Goal:
$493,725.30 Total Raised
98% Complete
We raised $493,725 for Chabad of Hawaii! Thank you to our generous matchers for making this a possibility, and a HUGE thank you goes to YOU for seizing the opportunity to do good.
Paula Begoun
In Memory of Daniel C. Levey, ob'm
Amir Borochov
Eliezer & Devorah Neiger
Tal & Shira Nemzer
Risa Dickson
In memory of Andrew Chayim Dickson, ob'm
Gal & Shimrit Adiv
Stuart & Josie Platt
Bennett Hymer
B”H
40 Years of Jewish Life in Hawaii, and Going Strong
In 1987, a young couple moved across the country to Honolulu with a toddler, a newborn - and not much else. What they DID bring with them was a mandate from the Lubavitcher Rebbe: turn Hawaii into a flourishing oasis of Torah and Jewish life.
And a hope that they could somehow make it happen.
Forty years later, that hope has blossomed into a vibrant Jewish oasis.
Step inside a day in the life of Chabad of Hawaii.
8:00 AM. Morning Shacharit minyan at Chabad House, the only daily minyan in the state.
9:00 AM. Rabbi Yisroel Krasnjansky, the next generation, assistant rabbi, teaches Maimonides’ classical legal work, Mishneh Torah. In Hebrew.
10:00 AM. A frantic call from the mainland. “My cousin is dying in Honolulu, far from home. Can you visit him? Arrange hospice? Please, make sure he gets a kosher burial, before, G-d forbid, cremation happens.” Rabbi Itchel gets to work on making this happen.
12 PM Rabbi Yisroel Krasnjansky is on the streets of Waikiki, asking strangers in Hebrew, English, and Spanish: “Excuse me, are you Jewish?” It's a question that’s been asked by Chabad thousands of times over - and it still stops people in their tracks. Today it leads him to George, an 80-year-old attorney putting on tefillin for the first time in his life, now studying with the rabbi to prepare for the bar mitzvah he never had.
Then it's off to a visit to Henry, a friend of 40 years, a retired executive now living with dementia, aging alone, in his 80s. Rabbi Itchel spends two hours with him: grocery shopping, lunch, just being there and giving him love and support.
5:00 PM. Another emergency. A community member has been detained by immigration. Lawyers need to be hired. Kosher food arranged. Permission secured just to visit the detainee. It all has to happen today.
Amidst it all, at Chabad House, an elderly Russian couple comes looking for a Shabbat meal. Visiting Israeli families needing a place for the holidays. Two hungry rabbinical students, stranded by a flight delay on their way from Australia, stop by asking for dinner. They all find it at Chabad of Hawaii, the way thousands of tourists have done, over the past four decades.
Some visitors never leave quite the same. 19 years ago, a young man named Brandon Lessing walked through these doors. Today, Chaplain Rabbi Eitan Lessing and his beautiful family serve at Schofield Barracks.
Meanwhile, across the hall, Rebbetzin Perel is building next year's Hebrew school curriculum, working one on one with every teacher, making sure that no child gets left behind. In 1988, Chabad Hebrew School opened with four children in the Krasnjanskys' living room. This year, the Daniel Levey Hebrew School closed with close to fifty students and five classrooms bursting at the seams.
And this year, the next generation has arrived! Rabbi Yisroel, his wife Fradl and baby Mendel moved to Hawaii to build community alongside his parents.
And Yudi and Estee Weinbaum have grown Chabad Young Professionals into weekly Shabbatons drawing large crowds of young people, with 100 expected for the first night of Rosh Hashanah this year.
Some things haven't changed in 40 years: The doors are still open every single day of the year. A stranger on the street is still asked if he's Jewish. A lonely widower still gets a friend, not just a visitor.
That is Chabad of Hawaii, then and now.
As we enter our 40th year, we are still growing, and our greatest work is still ahead.
How does the match work?
Several generous donors have come forward to match, dollar for dollar, every donation you give, up to $250,000. That means your contribution has double the impact, and together we can reach our goal of $500,000 for the year ahead: to keep the doors open every day, the minyan running, the Hebrew school growing, and no one facing a hospital room, an immigration hearing, or a lonely afternoon alone.
