Rabbi Chaim Goldstein grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, home to the state’s flagship university, where his parents ran the school’s thriving Chabad house. He knew from a young age that he too wanted to lead young Jewish college students into adulthood one day — the trouble was, so did a lot of other Lubavitch Jews.
“Believe it or not, there is a waiting list. In today’s day and age, there is a Chabad everywhere,” he said. “It’s a game to try and find a Jewish community that does not have a Chabad yet.”
Then, at a conference around a decade and a half ago, he ran into the rabbi in charge of the Chabad at the University of Pennsylvania. The rabbi said that the campus next door, Drexel University, had a sizable Jewish community but no Chabad. In fact, many of the Drexel undergraduates would attend the Penn Chabad. Goldstein saw his chance.
“I knew nothing about Drexel and very little about Philly, but when we came to check it out that summer, we liked it,” he said. “We ended up moving here soon after, on New Year’s Day 2011.”
Since then, what began as an upstart Chabad with no alumni base in a city full of competition has become a staple on the Drexel campus. Goldstein proudly bestowed a nickname on the students he leads that draws from Drexel’s unique mascot, a mythical creature: He calls them “Jewish dragons.”
“We need to be doing everything we can to strengthen Jewish college students — it’s needed a lot today,” he said. “I get to see it on the ground. There’s nothing like [getting to] see the students see that the world cares and that people are doing what they can to support the students so they feel safe and have Jewish pride.”
Goldstein said the importance of making young Jews feel safe on college campuses has exploded in relevance since the Oct. 7 attacks. Protests, many of which include antisemitic chants and signs, took over college campuses across the country last school year, with some university leaders acting friendlier to the Jewish community than others.
Goldstein recalled a moment that revealed to him that he wouldn’t be attacking this issue alone. The associate vice president and dean of student life at Drexel, Katie Zamulinsky, made sure that she showed Goldstein and the students he leads support on that fateful day, he explained.
“She knew she couldn’t get a hold of us on our phones because of the holiday, so she actually walked over to Chabad that day just to show us her support,” he said.
Goldstein and the students he serves jumped into action immediately, he said. They held a prayer vigil. They had a rally on campus. They held a special Shabbat service the week after the attacks that garnered over 100 attendees. At a time when the Jewish community needed unity and strength, the Jewish Dragons answered the call.
“There has been tremendous inspiration for students to get more involved,” he said.
However, that hasn’t just manifested in responses to Oct. 7 and the subsequent war. There have been other highlights that are far less heavy.
“My wife started a special class for girls only, and she has gotten a tremendous following of girls who just want to come and study and learn more about Judaism,” he said.
Goldstein also described a student who grew up in a mildly religious environment but was inspired to become more devout after taking part in a challenge at Chabad. The 40-Day Tefillin Challenge was designed to introduce Jews who do not often put on Tefillin to experience it.
“He was so inspired that he went home, got his own Tefillin and he started putting them on every day. And he told me that his dad was so inspired that he decided to put on Tefillin together with his son,” Goldstein said.
After 14 years of operations, the Drexel Chabad is starting to see alumni come back and donate time and money. Goldstein said that, while fundraising is still an everyday job, it has gotten easier since he started so many years ago.
“You just have to get creative. You have to pull from anywhere you can. The first step was getting in touch with parents and letting them know that we were starting a Chabad that their child would come to Shabbat at — we would ask if they could help us out or sponsor Shabbat,” he said. “And right away, people were very receptive. People were helping out.”
Drexel may not have had a Chabad until the Goldsteins moved to town, but that’s not to say that the Jewish community at the school was apathetic. In fact, the rabbi said his expectations were exceeded from the beginning. The third Shabbat at Drexel Chabad drew 40 students.
Goldstein also recalled a time early in his tenure that he was crowdfunding for the Chabad with the goal of getting parents to match donations that had already been made. One generous parent jumped on the opportunity and was a large reason that the whole campaign was a success.
“We’re always growing,” he said.
That campaign is now an annual occurrence.
For the Goldsteins, Philadelphia is now home. Ann Arbor and Philadelphia have their differences, but to Goldstein, it doesn’t matter where he is as much as what he is doing.
“When my wife and I met, we discussed how in the future we both wanted to run our own Chabad house. We lived in Brooklyn for a couple of years until we could find a place to open a Chabad — but we found one,” he said.
