Jewish students at Western get their own place of worship

Bellingham, WA – Overlooking Bellingham Bay, squeezed between two ordinary homes, a Jewish community thrives.

Jewish students at Western are getting their own place of worship with the opening of the first Chabad House in Bellingham. The house strives to serve the needs of Western’s Jewish community, said Rabbi Levi Backman, 25, the newly appointed co-director of Chabad of Bellingham, along with his wife, Hadassah Backman, 25.

Chabad-Lubavitch is a Hasidic movement that embraces a philosophy of study, consideration and social outreach, Backman said.

“Chabad” is a Hebrew acronym for “Wisdom, Understanding and Knowledge,” and Lubavitch, which means “city of brotherly love” in Russian, is the town in Russia where the movement began its inception 250 years ago, Backman said.

Chabad-Lubavitch is one of the largest Jewish organizations in the world today and has more than 3,000 branches world-wide, including 12 in Washington state, Backman said.

“Our goal is to provide opportunities for Jewish kids and the community to study and deepen their knowledge and understanding of the Torah and Judaism,” he said.

The Backmans, originally from Brooklyn, New York, recently hosted a Seder for more than 50 Bellingham Jews, Levi Backman said. The Seder, which means “order” in Hebrew, is a feast that kicks off the eight-day holiday of Passover, the greatest story in Judaism which celebrates the exodus of Jewish slaves in ancient Egypt.

Passover is widely considered in Judaism as the most important family day of the year because it marks the birth of Israel, Western senior Yael Shuval said, who also serves as a chairwoman of Western’s Hillel, an on-campus Jewish Organization.

“It’s important for students whose school has taken them far from home, to attend a Seder dinner and reconnect with (other jews) despite being miles away,” Shuval said.

“This is my first Seder away from home,” Shuval said. “Chabad provides you with a sense of belonging, rather than walking around like an outsider.”

Despite knowing little about Bellingham, Hadassah Backman said they never felt out of touch after traveling 3,000 miles from their family and friends in Brooklyn.

“We never felt disconnected because the community was incredibly welcoming and supportive of the thought of a Chabad center right in their neighborhood,” she said. “It’s amazing how fast we started our own family, especially with the students, by having them over for Friday dinners and getting to know and learn with many of the kids.”

But Western Jewish students haven’t avoided blatant anti-semitism on campus through the years, said Lutheran campus pastor Christopher Berry, who volunteered to share office space with Hillel after the group received threatening letters and pamphlets during their tenure in the Viking Union.

Berry said he believes anti-semitism causes as much pain to instigators as victims.

“It destroys people from within,” Berry said. “When the individual isn’t healthy, the community isn’t healthy.”

The Backmans were appointed to found the new Chabad House in February by Rabbi Shalom Ber Levitin of the Chabad center of the Pacific Northwest, which has served the Jewish community of Seattle area since 1972, Levi Backman said.

He said Chabad will offer a variety of programs, including adult education, tutoring, study sessions on subjects such as Jewish philosophy, the Bible, Kabbalah, Hebrew reading and Jewish law.

“It’s an atmosphere where everyone can learn from each other,” Levi Backman said.

The students do everything themselves, including cooking and setting up for the feast.

“They miss their families and want to celebrate their traditions with somebody else,” Hadassah Backman said.

The Backmans chose Bellingham because of the many unaffiliated Jews in the area, especially young families and college students eager to explore their Jewish roots and build a spiritual identity, Hadassah Backman said.

“It’s a home away from home,” she said. “I see us connecting with them even after they’ve graduated and are long gone from Bellingham.”

Levi Backman grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., and studied at rabbinical colleges in Los Angeles, Ottawa, Israel and New York, where he was ordained as a rabbi in 2003. Hadassah Backman is a native of Munsey, N.Y., and studied at the State University of New York before moving to San Antonio, Texas, to teach preschool.

“There are a lot of people out there who want to know more, especially young people,” he said. “They want to know the reasons behind things and Chabad is all about understanding who we are as Jews.”

Backman said he had the opportunity to meet one of Chabad’s most influential rabbis, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who assumed leadership of the movement in 1950 and led Chabad until his death in 1994, he said. Schneerson’s portrait hangs in the Backmans’ dining room.

“Rabbi Schneerson was an inspiration for all Jews everywhere,” Levi Backman said. “He loved every Jew equally and encouraged everyone to make the world a better place, by going out in the community and adding something new. He did a lot to bring strength to Judaism.”

Levi Backman said opening up their home to others, both friends and strangers, is a reflection of Jewish values.

“We’re basically a Jewish supermarket,” he said. “Whatever you need, we’ve got it.”