$54 = $108 $180 = $360 $1,000 = $2,000 $1800 = $3600
Be a part of the holy work of Chabad of Hawaii. Help us reach our goal, before the gates of Yom Kippur close.
May you be blessed a thousandfold in return.
Shana Tova Umetukah, with heartfelt appreciation,
Rabbi Itchel & Perel Krasnjansky
Chabad of Hawaii
About Campaign
B”H
40 Years of Jewish Life in Hawaii, and Going Strong
In 1987, a young couple moved across the country to Honolulu with a toddler, a newborn - and not much else. What they DID bring with them was a mandate from the Lubavitcher Rebbe: turn Hawaii into a flourishing oasis of Torah and Jewish life.
And a hope that they could somehow make it happen.
Forty years later, that hope has blossomed into a vibrant Jewish oasis.
Step inside a day in the life of Chabad of Hawaii.
8:00 AM. Morning Shacharit minyan at Chabad House, the only daily minyan in the state.
9:00 AM. Rabbi Yisroel Krasnjansky, the next generation, assistant rabbi, teaches Maimonides’ classical legal work, Mishneh Torah. In Hebrew.
10:00 AM. A frantic call from the mainland. “My cousin is dying in Honolulu, far from home. Can you visit him? Arrange hospice? Please, make sure he gets a kosher burial, before, G-d forbid, cremation happens.” Rabbi Itchel gets to work on making this happen.
12 PM Rabbi Yisroel Krasnjansky is on the streets of Waikiki, asking strangers in Hebrew, English, and Spanish: “Excuse me, are you Jewish?” It's a question that’s been asked by Chabad thousands of times over - and it still stops people in their tracks. Today it leads him to George, an 80-year-old attorney putting on tefillin for the first time in his life, now studying with the rabbi to prepare for the bar mitzvah he never had.
Then it's off to a visit to Henry, a friend of 40 years, a retired executive now living with dementia, aging alone, in his 80s. Rabbi Itchel spends two hours with him: grocery shopping, lunch, just being there and giving him love and support.
5:00 PM. Another emergency. A community member has been detained by immigration. Lawyers need to be hired. Kosher food arranged. Permission secured just to visit the detainee. It all has to happen today.
Amidst it all, at Chabad House, an elderly Russian couple comes looking for a Shabbat meal. Visiting Israeli families needing a place for the holidays. Two hungry rabbinical students, stranded by a flight delay on their way from Australia, stop by asking for dinner. They all find it at Chabad of Hawaii, the way thousands of tourists have done, over the past four decades.
Some visitors never leave quite the same. 19 years ago, a young man named Brandon Lessing walked through these doors. Today, Chaplain Rabbi Eitan Lessing and his beautiful family serve at Schofield Barracks.
Meanwhile, across the hall, Rebbetzin Perel is building next year's Hebrew school curriculum, working one on one with every teacher, making sure that no child gets left behind. In 1988, Chabad Hebrew School opened with four children in the Krasnjanskys' living room. This year, the Daniel Levey Hebrew School closed with close to fifty students and five classrooms bursting at the seams.
And this year, the next generation has arrived! Rabbi Yisroel, his wife Fradl and baby Mendel moved to Hawaii to build community alongside his parents.
And Yudi and Estee Weinbaum have grown Chabad Young Professionals into weekly Shabbatons drawing large crowds of young people, with 100 expected for the first night of Rosh Hashanah this year.
Some things haven't changed in 40 years: The doors are still open every single day of the year. A stranger on the street is still asked if he's Jewish. A lonely widower still gets a friend, not just a visitor.
That is Chabad of Hawaii, then and now.
As we enter our 40th year, we are still growing, and our greatest work is still ahead.
How does the match work?
Several generous donors have come forward to match, dollar for dollar, every donation you give, up to $250,000. That means your contribution has double the impact, and together we can reach our goal of $500,000 for the year ahead: to keep the doors open every day, the minyan running, the Hebrew school growing, and no one facing a hospital room, an immigration hearing, or a lonely afternoon alone.
$54 = $108 $180 = $360 $1,000 = $2,000 $1800 = $3600
Be a part of the holy work of Chabad of Hawaii. Help us reach our goal, before the gates of Yom Kippur close.