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January 17, 2003/Shevat 14 5763, Vol. 55, No. 21
A 'spiritual home'
Chabad of Scottsdale celebrates 10 years
LEISAH NAMM
Managing Editor
Dina and Rabbi Yossi Levertov
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Hazel Davis calls Chabad of Scottsdale a "spiritual home."
Dr. Sean Lille says it's a "comforting guide for the daily ebbs and flows of life."
To celebrate its 10-year anniversary - and the people, such as Davis and Lille, who participate in its programs - Chabad of Scottsdale will hold a dinner Feb. 9 at the Westin Kierland Resort in Phoenix.
"It's a celebration for everyone that appreciates the work of Chabad," says Rabbi Yossi Levertov, spiritual leader of Chabad of Scottsdale.
When Levertov was studying at Chabad of Phoenix in early 1992, his brother Rabbi Zalman Levertov, founder of Chabad of Arizona, asked him if he'd like to help expand Chabad to the Scottsdale area.
By the time the High Holidays rolled around later that year, newlyweds Rabbi Yossi and Dina Levertov hosted their first Rosh Hashana service as Chabad of Scottsdale.
The synagogue rented a small storefront at Scottsdale Road and Shea Boulevard - located on the same corner where they are now, but closer to the street, next to a convenience store.
By the end of 1993, they moved to their current location.
"There were no landscaping trucks getting their coffee on Shabbos morning," Levertov remembers. "There was no lawnmower repair shop on the other side of the wall firing up those machines and the fumes during Yom Kippur services - so it was a big upgrade for us."
In January 2000, Chabad of Scottsdale upgraded once again, expanding its location. And now - with 180 people attending recent Shabbat services - it has started raising funds to further expand.
"We're bursting at our seams," Levertov says.
Hazel Davis and her family were among Levertov's first members; her son Jonathan among the first to study with Levertov to prepare for his bar mitzvah.
Chabad of Scottsdale "has a really wonderful, warm, friendly atmosphere," Davis says. "It's a very accepting environment."
"Although it's gotten much bigger, it's never lost that warm, friendly family feeling," she says. When her daughter Deena comes home from college, "she just loves to go back there, she really feels at home there."
One thing that Levertov is most proud of is the diversity of its members - "from totally unaffiliated in terms of observance to traditional Jews and everything in between," he says. "To have that mix is really wonderful for a shul."
Another source of pride is the "young teens eating cholent on a Shabbat after services," Levertov says. "That gives me the most pleasure - to see these kids instead of being at the mall are there for services and sitting and schmoozing at the end of services."
In 1999, Rabbi Yaakov and Tehila Baron joined the congregation. Rabbi Baron runs the gift shop - Mazel Tov Gifts, which opened in 1994 - and several youth programs. Tehila Baron is involved in the Hebrew school, run by Dina Levertov.
Chabad's programs vary from standard synagogue programming - such as Shabbat and High Holiday services and adult education - to special holiday events such as Chanukah on Ice, a shofar factory, a Sukkot fair and a Matzah Bakery.
Its growth is evident in the growth of its programs.
At the end of 1993, a Hebrew school premiered with three students - now there are 45. That year, in addition to Shabbat services, there were Monday and Thursday morning minyans. Now there are daily morning and evening minyans. "I think, for Scottsdale, it's absolutely tremendous," Levertov says.
"We've seen it grow from a struggle to get a minyan to well over 100 people," Davis says, who attends Shabbat services regularly with her husband Leslie.
From its very beginning, Chabad of Scottsdale had a Hospital Visitation program, where representatives visit people in nearby hospitals, bringing challah and grape juice on Fridays. In its initial stage, Levertov would visit the patients, but now members also join him.
Newer programs include a Bat Mitzvah Club and the Jewish Learning Institute.
The Bat Mitzvah Club, run by Dina Levertov, is a club for girls, ages 11-14, where they can meet other Jewish girls and participate in social and educational activities. "Our goal is that when they go through a bat mitzvah, they have a much greater appreciation for what the Jewish woman's role in Judaism is and who they are as individuals," Levertov says.
The Jewish Learning Institute offers adult education courses at a university level taught by certified instructors. The upcoming program is "Kaballah Rhythms: A Spiritual Roadmap to Higher Living," which begins Jan. 22.
The Jewish Women's Exchange, led by Dina Levertov, provides an opportunity for Jewish women to meet, socialize and learn.
On a weekly basis, Chabad of Scottsdale sends e-mails to a list of about 1,500 people, which include a story, anecdote or thought.
For the holidays, Chabad of Scottsdale sends out 5,000-8,000 holiday guides, full-color booklets that include holiday information, candle-lighting times and recipes.
Although the e-mails and holiday guides are forms of outreach, Levertov has noticed that the time available to do outreach has declined in the past 10 years.
In the early days, they "had to work so hard to bring people in and to expose them and to show them that we were offering a product that people did not know about or appreciate," he says.
But now, he says they don't have much time for outreach because people are coming to them.
"You don't have to pull them in," Levertov says. "People are coming, they want a taste of tradition, they want a taste of Torah and mitzvot, they want to learn authentic Torah, real Torah."
For Lille, who joined Chabad about two months ago with his wife Diane and their two young children, his relationship with Chabad has been a "journey (and) a process."
Lille says he was raised as a secular Jew with virtually no religious background, but after he got married and had children, he wanted to learn more about his heritage and culture. He and his wife were drawn to the warmth and kindness of the rabbis and the congregation - and the spirituality it brought to their lives.
Chabad of Scottsdale is one of more than 2,500 branches of the international Chabad Lubavitch movement, and one of four in the Valley.
Levertov notes Chabad's "open-door policy" - that membership is not required and is open to all Jews, regardless of observance or affiliation.
Visit www.chabadofscottsdale.org.
Details
- What: 10th anniversary celebration, featuring Comedian Marc Weiner
- Who: Chabad of Scottsdale
- When: 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 9
- Where: Westin Kierland Resort, 6902 E. Greenway Parkway, Phoenix
- Cost: $180
- Call: 480-998-1410
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