Chabad of West Hempstead, a growing Jewish congregation that started in 2005, has launched an expansion campaign to relocate to a larger space.
Currently at the corner of Hawthorne and Nassau Boulevard, the congregation plans to move to a larger space nearby, spiritual leader Rabbi Yossi Lieberman told members Monday night (Jan. 16).
The new property comprises almost an acre of land and would allow increased facilities for worship and activities. “We are scrambling for space,” said Chaya Rochel Lieberman, who runs congregation activities with her husband. Noting the extensive youth, communal and educational activities at the current center, she said, “We want to accomplish this on a much larger scale.” The congregation for many years was run out of the Liebermans’ home and for a time held High Holidays services in rented storefronts, including the Wing Wan kosher Chinese restaurant.
Overall, moving to the new space will cost over $1 million, with $100,000 already committed to acquire the new home, the rabbi said. Another $600,00 must be raised to complete the closing. The Liebermans said many of the congregation benefactors have been extremely generous but more is needed on a grassroots level to move ahead with the ambitious expansion.
Chabad of West Hempstead is an affiliate of the global Chabad Lubavitch movement, which stresses the teachings of chasidic Judaism and is heavily geared toward encouraging greater spiritual engagement and religious observance within the Jewish people.
The Jewish community of West Hempstead has been growing substantially since the 1970s with several Orthodox congregations opening or expanding in recent months. The former Pompeii restaurant recently became a synagogue, Beis Torah U’Tefiloh, and Congregation Anshei Shalom is in the midst or a major construction project expected to reach completion later this year.
