rabbi Sholom and Dini Ciment. (photo: Susan L. Friend for Lubavitch.com)

BOYNTON BEACH, FL — A demographic survey commissioned by the Jewish Federation recently established Boynton Beach as the fastest growing Jewish community in the country, and the most densely populated Jewish area outside of Israel. In 1987, there were 9,300 Jews in Boynton Beach. The survey taken in 2005 reported a whopping 58,000, and most recently demographer Dr. Ira Sheskin estimated the Jewish population in the Greater Boynton area at 86,000.

If the 400 guests at Sunday evening’s dinner celebrating the Bar Mitzvah year of Chabad of Boynton Beach were any indication, this community seems to be growing younger as it grows in number.

Many credit the dynamic activities of Chabad’s Rabbi Sholom and Dini Ciment with contributing to a marked change in the demographic profile of this area once considered a retirement community in the suburbs of southern Florida.

Thirteen years ago, the Jewish population was scattered, numbering only 15,000. There was barely a Jewish infrastructure, says Rabbi Ciment, recalling that during the family’s first week here he was “advised to go home.” There seemed to be no interest in his vision.

But Ciment followed his convictions, and took his cue from the Rebbe’s blessings.

Today, the community he built quite literally from the ground up, has outgrown its $4 million, 15,000 square foot facility, prompting Chabad of Boynton Beach to acquire the adjacent 2.5 acres of property on El Clair Ranch Road.

At Sunday night’s dinner, Rabbi Ciment announced the launching of a $10 million expansion on the adjacent property.

Article continued (Lubavitch.com)