WILMINGTON, DE — How much is silver lining going for these days?
As 401 Ks plunge, attendance at Chabad center programs across the United States is surging. So are the calls for counseling and the requests for help paying the heating bills. From Florida to Delaware, Arizona to California, Chabad representatives are helping their communities cope with uncertain times.
Downturn an Upturn for Searching and Study at Chabad
WILMINGTON, DE — How much is silver lining going for these days?
As 401 Ks plunge, attendance at Chabad center programs across the United States is surging. So are the calls for counseling and the requests for help paying the heating bills. From Florida to Delaware, Arizona to California, Chabad representatives are helping their communities cope with uncertain times.
Tough times in Fort Myers, Florida’s foreclosure capitol, have brought radical changes to the community served by Rabbi Yitzchok and Nechamie Minkowitz at Chabad of Southwest Florida.
“People are asking more questions now,” said Rabbi Minkowitz. “Anyone whose faith was in the almighty dollar is shaken to find that it not as almighty as they thought.”
The Dow’s latest dives have jolted up attendance at Chabad SWF by 30%. Their latest Jewish Learning Institute “Soul Maps: Kabbalah to Navigate Your Inner World” class has grown from one small class of five into two packed courses of twenty. Questions have taken on a different tone now too, according to Mrs. Minkowitz who leads both classes.
“Because it is a global crisis, they are not asking ‘Why do bad things happen to good people?’ but ‘Where am I in life? Now that they are not wearing the mask of materialism, they’re asking, ‘Where are my values?’” Mrs. Minkowitz said.
