Chabad Essex Launch 5 Year Plan

By COLlive reporter

On Sunday 21st June, over 200 guests joined Chabad-Lubavitch N E London and Essex in the Prince Regent rooms, Woodford Bridge for their annual dinner to celebrate the ongoing work and growth of Chabad in Essex.

The dinner launched the exciting 5 year development plan created for the Essex Jewish community by Chabad N E London and Essex. The evening also gave Chabad the opportunity to highlight the huge success and the 10th Anniversary of Chabad Buckhurst Hill and recognize the continued hard work and dedication of Rabbi Odom and Henny Brandman.

Guest speaker Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, former Chief Rabbi of Israel, gave an inspiring talk on the future of the Jewish community across the world and the common threats all Jews face. He stated that the biggest threat to all Jewish communities more than any other is assimilation and only with organizations like Chabad can we begin to solve this problem.

The dinner reached Chabad’s fundraising target of £50,000, which will ensure that Chabad can continue with their ongoing projects and community engagement across North East London and Essex.

There are currently four Chabad couples residing in Essex, aiming to building and supporting new and existing communities. Rabbi Aryeh and Rebbetzen Deborah Sufrin based in Gants Hill, Rabbi Moshe and Rebbetzen Brocha Muller, Rabbi Odom and Henny Brandman, Directors of Chabad Buckhurst Hill and the newly appointed Director of Services and Young Couples Rabbi Rafi and Rebbetzen Chaya Brocha Goodwin based in Barkingside.

The 5 year development plan for Chabad N E London and Essex is looking at the broader community and the circumstances which have brought a real change to the Essex Jewish community. The aim of the plan is grow and develop the existing communities in Essex and engage with Jews where communities may not already be established.

Rabbi Aryeh Sufrin MBE Executive Director of Chabad Lubavitch Centre N.E London & Essex said: “This year at the Chabad Lubavitch N E London and Essex dinner we were delighted to launch our five year development plan which continues to deliver our promise made at last year’s dinner, to support, develop and grow the community in Essex. Chabad Lubavitch in N E London and Essex has worked extremely hard over the last 32 years underpinning the strong Jewish community that is in Essex, and bringing a community to so many new areas of Essex and we can guarantee that every penny put into the Essex community is going to be part of this success story. The dinner also gave us a fantastic opportunity to thank all of those who have supported us over the last 32 years and with a special thanks to Rabbi Odom and Rebbetzen Henny Brandman for their dedication to Chabad Buckhurst Hill for the last 10 years.”