Jews Nationwide To Mark Milestone for Daytona

ORMOND BEACH, FL [CHI] — When Rabbi Pinchas Ezagui and his wife Chani arrived in Ormond Beach 15 years ago to open a Jewish Center, a new branch of the Chabad Lubavitch movement, they resembled Dale Earnhardt’s humble beginnings, making his first appearance on the racetrack with his Pink 1956 Ford Victoria. Holding their first synagogue services and Hebrew school classes from the confines of their small living room did not seem promising for a Rabbi claiming to turn Daytona into a flourishing Jewish community.

This May 18 will prove otherwise, as Chabad Lubavitch of Daytona is set to inaugurate its $5.5 million (25,000 square foot) multifaceted Esformes Jewish Community Center & day school. Jews from all over the country including representatives from the worldwide Chabad Lubavitch Movement, rabbis and delegates as well as Senator Ted Stevens from Alaska and philanthropist Rabbi Morris Esformes will attend this monumental event open to the public beginning at 2PM.

Why have these Chassidic Jews decided to call Daytona home, a place more known for the world’s most famous beach, bike week and The Daytona 500?

Rabbi Ezagui explains that Judaism has no geographic parameters and the only ingredients needed for a successful Jewish recipe are Jews, Jews, Jews. Daytona has its large share of them with over 1800 families and growing. “Nevertheless, this area is indeed auspicious for fostering the Jewish heritage”, says Ezagui. North Central Florida was once a place envisioned as a haven for Jews escaping persecution. For that purpose, Moses Elial Levy in 1820 began purchasing over 100,000 acres of land in this area. This was a possibility only after 1763 when Jews were finally permitted to live here. Since its discovery in 1513, before Florida was given to the British under the treaty of Paris, Florida was a state “For Catholics Only”. Nevertheless, Jews were no longer hiding their identity. In fact, Moses Elias Levy’s son, David Levy Yulee ended up becoming Florida’s first US Senator. He was not the only proud Jew from the area to make his mark. David Sholtz, son of a successful Jewish developer who grew up in Daytona Beach, became Florida’s Governor in 1933. “It is their courage of character that makes these individuals pioneers in setting the trend of Jewish pride and perseverance in Daytona” says Ezagui. Sholtz’s appointment did not come without incident. During the election, an opponent made anti-Semitic remarks about his Jewish background. Shultz ignored the attack and stuck to campaign issues. Sholtz won with the largest number of votes a candidate for Governor ever received up to that time!

“This is the kind of material Chabad has brought to Daytona,” says Ezagui. “We’re not just running from persecution, seeking to survive. Judaism is alive and kicking!”

“What is the secret behind their immortality?” questioned Mark Twain in his famous article “Concerning the Jews” in Harpers Weekly, 1898. Rabbi Ezagui explains that part of the answer is that, according to Chabad philosophy, light is appreciated infinitely more when coming from the darkness. “In spite of the hardships, the Jewish nation has encountered over the millennia,” explains Rabbi Ezagui, “they have emerged stronger and have always come out on the top. This has been the driving force behind the success of Chabad Lubavitch emissaries numbering over 3500 centers worldwide. When Chabad comes to a city, despite odds, mathematics and rational considerations, Chabad comes with the goal to utilize the very obstacles to go right over the top. With the means of mitzvahs or good deeds Chabad encourages positivism. One little light sheds a whole lot of darkness.”

And that’s exactly the example he set out to show the first day he and his wife Chani stepped into town warming the hearts of Jews, one mitzvah at a time.

The Rabbi may have started out his Chabad outreach center with the equivalent of a pink Ford, but on May 18, he will be holding the trophy. But, Ezagui says, “You haven’t seen anything yet!” The building is only the beginning of what he calls a springboard for major growth in the Greater Daytona area.

Rabbi Ezagui points out that Morris Esformes will be etched in the halls of Daytona history for his pioneering support for this sprawling complex with the gratitude from the area community on a level that knows no bounds.

The Esformes Jewish Community Center includes a breathtaking Middle Eastern style synagogue, ten state of the art classrooms for the day school, two commercial kitchens, a women’s & men’s mikvah (ritual bath), a daily chapel and a spacious ballroom for many farbrengens (gatherings) or parties.

The Esformes Center is offering an 80% scholarship for the first 40 children to enroll in the day school. Staff at the school are preparing for the largest growth rate since its inception as word spreads about the superb education, highly professional teachers, state of the art facility, plus the playground and equipment that children will be privy to from preschool age to 6th grade.

With the hundreds of families already involved in the Chabad Jewish Community Center, Rabbi Ezagui promises that the rate of affiliation will skyrocket in the near future through unique Jewish activities and exciting programs that Chabad has planned. “The Volusia County Jewish community will take on a new face completely,” exclaims Ezagui.