Jewish Student Center at Binghamton Hailed as Spiritual Landmark

Invoking a blessing bestowed by Moses on the Jewish people at the dedication of the biblical Tabernacle, an estimated 600 people consecrated the newly expanded Chabad Center for Jewish Life at Binghamton University.

Telling stories of transformations both personal and institutional, a slate of speakers – including university president Lois B. DeFleur – lauded the center and its directors, Rabbi Aaron and Rivkah Slonim, for transforming Jewish life at the 14,435-student school four hours from New York City.

“The bricks and mortar are wonderful,” DeFleur intoned from the auditorium of the 24,000-square-foot structure. “But they do not capture what Chabad means to this campus and campus community, helping not only in academic ways, but in cultural and spiritual ways.”

Begun with a May 2007 groundbreaking, the project – which saw 18,000 square feet of new construction and the addition of a Holocaust memorial – represented the fourth capital campaign of a center that began with the arrival of the Slonims as Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries in 1985. The last expansion occurred in 2000. It is one of 135 Chabad Houses serving university campuses around the world.

The $3.5 million center, built with the help of a large grant from the Rohr Family Foundation and local developer Barry Newman, boasts a great room, a fitness center, synagogue and café. Newman, who serves as vice president of the center, commissioned the Holocaust memorial in memory of his late wife Cecil, a Holocaust survivor. His company constructed the facility.

In her speech, Tobey Lass, a junior studying human development, told the audience of fellow students, university alumni, faculty and parents of the center’s love for all who walk through its doors.

“There is no such thing as your typical Chabad student,” she said. “We’re always taught to not judge a book by its cover, and the people at the Chabad House defiantly defy all labels that define them outside these walls.”

Binghamton University president Lois B. DeFleur addresses the estimated 600 guests at the grand opening of the Chabad Center for Jewish Life. (Photo: Julie Munn)

“Judaism as a living idea plays an insignificant role in the day-to-day existence of a college student,” echoed Diana Epel Bloom, a member of Binghamton’s class of 1995 who represented alumni of the Chabad House. “It is only with Chabad that most Jewish students solidify and strengthen the Judaism they inherit from their parents and grandparents.”

Supporting her case, Bloom said that she came to Binghamton with a “loose and wobbly” sense of her Jewish identity. She found the Chabad House and has kept up her close friendship with the Slonims long after graduating. Today, she keeps a kosher kitchen.

“Just because a Jew grows up in a Jewish home, no matter how observant, does not mean that he or she has the processes and skills to create a positive Jewish experience for themselves and their families,” added Bloom. “That is the gift of Chabad.”

Not a Philanthropist

Beginning with a dedication of the Holocaust memorial and a symbolic ribbon cutting outside the facility, the ceremony proceeded inside the building, where speakers touched on the necessity of strengthening Jewish pride and exhorted attendees to continue supporting the center.

Moses’ blessing was “that the Divine presence should rest on the work of your hands,” stated Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, vice chairman of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch – the educational arm of Chabad-Lubavitch, and chairman of the Chabad on Campus International Foundation. The implication of such a blessing is that a person’s actions have the power to bring G‑dliness into this world.

“The Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, taught us that if there are 10,000 people in your community,” explained Kotlarsky, “and you’ve reached 9,999, there is one more that you didn’t reach.

“Mr. Newman,” he added, “you’re going to build a place 10 times as big as this, with 4,000 students coming for a Friday night. Don’t relax, you’re not retired.”

In his remarks, George Rohr, one of the biggest supporters of Chabad-Lubavitch centers across the globe, took issue with an introduction that labeled him as a “philanthropist.”

“I’m not a philanthropist. I really am an investor,” said Rohr, whose New Century Holdings has staked positions throughout the former Soviet Union. “We have to take our charity and philanthropy very, very seriously, as we would any other aspect of our lives. These are not our resources; they are given by G‑d.

“I have had the privilege of studying charitable opportunities and, time and time again, Chabad is the best value for the buck,” he added. “It’s really we who have the privilege of supporting this wonderful effort.”

Philanthropist George Rohr, one of the biggest supporters of Chabad-Lubavitch centers across the globe, affixes the mezuzah to the Chabad Center for Jewish Life at Binghamton University. (Photo: Julie Munn)

Before the ceremony moved on to a dinner buffet and tours of the new center, Rivkah Slonim told a story about Jewish children rescued from Europe after the Holocaust: A delegation of community leaders traveled to a Christian orphanage, and were told that they could assume the care of any Jewish children they found. The problem was, they didn’t know how to prove the children’s identities.

“When it was dark, and the children were being put to sleep, [the leaders] softly said Shema Yisrael,” the daily prayer proclaiming G‑d’s unity. “And from all corners of the room, children started saying ‘Mamma’ and ‘Poppa.’ The leaders said, ‘These are our children. We are taking them home.’”

On Friday nights after hosting crowds of students, Slonim thinks of that story, she said.

“It’s hard for Aaron and me to sleep when there are students who might not have been able to come because of the lack of space,” she explained. “What would happen today if we tried to collect Jewish children. How many might not, G‑d forbid, recognize the words of Shema Yisrael.”

The only answer, she concluded, is to keep building and doing more to reach every Jewish student.

It was a message stated earlier by Dr. Michael E. Zenilman, a representative of Binghamton parents.

The Chabad House provides “a place where a person’s innate Judaism is uncovered,” he said. It’s “where they learn more about their heritage. No pressure, no looks. Just love and education.”