Chabad’s New Center for Jewish Life Opens in Agoura

The Chabad of the Conejo opened its new Center for Jewish Life on Sun., Sept. 18 with a morning full of speeches, fanfare and celebration—and an expression of gratitude toward a community that has been at once welcoming and supportive.

Hundreds of Chabad members and well-wishers turned out for the building’s grand opening in Agoura Hills.

Rabbi Y. Sapo, director of the Chabad’s teen and youth center, asked the crowd if anybody could have dreamed that the new center would be built. He answered his own question—“Absolutely not.”

Rabbi Chaim Cunin, executive director for the Chabad of California, called the construction of the new center a “miracle.”

The two-story, 7,000-square foot building at 30347 Canwood St. took five years to complete.

Political leaders who came to the celebration included U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Camarillo) and representatives from the cities of Agoura Hills, Westlake Village and Thousand Oaks.

Said David Siegel, consul general of Israel, “We need to be united more than ever in a time of real challenges and real opportunities.”

Rabbi Moshe Bryski, Chabad executive director, said future construction at the site will include a new lecture hall and shul.

Bryski introduced special guest speaker Dennis Prager, a conservative radio talk show host.

“There have been so many who have wanted to build centers of Jewish death,” Prager said. “We are preoccupied with Jewish life.”

Prager explained the Chabad’s symbol of the tree. In the Torah, the tree symbolizes life, he said. The tree of life also represents a love of life, which is “embodied in Israel.”

The Torah is the “book of life,” and although Jewish people believe in the afterlife, preoccupation with “this life” is the focus for most Jews, Prager said.

He complimented Bryski’s strength of character and commitment to carry out the goal of building the new center.

Prager said the facility was a testament to the vision of those leaders who originally brought the Chabad to the Conejo Valley, an area that is home to one of the largest Jewish populations in the United States.

The new center also embodies the power of happiness and love, Prager said. Happiness is a moral virtue and “makes the world better.”

Prager praised the City of Agoura Hills for its vision and leadership.

“What a credit it is to you to have this center in your midst,” he said.

And he applauded the fact that the United States is the only Judeo-Christian country in the world.

Agoura Hills Mayor Harry Schwarz said when he was an immigrant boy in his new country, the United States of America, he didn’t realize how precious freedom was.

“I never take it for granted that I am a citizen,” Schwarz said.

Thousand Oaks Mayor Andy Fox congratulated the leaders of Chabad.

“This was truly a labor of love,” Fox said. “I know this center will be a source of pride.”

Bryski said the new center took vision and sacrifice, but added that the greater the struggle, the greater the triumph. He said what was once just a dream is now a “very real reality.”

Like Prager, Bryski discussed the symbolism of trees.

“Just as our ancestors have planted for us, we must plant for our children,” he said, and told the story of the chestnut tree that Anne Frank wrote about in her diary while hiding from Nazi persecution.

A chestnut tree that Frank looked at each day for two years from the only window in the basement of the Amsterdam home where she was hiding died in 2010 after a storm. The tree, Bryski said, represented Frank’s longing for life.

Although the tree died, its sap was saved and will be used to germinate identical trees for growth in Amsterdam and other countries.

“Her tree lives on,” Bryski said.

“Today we bear witness to the majestic tree of life right here in Agoura Hills.”