For rabbi, coming to America a blessing indeed

PALM BEACH GARDENS, FL — He sits on the end of a row, one of more than 100, waiting patiently to raise his right hand and pledge to support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America.

He wears a yarmulke and navy pinstriped suit. A full, dark beard, traditional among Chabad Lubavitch men, does not obscure his youth and potential energy. In this group – this variegated, rainbow group representing 46 countries – he does not stand out.

He is one of many, soon to be an American, and the challenges ahead of him are not greater than the strength behind him, supporting him, guiding him. The American Dream? The dream of a million immigrants new to this country, planting seeds that surely will grow strong roots? This is the Rabbi Dovid Vigler’s dream: Build a community that nurtures and celebrates the Jewish Soul as it cohabitates with the American Soul – that independent, generous, free-thinking soul of this country and its people.

Vigler, 27, came to the United States more than three years ago with his wife, Chana, who is from Brooklyn. A native of Johannesburg, South Africa, he grew up in a strong Jewish community – attending Hebrew school, shopping at kosher grocery stores, knowing that many of the people around him shared his values. Chana grew up in a similar setting, dividing her childhood between New York’s Brooklyn and Milan, Italy.

Why, then, leave all that? Why leave the comfort of family, the cocoon of shared faith, and venture to Palm Beach Gardens to build a Jewish community from the ground up?

“We’re passionate about our faith and we’re passionate about people,” Dovid Vigler explains.

“It’s really been our life’s calling,” Chana Vigler adds.

Building The Gardens Shul

The Viglers practice Orthodox Judaism, which they refer to as traditional. They keep kosher, they walk to services on the Sabbath, they heed Jewish law as laid out in holy texts. They do not expect or ask this level of observance from anyone but themselves.

“Our approach is to bring traditional Judaism to contemporary Jews without being condescending,” Dovid Vigler says. “Our approach is not one of judgment and despair, but celebrating that we know within each and every Jew is a spark that can’t be extinguished. It’s what’s called the Jewish Soul.”

So with the blessing of the international Chabad Lubavitch leaders, who oversee more than 4,000 centers worldwide, the Viglers set about building The Gardens Shul. They networked. They invited people to services. Chana Vigler established groups and activities for women, and began teaching Hebrew classes. With the help of new friends, they acquired an old fire station in Palm Beach Gardens, which they plan to turn into a home for The Gardens Shul.

It hasn’t been easy, building this from scratch while raising their daughter, Moussia, who is 9 months old. But America has proven to be fertile ground, Dovid Vigler says.

“It’s easier for us because Americans are a generous people,” he says. “They’re always willing to try something new. I feel that they like to explore; they’re adventurous and proud of being different.”

Which means, Chana Vigler adds, that they’re receptive to being met on whatever point they’re at in life, and whatever connection they feel to their heritage.

“Each Jew feels his or her Jewishness,” Chana Vigler explains. “At some point or another, they feel their spirituality. We want to meet people where they’re at and recognize that everybody’s not at the same place, and that’s OK. We want to encourage Jews to celebrate their identity.”

Inadvertently, then, the Viglers’ life’s work has come to mirror the dreams of millions of immigrants who have come to this country, building a brick at a time, turning pages one by one.

Swears allegiance to his new country

The poignancy of these parallel dreams strikes Rabbi Vigler as he sits on a plastic chair in West Palm Beach’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office on Feb. 27 – the work and joy of establishing a Jewish community running beside the paperwork and study and waiting that went into becoming an American citizen.

He holds a small American flag as the ceremony begins, and he is informed that this day is one of the most important of his life. He stands with the group and raises his right hand, declaring an oath, swearing his allegiance, becoming a citizen of this country, his America.