Chabad of The Plaza Established

The Chabad-Lubavitch movement put down roots in Kansas City, Mo., in 1970, when Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson dispatched his emissaries, Rabbi Sholom and Blumah Wineberg, here.

Today, the Chabad of Kansas and Missouri tree has grown yet another branch with the arrival of Rabbi Yitzhak and Chana Itkin and their infant son, Meir. They arrived just before Purim and have set up housekeeping in an apartment near the Country Club Plaza. When he gets his office near 23rd and Broadway open in the days to come, the Itkins will constitute the staff of Chabad on the Plaza, serving people who live and work both in Midtown and downtown Kansas City, Mo.

The first Kansas City Chabad House was at 8901 Holmes Road. But it moved to the Kansas side in 1989.

Rabbi Benzion and Esther Friedman left Chabad House to establish the Torah Learning Center in Overland Park in 1998.

And in the fall of 2006, Rabbi Zalman and Nechama Tiechtel arrived in Lawrence, Kan., to establish Chabad at the University of Kansas.
Rabbi Itkin, 24, is Rabbi Tiechtel’s cousin, and, like many Chabadniks, he studied at the Central Lubavitch Yeshiva in Brooklyn along the way to ordination.

Join Chabad, see the world
“I grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania,” said Rabbi Itkin, who goes by the nickname Itche. “My father was the Chabad rabbi there.”

After an initial period of study in New York, Rabbi Itkin was dispatched to spend a year on the staff of the Atlanta Chabad House, learning the ropes.

After that, he spent a year in Russia, first in the town of Ulyanovsk, in the Samara region, and then in Rostov-on-Don.

“They sent us as scouts to see if there is any Jewish presence,” Rabbi Itkin explained. “I was shocked to meet so many students and young professionals who knew that they were Jewish, but who didn’t know what that meant.

“At Sukkot, for example, they put up a magnet in the shape of a sukkah on their refrigerator. We explained that it alludes to a sukkah that we build outside. And it was the first time they saw a built sukkah when we built one.”

After Russia, Rabbi Itkin returned to New York, where he continued his studies. He is certified by the Lubavitch movement as a dayan, or judge, i.e., one who is qualified to decide matters of Jewish law.

He also got married while in New York. The Itkins’ son, Meir, is 8 months old.

Rabbi Itkin did, however, have two more foreign adventures before settling down in Kansas City — a trip last summer to Vietnam and the summer before that to Thailand.

He spent six weeks in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), setting up the first Chabad House there.

“It was an amazing experience,” Rabbi Itkin said. “You meet a lot of English-speaking Vietnamese people who have never met a Jew, let alone a rabbi.”

Then there were the Jews who found themselves in Saigon shocked to see a Chabadnik.

“One guy chased us for two blocks and said ‘I would never have stopped you in America, but I had to find out what a rabbi was doing in Saigon.’ We ended up inviting him for a kosher dinner.”

Filling a void
Rabbi and Mrs. Itkin plan to invite people to their Kansas City apartment for dinners, too. They joke about establishing the first kosher restaurant on the Plaza.

“The first thing we’ve done is to meet people, and there has been an amazing response,” said Rabbi Itkin. “A lot of people seem to have felt neglected as the Jewish institutions moved south; nothing moved north, leaving a void. So we felt putting a Jewish presence here would be just phenomenal.”

The Jewish Federation’s recent “community needs survey” shows a desire for adult education in the Midtown area, Rabbi Itkin noted, and he intends to provide just that. Classes can be held at his home or office, and in various places where he’s invited.

Chabad of Kansas City Program Director Rabbi Mendy Wineberg said he had been considering a Plaza/downtown expansion for the past five years. The informal afternoon minyan that caters to downtown lawyers shows there is a need, he said.

“We want to hear from people living in the area what they’re looking for, and then we’ll decide where we want to go,” said Rabbi Mendy Wineberg.

While Rabbi and Mrs. Itkin have the imprimatur of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, they get no financial help from the central organization. They will be responsible for raising the funds that will make their educational endeavors possible.

Rabbi Itkin said he plans to establish a Web site, too, to spread the word about his activities.

To reach Rabbi Yitzhak or Chana Itkin, call (347) 249-2983, or send e-mail to: rabbi@plazachabad.com.