MONTREAL – After being boarded up for three years and coming close to being declared derelict, the Chabad house on Peel Street has reopened following a $2.2-million renovation and expansion.
The dedication of the building on April 7 also celebrated a rebirth of this Chabad branch, which was established in 1973 to serve Jewish students at McGill University.
The former row house, which is more than 100 years old, was in serious disrepair when Rabbi Shmuly Weiss and his wife, Rashi, arrived in Montreal in 2007 to direct the branch.
“The building was so bad, I can’t even begin to describe it,” said Rabbi Weiss, a Los Angeles native who had come here from Israel.
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“The plumbing was shot… the floors were uneven, steps broken, the paint peeling. We were a couple of years away from being condemned,” he said.
As Montreal-born Rashi Weiss recalled, they knew a drastic overhaul could not be put off after the glass in the front door broke literally under the weight of the crumbling façade. Her grandfather, Yitzhak Gniwisch, incidentally, was one of the major contributors to the purchase of the building in the early 1970s.
However, finding the funds wasn’t easy, and several years passed before construction began almost three years ago. Over that time, the building could not be used.
An angel came in the form of New York businessman George Rohr, chair of the Chabad on Campus advisory board. Several other local philanthropists followed suit.
The house is now officially named Chabad at McGill/Rohr Jewish Center in recognition of the lead donation.
Money wasn’t the only problem. With a building this old and fragile, there were bound to be delays. As Rohr said: “It’s been a long, long road… like witnessing the birth of an elephant.”
The interior of the three-storey structure was virtually gutted, and expanded towards the back, nearly doubling the floor space. The collapsing façade was also given a facelift, although the trademark menorah – once touted as the largest in the world – is no longer out front. Rabbi Weiss said it broke in a windstorm and was too expensive to replace.
The centrepiece of the new house, whose architect was Isaac Alt and interior designer Jaime Buzaglo, is the spacious, brightly lit synagogue and social hall on the main floor.
On the second floor is a hospitality suite and the door to a terrace that will be used to install the sukkah. A winding staircase from there leads to a two-level library.
In the basement are a café/lounge, kitchen and coat-check room. A fully functioning restaurant is planned.
Chabad’s activities have been revived by the couple. Rashi Weiss recalled when they held their first Shabbat dinner, only three students showed up. A week later, at Rosh Hashanah, there were 30, but by the end of the semester an average of 70 were coming.
Today, about 100 to 120 students attend Friday nights, Rabbi Weiss said. They are not only from McGill, but other downtown campuses.
The majority, he said, come from traditional, but not Orthodox families. The rest are Orthodox or “those who have not had much exposure [to Judaism] and are exploring their roots.”
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The couple run a variety of educational and social programs throughout the week, and encourage the young people to volunteer in such other Chabad programs as the MADA food bank and Friendship Circle for special-needs children.
The branch’s student president, Rebecca Dales of Vancouver, who described herself as from a traditional family, called Chabad “my home away from home” thanks to the warm environment the rabbi and his wife have created.
Rabbi Weiss emphasized that every Jew is welcome at the centre, “no matter how far away they are geographically or spiritually.”
Among the dignitaries bringing greetings at the dedication were Marc Miller, MP for Ville-Marie-le Sud-ouest-Ile des Soeurs, and Montreal executive committee member Lionel Perez, as well as Moshe Kotlarsky, from Chabad-Lubavitch world headquarters in New York.