Keeping the Jewish spark burning

Four months ago, Rabbi Dovie and Chaya Shapiro came to Flagstaff from Brooklyn, via Miami Beach, to start a special Jewish center in town.

The couple was brought to town by Rabbi Zalman Levertov, regional director of Chabad of Arizona, centered in Phoenix, to establish a Chabad Jewish Center in Flagstaff.

Their goal was to reach out to Jews in the Flagstaff area, help make them more aware of their Jewishness and bring them closer to their Jewish roots.

“He’s been up here,” Dovie says about Rabbi Levertov. “He knows there are a lot of Jewish people here, many people who are not affiliated. He felt there was a need for a Chabad in Flagstaff.”

The couple is also on good terms with leaders of Heichal Baoranim, known as Flagstaff’s Temple in the Pines, whose congregation comprises all traditions of Jewish worship.

AN ANCIENT TRADITION

Chabad, or Chabad Lubavitch, is a 250-year-old branch of Judaism which was started by Rabbi Schneur Zalmen of Liadi, Russia. Taking hold in Lubavitch, Russia, it became one of the largest branches of Hasidic Judaism and one of the largest Jewish Orthodox movements worldwide, especially in the United States and Israel.

“As an organization, Chabad is not geared to Orthodox, it’s open for everyone,” Dovie says.

Chabad is an acronym standing for Chochma, (Hebrew for wisdom), Binah, (understanding) and Da’at, (knowledge).

Under the leadership of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902-1994), there are now more than 3,000 Chabad centers throughout the world.

“The movement’s philosophy teaches understanding of the Creator, the purpose of creation, and the unique mission of each creature,” Chaya explains.

Dovie continues, “It’s not just faith, but to try to understand whatever you could to the best of your capacity. When you understand what you’re doing, you do it with a lot more joy.”

WORKING IN TANDEM

“Chabad has been in Phoenix for 30 years,” says Dovie, 25.

“But, it’s new to Flagstaff,” adds Chaya, 23.

The couple have been married for two years and have a 6-month-old baby, Mendel. Since coming to town, they have worked full-time and in tandem to serve their fellow Jews as co-directors of Chabad Jewish Center of Flagstaff, located in their home on East Elm Avenue downtown.

Although Dovie wears a traditional black hat for services and does not cut his beard, he is a modern man. The couple are working to establish a warm, welcoming and approachable center for all Jews in Flagstaff, including Jewish students at NAU.

Both ASU and U of A have Chabad Jewish centers.

“We’re filling a gap here,” Dovie says. “Now all three universities have Chabad centers.”

PROVIDING WARM ATMOSPHERE

About 45 students at NAU who are Jewish have come to the center and shared the Shapiro home.

“We provide social events and holiday programs for the students,” Chaya says. “When the students come, its’ really nice. There’s always a warm atmosphere and lots of good discussions. We’re sort of their home away from home.”

Since arriving in town, they have invited students over to the center for Friday night Shabbat dinners. It’s a time when Jews set aside weekday concerns and devote themselves to higher spiritual pursuits, including a homemade feast with family and friends.

“They socialize; they really enjoy it,” Dovie says. “We had 15 students at our last Shabbat dinner before school let out.”

Chaya is a very good cook and a specialist in kosher food, food prepared according to the Jewish diet laws, such as not eating meat and milk together.

For Shabbat, the menu includes chicken soup with matzo balls, gefilte fish and challah, a Jewish egg bread, among other things.

A FAMILY TRADITION

Dovie was born in Miami and Chaya in Philadelphia.

They are both Hassidim, raised in the Hasidic tradition by their families.

Their families are Chabad. Chaya’s sister and her husband have a Chabad center at the University of Illinois. Dovie’s sister and brother-in-law have a Chabad center in Brookline, Mass.

Dovie studied at the Rabbinical College of America in Morristown, N.J. and was ordained as a rabbi in 2003.

“We met while he was learning in New York, and I was working in New Jersey,” Chaya says. “He’s good friends with two of my cousins.”

Soon after meeting, they realized they shared the dream of opening a Chabad center.

They say they are not missionaries and are not trying to convert anyone to Judaism.

“It’s a center for Jewish life,” Chaya says. “We’re here to create opportunities for people to experience their Jewish heritage in a warm and non-judgmental environment.”

KOSHER FOODS FOR TOURISTS

Chabad Jewish Center of Flagstaff is listed on the Chabad organization’s Phoenix Web site and the local center has its own Web site: www.ChabadFlagstaff.com.

Many Jews have dropped by, including tourists passing through town.

“We actually have certain things we provide for tourists who are looking for kosher food,” Dovie says.

They make regular trips down to Phoenix for kosher meat and store a quantity of kosher products in their big home freezer.

There are no membership fees, and the center survives on donations.

“That’s how we continue to provide programs and grow,” Dovie says

The co-directors are currently working on services and programming for the upcoming High Holidays. So far, they have hosted a number of events, including a Passover Seder, which drew 60 people on the first night, barbecues in the backyard behind the house and an ongoing Torah study class which had attracted 17 students to the first session on the Book of Numbers.

It is fitting the organization is sometimes called Chabad Lubavitch .

“It’s a town in Russia; the word appropriately means city of brotherly love,” Chaya says.

“That is our motto. We’re open to all Jews, no matter what their background or affiliation.”