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Citizen Times
Rabbi Shayah Susskind and his wife, Chana, moved to Asheville from Brooklyn, NY to do outreach and teach about the Jewish faith. They run the WNC Chabad Lubivitch Center for Jewish Life.

Asheville, NC — “I go to the grocery store, and I know people are curious,” says Susskind, an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and head of The Western North Carolina Chabad Lubavitch Center for Jewish Life, referring to the beard and traditional Orthodox Jewish clothing he wears.

Susskind and his wife, Chana, were raised in Brooklyn, N.Y. They came to Asheville earlier this year to reach out to Jews and non-Jews alike, to teach them about Judaism.

Rabbi Brings Awareness of Orthodox Judaism

Citizen Times
Rabbi Shayah Susskind and his wife, Chana, moved to Asheville from Brooklyn, NY to do outreach and teach about the Jewish faith. They run the WNC Chabad Lubivitch Center for Jewish Life.

Asheville, NC — “I go to the grocery store, and I know people are curious,” says Susskind, an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and head of The Western North Carolina Chabad Lubavitch Center for Jewish Life, referring to the beard and traditional Orthodox Jewish clothing he wears.

Susskind and his wife, Chana, were raised in Brooklyn, N.Y. They came to Asheville earlier this year to reach out to Jews and non-Jews alike, to teach them about Judaism.

Chabad Lubavitch is different from other Orthodox Jewish sects in that its members reach out to others.

“Most are rather insular — they keep apart from others,” he said. “We reach out. … We’re not here to convert people. … If you’re Christian, we encourage you to be Christian. We want to educate.”

The Center for Jewish Life offers classes and activities, including its fall program, “You Be the Judge,” a six-week course on the Talmud, the Jewish law. Weekly classes will tackle such issues as whether people can lose their right to property and whether someone can collect money for services that were dishonest, such as giving an inflated property assessment.

Chabad offers these courses in 200 cities around the world three times a year. Courses for the coming year include “The Kabbalah of Character” and “Flashbacks in Jewish History.”

The Susskinds abide by Orthodox Jewish laws but do not impose that choice on others, Rabbi Susskind said.

The laws are complex, but the Susskinds say they are an important part of their lives and observing them keeps G-d present in their lives. (Orthodox Jews do not name the divine, and so leave out the middle letter in print.)

“And it keeps us connected to Jews around the world and to the Jews of the past,” he said.

Chabad is the first Orthodox Jewish presence in the region, said Heather Goldstein, executive director of the Jewish Community Center of Asheville.

“It’s a different approach to Judaism and a different tradition that’s never been here before,” she said.

“There are different denominations within Judaism just as within Christianity, and this brings a deepening and a further texturization to Jewish life in Asheville,” Goldstein said.

Cantor Deb Winston of Congregation Beth HaTephila said the people at the synagogue welcome Chabad Lubavitch.

“We already had a Reform and Conservative congregation in town; now we also have an Orthodox presence and can offer the Jewish community even more to meet their needs,” she said. “It’s helpful and important for non-Jews to see that the different branches of Judaism not only get along but can accomplish great things working together.”

Most programs of the Center for Jewish Life are open to everyone, although one program, the Asheville Jewish Women’s Circle, is just for women.

“Our first program was about making challah,” Chana Susskind said. “Women learned to make and braid their own bread.”

The Women’s Circle will offer programs about once every six weeks.

The Susskinds say the desire to reach out and teach others about their faith also helps them connect to the spiritual practices of others.

“Our differences should bring us together,” Rabbi Susskind said.

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