Winnipeg Chabad unveils plans for $3-million shul, yeshiva

Winnipeg, Canada — Chabad Lubavitch of Winnipeg’s longtime dream of building a yeshiva in this city is a step closer to reality.

In mid-April, Chabad spokesperson Rabbi Yaacov Simmonds unveiled plans for an ambitious $3-million Lubavitch centre in south Winnipeg that would include a synagogue, social hall, auditorium, library, lounge, classrooms, kosher kitchen, parking lot for 60 cars and a play area.

One of the goals for the new centre, Rabbi Simmonds notes, is to draw yeshiva students to Winnipeg.

Rabbi Avraham Altein bought the Lubavitch movement to Winnipeg in the early 1970s. Chabad has a building in a residential area of north Winnipeg that serves as a synagogue, school and auditorium.

About five years ago, after witnessing the movement of the majority of Winnipeg’s Jewish population to the south end of the city, Chabad leased a storefront to better serve the burgeoning number of Jewish residents in south Winnipeg.

At the same time, Chabad began looking for property on which to build a permanent centre in south Winnipeg. It found the property it wanted two years ago and was able to finalize the purchase arrangements last fall.

Rabbi Simmonds said the centre will be built in phases as funding permits. The first phase, which he estimates will cost $1 million, will consist of space for a day care, youth programs and adult education classes. For the past nine years, Chabad has been holding a summer yeshiva program, which features visiting rabbinical students who lead five weeks for study with interested members of the community.

The rabbi said that if funding and everything else falls into place on time, phase I construction could begin by summer’s end. If not, then the work will begin next spring. The social hall, synagogue, library, lounge, classrooms and kitchen will be built as funding permits.

“This is an opportunity to put Winnipeg on the Jewish map,” an enthusiastic Rabbi Simmonds said.

He notes that Lubavitch doesn’t have an official membership. Even on the the High Holy Days, both the north and south Winnipeg Chabad centres are open to anyone who wants to attend services.

But Rabbi Simmonds estimates that Lubavitch comes in contact with as many as 5,000 Jewish Winnipeggers a year through its outreach programs in Jewish schools and the community.

He said Chabad will be holding a kosher fundraising dinner this month at the Hotel Fort Garry, one of Winnipeg’s oldest and classiest hotels, to raise money for the Winnipeg south project.