Puerto Rico Chabad Breaks Ground

By Karen Schwartz – Chabad.org

Carl Sanders and his wife, Ivelisse, flew from New York to Puerto Rico on Sunday for a good reason—Chabad of Puerto Rico held a groundbreaking ceremony two days later, on Dec. 10, for a new Chabad center, with construction expected to be underway next year.

The couple has an apartment in Puerto Rico, and first discovered Chabad there some eight years ago while out for a stroll. And it’s been a part of their lives ever since, according to Carl Sanders.

The groundbreaking drew a crowd of some 175 people from both the local community and visitors from far outside of it. Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro Garc?a Padilla and a number of other public dignitaries attended the event. Padilla, a lawyer by trade, addressed the crowd, as did Rabbi Mendel Zarchi, who founded Chabad Lubavitch of Puerto Rico with his wife, Rochi, in 1999.

It was standing-room only as they talked about the impact Chabad has had on the immediate community and the island at large. “This is a historic moment; it’s the first-ever Orthodox shul, considering that for hundreds of years, Judaism was suppressed when Puerto Rico was under Spanish rule,” explained Zarchi. “This is a great testament to the tolerance and acceptance of the people of Puerto Rico of all people from all of races, and their great affinity for the Jewish people.”

“We give thanks to Hashem for allowing us to be the Chabad shluchim (emissaries) in implementing the vision of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory,” he continued, “of filling the world with the holiness of Torah and mitzvot, and bringing the world a step closer to the coming of Moshiach.”

Room to Grow
The 11,000-square-foot facility to be set in the San Juan suburbs will be home to the first synagogue in Puerto Rico built from the ground up, as well as its first mikvah.

Sanders can’t wait for the new building to be finished. “It’s going to be a new, beautiful shul, and it’s going to inspire people,” he said.

The rabbi, governor and several others who were formally recognized at the event ceremoniously dug up the dirt with shovels as they formed the cornerstone of the new site.

“The highlight was all the people,” stressed Sanders, who found the ceremony very moving. “I think the new space and the new shul will be great—great for Chabad, for the Jewish people there and for tourists coming through.”

Richard Cohen, who lives in New York and comes to Puerto Rico at least once a month for business—and sometimes pleasure—because he owns a company there, noted that Chabad provides important services to the community. For instance, “we are kosher, and it’s very important to have a synagogue we can pray in,” he said.

He extended his current stay to participate in the groundbreaking.

“It brings our traditions here, and there are a lot of Jews here who need the inspiration and the guidance,” he said, adding that he believes having a synagogue of such magnitude will draw Jews from all kinds of backgrounds—and tourists as well. “I think it’s terrific, and we’re very excited to see the project.”

For Jeffrey Levine, a New Yorker who has lived in San Juan for the past 11 years, the building is like “moving form a Volkswagen to a Ferrari. This will have all the amenities we need.”

The project has been in the works for many years, according to Levine, who has been involved with Chabad for nearly five years. He remarked that Chabad has the potential to bring more Yiddishkeit (Judaism) to Puerto Rico’s 3,000 Jews.

“It’s like another house for us, another place to pray, and to celebrate our festivities and occasions,” he said. “It’s moving out of the little rented house we’re in now into a proper building, a proper shul that will give us room to grow.”