New Chabad House opens in Burbank

Burbank, CA – Members of a Judaic movement that has a history of more than 250-years reached a milestone in Burbank on Sunday with the opening Soussana Family Jewish Chabad Center.

The ribbon cutting brought more than 200 people to the Chabad Center throughout the day, including Burbank City Councilman Dave Gordon and Jack and Elka Soussana, the Chabad Center’s major donors.

“Because of them and their generous donations we are able to get into this building,” Janice Kormandel, one of the center’s participants said of the Soussana’s and the many other contributing families.

Chabad of Burbank will offer programs including children’s education, prayer and social services and crisis control, making it Burbank’s own Jewish support center, Rabbi Shmuly Kornfeld said.

And the support center will have plenty of Jews to support it, said Mike Goldberg of Burbank, who participates in Chabad — a movement that provides a cultural home for Jews without imposing strict requirement. He estimates that about 300 families are involved with the Burbank Chabad on some level.

“The levels of commitment are different levels,” Goldberg said. “And there’s no pressure.”

The Burbank Chabad began in the winter of 1999 when Kornfeld invited small groups of Jews to a house on Lima Street, attracting between 15 and 20 families during the first year.

“We used to be in a little rental down the street,” Chabad participant Kormandel said.

Chabad started in Russia and emerged as a movement in the United States after numbers of Jews were drifting from their faith in the devastating wake of the Holocaust, Kornfeld said.

“The concept caught on … because the Jewish people were looking for more spirituality,” he said. “They were looking for hope; they were looking for a place to access their heritage and Chabad tried to provide that for all Jews.”

Some Jews who did not regularly attend synagogue felt looked down upon from a traditional Judaic standpoint, and therefore began to drift from their Jewish identity, Kornfeld said. The Chabad movement was a way to put Jews back in touch with their history without imposing stringent requirements, he said.

“The impression many Jews had is that they felt if they weren’t ready to make a commitment to embrace a full observance of the Jewish lifestyle, then they have no place in the Jewish community,” he said. “What Chabad aimed to do…was to preserve a genuine authentic traditional Judiasm while at the same time sending our message to the Jewish community that a Jew is a Jew. How much, how little and how often — that’s between you and God. What’s important is that you feel comfortable and become a part of your community.”

The Chabad will hold High Holy Days at its new facility, with Rosh Hashanah from Sept. 22 to 24 and Yom Kippur on Oct. 1 and 2. For more information on Chabad of Burbank, call (818) 954-8211, send an e-mail to coburbank@sbcglobal.net, or visit www.chabadburbank.com.

“It’s very exciting,” said Elana Kornfeld, Rabbi Shmuly Kornfeld’s wife. “It’s exciting to see so many Jews in Burbank. We want to spread the warmth of Judaism.”