New Shluchim to Ohio

Rabbi Levi Raichik and his wife Chanee are spearheading to bring Chabad to serve the Jewish community of students and locals alike in the town of Athens, home of the University of Ohio.

From The Athens Post:

Raichik grew up in Los Angeles before going to rabbinical school. His previous experience includes teaching at yeshivas, which focus on teaching traditional religious texts, in Detroit and Argentina. He and his wife have experience teaching students and college-aged people, so he said they are very familiar with how to talk to an average college student.

The Raichiks are just as new to the area as many of the freshmen are.

“We moved in two days before move-in day,” Raichik said.

Athens was not even on the couple’s map until last year.

“The truth is, Athens was kind of on our radar because of all the controversies that happened here last year. It’s not why we moved here, but it put Athens on our radar,” Raichik said. “When that story broke, we were like, ‘Hey, there’s this cool city in southern Ohio that doesn’t have a Chabad.’ … So we visited in April, and it seemed like a good place to spread our wings and start our life.”

While Raichik said there are approximately 700 Jewish students at OU, he said he also plans to interact with locals.

“We are gonna be dealing mostly with students, but there is also surprisingly a pretty nice local population as well. That includes The Plains, Albany — all these little cities around. Not big but surprising,” Raichik said. “Most of the people know each other and formed a community so we are joining that community.”

The Raichiks are running Chabad out of their home, located at 100 Morris Ave. in Athens. Every Friday, they will host a free Shabbat dinner that is open to everyone. Chabad will host a service for Yom Kippur at the Athens Community Center on East State Street.

“For now, we are focused on getting the word out, you know, getting as many people as possible to hear about us,” Raichik said.

CrownHeights.info wishes the young couple much success on their new Shlichus.