New Chabad Center To Provide Jewish Experience At Oxford College of Emory University

For the first time in its nearly 200-year history, Emory University’s original campus now has a permanent Jewish home — with the arrival of Rabbi Mendel and Chaya Lipskier this fall.

Located in Covington, Georgia, about 30 miles east of Atlanta, Oxford College of Emory University has long served as the school’s historic freshman and sophomore campus. Despite housing only 1,100 students, more than 200 of them are Jewish.

Until now, however, anyone looking for a Shabbat meal or Jewish programming had to make the 40-minute drive to Chabad at Emory’s main Atlanta campus. The Lipskiers moved there three months ago to change that reality. Since then, they’ve already hosted multiple Shabbat dinners, classes, and campus events. “Right away, we had twenty students showing up for Shabbat,” Rabbi Lipskier shared. “The hunger for connection was clearly there.”

This week, the couple is closing on a home just steps from campus that will become the official Chabad House — a full-time center for Shabbat meals, weekday programming, and a student lounge open as a Jewish hangout and safe space.