Lubavitch House to relocate, expand on Spruce Street

With plans to relocate to the new Perelman Center for Jewish Life on Spruce Street this year, soon the Lubavitch House won’t be quite as big of a schlep for Penn students.

The Lubavitch House at Penn operated out of its 4032 Spruce St. location from 1980 until 2008, when it moved to 4037 Pine St. in order for its original house to be combined with the building next door. The construction project will double the former size of the space, allowing for more amenities — including some student housing, study lounges and individual study rooms, according to campus Rabbi Levi Haskelevich.

“We wanted a new face for the Lubavitch House — a place where we could have more students come over for Shabbat dinners and holidays,” Director of the Lubavitch House Rabbi Ephraim Levin said. “We want to give it a feel of a home away from home.”

The construction project, which was funded in large part by young alumni from the 1990s, will be completed sometime this year.

With plans for relocation and expansion in the works, the Lubavitch House is looking forward to implementing several new programs and initiatives this coming year.

One such program will be Passport to Israel, a year-long program beginning at the end of October which will be geared toward students who have been to Israel on Birthright trips and those who plan to. Applicants selected for the program will explore a wide variety of perspectives related to Israel, such as its religious importance and the role of Zionism, as well as meet with guest speakers to discuss aspects of Israeli society. According to Haskelevich, participants will “be on the priority list for a summer trip to Israel.”

In addition, under the new Chabad Leadership Program, students will have the chance to discuss the relevance of Judaism to faculty members’ research with them at informal discussions and monthly Shabbat dinners. “This program will enable students to have discussions about what Jewish leadership really means,” Wharton junior and Chabad chairwoman Lauren Gibli said. “Amid the stress of academics and On-Campus Recruitment, it’s refreshing to have a conversation about these topics.”

Partnering with Counseling and Psychological Services and the Office of the Vice Provost, the Lubavitch House will also be home to the Healthy Living Task Force, a campus-wide, peer-to-peer outreach program to help students under stress.

Past years’ programming, such as holiday celebrations, menorah distribution and the educational Sinai Scholars program, will also continue this year.

The Lubavitch House is formally affiliated with the Chaplain’s Office and is a member of the Penn Religious Community Council. “We’re working closely with all branches of the University to have the Lubavitch House be an integrated part of the community,” Levin said.

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