New Chabad House to open for CMU students

PITTSBURGH, PA — After years of sharing a Chabad House with the surrounding universities, students at Carnegie Mellon University will have one of their own.

Rabbi Shlomo Silverman, along with his wife Chani and 3-month old son Menachem Mendel, are opening up the first Jewish organization with a staff solely devoted to Jewish students at CMU.

Shlomo said that he’s excited to begin working with CMU students.

“CMU is a very intellectual school with some of the nation’s best programs,” Shlomo said. “We’re hoping to get to know the students and campus.”

Aaron Weil, the executive director of the Hillel JUC of Pittsburgh, said he’s glad the young Jewish community in Pittsburgh is growing.

“I think it’s terrific that they are expanding and are able to increase the presence on two campuses,” he said. “It’s certainly consistent with the increase of Jewish students in Pittsburgh.”

Called “Chabad of CMU,” the house will host weekly Shabbat services and dinners, High Holiday services, programs and other events dealing with Jewish life for students.

Previously there had been one Chabad House for all the schools in the area; that house is run by Chani’s parents – Rabbi Shmuel and Sara Weinstein – and is also where she grew up.

“Our house is separate from the one in Oakland,” she said. “We’ll sponsor events with them and do some joint programming, but we are our own house with our own programs.”

Weil hopes that the new Chabad House will work together with the Hillel for certain programming.

“I think Hillel and Chabad work very well together,” Weil said. “One of the nice things about Pittsburgh is the nice relationship we have with them.”

Shlomo and Chani, both of whom grew up in Pittsburgh, say they are excited to be returning to their hometown. They had been living in Jerusalem, where both worked for the Mayanot Institute of Jewish Studies. Chani gave birth to their son in Israel before returning to Pittsburgh in July.

Once here, the couple had plans to open a Chabad House – the only problem was finding a place to do it.

“We were looking everywhere for a house,” Shlomo said. “We finally went to the student listings for CMU because we wanted to be as close to the campus and students as possible.”

The house, which is located at 5308 Beelermont Place, has already had a few visitors this summer, but the Silvermans expect many more once school is in session.

“We don’t have a goal for how many students we want every week,” Shlomo said. “One week we might have 60 come.”

Students of all backgrounds are invited to the house, and to participate in the programs the Silvermans put on.

“We want the students to have a home away from home,” Chani said. “All backgrounds are welcomed, we want to make everyone feel comfortable. We don’t like to use labels like Reform, Conservative or Orthodox – everyone is a Jew.”

Funded by private donations, the Silvermans have already had CMU alumni offering donations and getting the family off on the right foot.

“There were CMU alums who knew my parents, (from the Chabad House in Oakland) and were excited to hear about a house opening up at CMU,” Chani said. “We’re hoping for as many students as possible.”