The Chabad of Camden and Burlington Counties has been serving the Cherry Hill area for 33 years while building up a network of support for the local Jewish community.
But Rabbi Mendy Mangel, the Chabad center’s co-executive director, recently decided there was a need to establish a new center on the western side of Cherry Hill.
“He [Mangel] realized recently that there’s a lot of Jews falling through the cracks. He can’t reach everyone. He’s so busy. He has hundreds of Jews coming to him on the East Side, so it’s time to bring someone down the West Side,” explained Rabbi Isser Brikman, who will head up the new West Side hub.
Brikman said he has already started to reach out to Jews in the area and the center is working on programs to engage Jewish residents.
“Our first event is a menorah lighting in the Cherry Hill Mall, but our main priority is just to have connections, be a helping hand, helping any Jew that wants to learn more, connect to Judaism, learn Torah, keep the mitzvot, and just try to reach as many Jews as possible on the West Side,” Brikman said.
Brikman said that he feels fortunate to have the opportunity to go into the Cherry Hill community and, in time, establish a new Chabad house.
“One of the happiest times in my life is when I was granted this opportunity. It’s something I always wanted to do from [the time I was] a little child, to go out and help Jews connect. And when this opportunity came up, it was like dream come true,” Brikman said.
He said it’s been a great experience working with Mangel, who he described as “one of a kind.”
So far, outreach to the community has been “old school work,” according to Brikman. He described the process as knocking on doors to find Jewish residents, giving them his conact information and asking them to call him if they’re interested.
He’ll also ask those people if they have Jewish friends and encourage the person to let their friend know about the new Chabad center as well.
Brikman said that having a dedicated Chabad for the West Side means that he’s able to reach more Jews in person and be a constant presence in the community, due to the reduced geographic range their center will cover.
“I met a Jew this week that was not connected to anything. He was so happy that I stopped by, and he just fell through the cracks, because he moved to the West Side,” Brikman said. “The East Side Chabad is an 18-minute drive. It’s not close. The fact that I’m here solely for the West Side, I was able to connect to him. And he just messaged me that he wants to have a meeting and connect more to Judaism.”
Brikman said that every day he’s hearing about more Jews in the area and is working on connecting with them.
Brikman noted that the eventual goal is to have a space for a full Chabad center where people can pray and hold events. But for now, the plan is centered around coming up with programming for West Side Cherry Hill residents that has something for everyone.
“Now is the hard part, to reach as many Jews as we could, and simultaneously, we’re working to set up a center to work out of to do events and programs, and to do events for everyone on the West Side and also, specifically women’s Torah classes, men’s Torah classes, senior classes, and give every person individual attention. So, we’re working on everything at once. Very hectic, but that’s our job,” Brikman said.
Brikman said Jews in the west side of Cherry Hill area can contact him at [email protected].