New Home for Faith Opens Doors

Barrington, RI — Rabbi Moshe Laufer was just sitting down to dinner one night when a local teenager called his cell phone. The youth was not related to the Rabbi, nor had he known him for a very long time, but he had a question about a discussion he was having with friends, and he knew who to call.

As always, Rabbi Laufer was happy to oblige. Since moving to Barrington in May, he and his wife, Mirel, have offered their ears and shared their faith with East Bay’s Jewish population.

The Laufers have also opened their 39 Lillis Avenue home, the Chabad center of Barrington, named for the branch of Hassidic Judaism that Rabbi Laufer newly represents in the region. Just 25- and 21-years-old respectively, Moshe and Mirel Laufer hope to achieve one of the main goals of their faith: To bring Jews of all creeds together to enjoy and appreciate Judaism as a community.

“Our goal, our drive, our direction is to help the Jewish community be more inclusive and look for our similarities, and not the differences,” he said. “The Jewish community is large … [but] ultimately we’re the same. If you’re a Jew, you’re a Jew, and we really all believe in one God.

“Judaism is so much [information], with so much explanation. That’s what we want to give to people.”

A long learning journey

Though Barrington may not seem like an obvious destination for a man of Rabbi Laufer’s, or even Chabad’s, purposes, his rabbinical education prepared him for the task at hand.

Born in raised in Providence, he was the son of the regional director of the Rhode Island Chabad branch. Growing up in a Chabad household, as well as receiving a Chabad education in Brooklyn, New York, nurtured young Moshe’s desire to become a rabbi.

“I grew up enjoying doing this,” he said. “I’ve lived the life of our work.”

After pursuing a rabbinical education, he performed several outreach trips to locations across the globe, including France, Crete and Hawaii. Rabbi Laufer remembered one particular trip to Arizona, where he “literally opened the white pages and looked for Cohens, Lavins and Goldsteins” who might be interested in talking about their faith or, in some cases, rediscovering it.

“Jews have been through so much persecution — in a sense, it weakened a lot of the observance and beliefs of people,” he explained. “It was either choosing survival or observing the tradition. We’re not here to judge people why they’re not educated, or not observing. [We] help them grow, and think more about their history.”

After finishing his studies, Rabbi Laufer was given his post in the East Bay by the Chabad Rhode Island director. Though the region was home to a number of Jews — “more than people think,” he said — Rabbi Laufer’s charge of reaching out to a diverse Jewish population and offer support and educational opportunities was a “challenge.”

His traditional Hassidic dress and long beard “turned some heads” when he shopped at Shaw’s, and he gathered that some people may have misconceptions about his purpose in Barrington.

“People get the idea that maybe I convert people to orthodoxy,” he said. “That’s the exact opposite of what I do. We’re just here to get people more involved — we’re giving people what they’re interested in, not what fits into my mold.”

“If there are any members who would be more comfortable following the more strict … laws, they would be better off with Rabbi Laufer,” said Rabbi Jim Rosenberg of Barrington’s lone synagogue, Temple Habonim. “However, I think we would both agree that there are few members who want to move in that direction.”

Still, Rabbi Laufer said his attempts to reach out to Jewish households surprised some, many of whom had not shared their faith with anyone in years. While sending out invitations for a communal observance of Passover recently, Rabbi Laufer said one woman called him to express her gratitude.

“She was shocked that someone actually cared about her being Jewish in Barrington,” he said.

In addition to holidays, the Laufers offered their home as a meeting place for such recent events as a Women’s Evening, at which participants cooked traditional Jewish food, and a Shofar (a traditional Jewish instrument made from a ram’s horn) carving demonstration. They usually had anywhere from 5 to 30 people in attendance.

The Laufers also offered educational programs such as a Jewish Enrichment program for children and Jewish Learning Institute classes for adults featuring topics like Jewish law and history.

Rabbi Laufer all the while performs typical rabbi duties, and has often received calls from locals looking for someone to preside over funerals and other events.

And though the Laufers do not yet have a Chabad center other than their home, nor do they have a congregation, they have formed many individual connections, including one with Rabbi Rosenberg, with whom Rabbi Laufer often studies.

“I welcome Rabbi Laufer’s coming into town — it adds variety. He represents a much more traditional form of Judaism,” said Rabbi Rosenberg. “I don’t view him as competition, I view him as a welcome addition to the Jewish community here. We’re very much aware of our religious differences, but it doesn’t preclude our working together.”

Welcomed to town

Some local Jews have already embraced Rabbi Laufer, as well, if only because he represents a more traditional form of their faith.

“I think [he’s] wonderful,” said Ferry Lane resident Nancy Aroche. “We’ve done things this year that I haven’t done with my family since my grandmother was alive.”

Ms. Aroche met Rabbi Laufer when he brought over a gift of matzo before Passover this year, and soon became friends with her husband. Their interaction, she said, has definitely strengthened her faith.

“They included me,” she said. “It was like a big family. It’s hard to describe — it’s a closeness that you don’t get in these great big congregations.”

“Everybody who walks through our doors, in general, is looking to get more involved in their Judaism,” Rabbi Laufer said. “I’ve had a very, very warm welcome here.”

Appreciation and joy

In turn, Rabbi Laufer said he wants to welcome those into the Jewish community who may not know how to reestablish their faith. The Jews in the East Bay, he said, were not much different from those in Brooklyn, but only fewer in number — “they’re the same Jews,” he said, with varying degrees of observance and understanding of tradition.

Founded in the 1770s, Chabad, also known as the Chabad Lubavitch movement, has hundreds of thousands of followers worldwide who live by the teachings of the Rebbe, the spiritual head of the branch.

Though Chabad features numerous facets of understanding and observation of Jewish faith, Rabbi Laufer said the words of the seventh Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902-1994), gives insight into the teaching and customs of the branch.

In one story, a businessman told the Rebbe that his congregation had 130 Jews with non-Jewish background. The Rebbe responded with a look that Rabbi Laufer said appeared as though the businessman “had insulted his children.”

“Go back and tell them that they have a background,” the Rebbe said. “They are the children of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel and Leah.”

The Rebbe’s response, Rabbi Laufer said, encapsulated what a follower of Chabad feels: A joyful embrace of Judaism and its history, a passion for education, and a love for all Jews.

“We all contribute to a whole picture,” he said. “Without your involvement, [the Jewish community] is missing a leg, and without the leg the head isn’t going anywhere.”

The Laufers made a journey that Rabbi Laufer admitted wasn’t the easiest, having had to uproot their family and move to an area where they knew few people and stood in contrast to a majority Christian population.

But he said that the opportunity to find those legs, the Jews that could form a community of joy and learning, was something he and Mirel had envisioned all their lives.

“It’s something I’ve always wanted,” said Mirel, who also grew up in a Chabad household in London. “To share with people what I had — I think it’s amazing.”

Now with a young family — son Mendel, 4-months-old, is the first native Barringtonian of the Laufers — and a growing Jewish community to help flourish, Rabbi Laufer said he still has much more to learn about life.

“I feel that I’m on a very long learning journey,” he said.