Lawrence Chabad House expands with brand-new facility serving Jewish students

A Kansas jayhawk greets audience members at the groundbreaking ceremony for a 10,000-square-foot Center for Jewish Life at the University of Kansas. (Maya Smith/Kansas Reflector)

LAWRENCE — The Chabad House of Lawrence has provided a safe place for Jewish students to practice their faith, grab a meal or make friends within their community for 18 years.

A year from now, they will be able to do all this and more at the new, 10,000-square-foot Center for Jewish Life at the University of Kansas.

Rabbi Zalman Tiechtel and his wife have run the local Chabad Center since 2006. After being maxed out at the one-story house on 19th Street for years, their dreams of expansion are finally coming true.

“This is a very exciting time for the Jewish community. Not just at KU, but the whole Northeast Kansas,” Tiechtel said. “We have many students who are not Jewish who come to the Chabad House along with their Jewish friends, just to see what it’s like to celebrate. It’s amazing to see the eye-opening experience. A lot of students never met a Jew before, especially if you come from rural America.”

The facility will be equipped with Lawrence’s first commercial kosher kitchen, as well as a dining hall and study lounges, according to a flyer for the new center. The perks will be enjoyed by both students and community members who walk through the Chabad Center doors.

Sunday afternoon, the location for the new center was packed with community members, donors, students and family members for the groundbreaking ceremony. The ceremony shed light on those who have been committed to the Chabad House for years, including Tiechtel’s wife, Nechama.

“When Zalman and I met, one of the first things we spoke about was our shared passion of finding some place in this big world where we could open a Chabad house,” she said. “Each and every student that walks through our doors is not just one individual, but an entire generation.”

KU junior Tyler Bermundo is one of many students who have found their place within the Jewish community in Lawrence. After transferring from a junior college to a larger university, it has become a home away from home.

“In one word, community. That’s what it means to me,” Bermundo said. “And there’s nothing really else like it around here. We can really expand on our community now.”

The project’s budget is estimated at $6 million, and construction will take a year to complete. Tiechtel said the center has been fortunate with cooperation from the city as well as fundraising, with generous donors hailing from the KU community and beyond.

“We are more than halfway to the fundraising goal. People are supporting it,” he said. “People want to see it happen. (We) welcome people regardless of their background and affiliation. We believe labels are for suits and clothing, not for people.”

In a time of world conflict and discrimination, Tiechtel believes a location near campus for all students to find a community is needed more than ever.

“This is what we need. We need large community centers that provide resources and education,” he said. “There’s so many misconceptions. People will come to learn, and I think that this is crucially important, especially in the environment we live in today.”

Community members will still be able to enjoy weekly Chabad dinners at a different facility during construction. Tiechtel, his family and students are excited for the next steps of construction and what opportunities lie ahead.

“It’s been met with so much positivity,” the rabbi said. “It’s an unbelievable feeling because my life (and) the life of my family is dedicated to serving the community. And we were desperately seeking the means, the capacity to be able to answer the call. This is what we need.”