Shluchim for the Arts

lubavitch.com

For the first time ever, Jewish students studying at any of the cluster of arts colleges in Center City, Philadelphia, will have their own Jewish student organization.

Chabad-on-Campus has officially opened a new campus center at Rittenhouse Square, and is moving quickly to develop programming that will foster collaboration between students of the various schools, among them, University of the Arts, The Art Institute of Philadelphia, Curtis Institute of Music, Academy of Fine Arts, and Moore College of Art and Design, in Philadelphia.

Rabbi Daniel and Reuvaina Grodnitsky and their two children are settling into a rented space on S. 17th Street right off Avenue of the Arts, in Philly’s vibrant theater hub.

“We are meeting with the deans at the various schools, and we’re seeing a very enthusiastic reception,” says Rabbi Grodnitsky, 25. “They are especially interested in seeing us develop programming that will draw students from the different colleges together.”

Daniel and Reuvaina come to this post after serving at Chabad of Ithaca College. Themselves both graduates of Oberlin College, they are excited, they say, to introduce weekly Shabbat and holiday programming to these colleges, where they expect to reach a Jewish student population of about 1,000.

Reuvaina, 23, and her husband have a number of programs wrapped up on the drawing board.

“We’re planning a Chanukah themed art exhibit for December, which will feature students’ pieces and will be critiqued by a panel of judges made up of famous local artists and arts professors,” she says.

This is the first of the 10 new Chabad campus centers slated to open in the coming year.