Shul Moves Into Nightclub

By Tamar Runyan, chabad.org

The Ala Moana Hotel in Honolulu sits next door to the future home of Chabad-Lubavitch of Hawaii.

After more than two decades without a permanent home, Chabad-Lubavitch of Hawaii is converting a once-popular nightclub into a sprawling Jewish center in the heart of Honolulu’s convention district.

According to director Pearl Krasnjansky, plans call for the 11,000 square-foot space of the former Hawaiian Hut to house the Chabad House’s synagogue, a Hebrew school, social hall, museum and Jewish ritual bath.

“For almost 25 years, we’ve essentially been wandering Jews,” said Krasnjansky, who arrived on the island of Oahu with her husband, Rabbi Itchel Krasnjansky, in 1987 and has been renting out spaces at various hotels since then.

“We are very excited to turn the location into a Jewish center for both locals and the hundreds of tourists we see each year.”

More than 100 people showed up at the location adjacent to the Ala Moana Hotel two weeks ago as Itchel Krasnjansky affixed a mezuzah to the building’s doorpost.

Preliminary renovations are currently underway, and the Krasnjanskys expect the space to be operational in time for the Jewish New Year of Rosh Hashanaha, which begins Sept. 9.

After the holiday, said Pearl Krasnjansky, “we’ll embark on a massive building campaign.”