Ahwatukee welcomes new shluchim

SHANNON LEVITT | STAFF WRITER

efore they even met and married, Rabbi Levi Minsky and his wife, Chaya, shared one all-encompassing life ambition: They both wanted to run their own Chabad center one day.

Chaya Minsky grew up in Chandler’s Chabad center — her father is Rabbi Mendy Deitsch, leader of Chabad of the East Valley. Levi Minsky, on the other hand, grew up in New York, where Chabad is headquartered.

“We had a dream to move out and open our own center,” he told Jewish News.

“In my student years, I went to different communities in Europe, Asia and the United States. Chaya grew up here in Arizona, so when there was an opportunity in Ahwatukee, we wanted it.”

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A couple of months ago, not long before Chanukah, their shared dream became a reality. Just before the Jewish festival of lights, the new shluchim, or emissaries, arrived in Ahwatukee, a small city in the East Valley, which sits at the southernmost point of Greater Phoenix.

The somewhat rural bedroom community began its development in 1970, and now has a steadily growing population that has started to include more Jewish residents.

Deitsch noticed several people coming to his Chabad center in Chandler from Ahwatukee not long ago.

“We realized more Jews were attending our programs and we saw a need for a center over there,” Deitsch said.

After his daughter and Minsky were married, and in consultation with Rabbi Zalman Levertov, director of Chabad of Arizona, Deitsch asked the young couple if they were interested in moving to Ahwatukee.

The answer was a no-brainer for the couple, even though their new home is a place where they still stand out from the crowd as visibly Jewish.

“People are surprised by me — but happily surprised,” Minsky said. So far, everyone they’ve met has been very welcoming to the young couple and happy to have them in the community.

“People are interested anytime I go shopping. Anywhere I go, people say, ‘Hey, I have a friend who’s Jewish and I’d like them to meet you,’” Minsky said.

The first event the couple arranged was a public menorah lighting, and more than 80 people attended.

“People are excited and happy that there is Jewish activity here,” he said.

Without an official center, the couple, who are partners and co-directors, work out of rented venues and their home. They’re still learning the area but hope to find a place to build a center soon.

For the menorah lighting event, they put some local advertising up in shopping centers and people started reaching out. The couple goes to people’s homes to introduce themselves.

“We’ve been very busy building this from the ground up, from zero,” Minsky said.

So far, they have a weekly Jewish learning group for men and women, and Chaya Minsky is working on a women’s event for Tu B’Shevat, where she will teach women about the holiday by creating their own cutting boards. They’re also planning a Purim event for families and people of all ages.

The couple hopes to engage with Jews in the community and to be a resource in any way they can. Sometimes that will mean providing a Shabbat or holiday meal; sometimes it will mean teaching classes. They already deliver challahs to people’s homes before Shabbat. The needs of the community will shape their offerings, Minsky said.

“Our goal and outlook is to have a place for people to feel Jewish belonging in Ahwatukee because there is no other Jewish stuff going on. Everyone knows each other here and it’s a close-knit community, a great place to build a beautiful Jewish environment,” he said.

EMHOFF CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

Bell said that since they had less than 48 hours between finding out about his arrival and his actual departure, “it was a mad dash to get everything organized,” leaving the students with little time to consider the implications of the Second Gentleman coming to Hillel.

“I had a bunch of classes and the day was such a blur; I didn’t fully realize how cool and important it was until I saw the black Escalades pulling up in Hillel’s parking lot,” he said.

Even after Emhoff departed, the

Deitsch is confident his children will

“My son-in-law is a very good, welcoming and charming person and it will be wonderful to see the joy he brings to people’s lives,” he said.

“My daughter is like that, too,” he said, before laughing and adding that she’s also a great cook.

“Together, they have such warm and welcoming personalities that they’ll bring joy and happiness to their community.”

He acknowledged that logistics is always a challenge, and he wants to give them the space to figure things out on their own, but he also lets them know he’s always there when they need help.

“Nothing comes easy. This is a lot of hard work,” he said.

Chaya Minsky is extremely happy to be near her family and has a bit of an advantage having grown up near her new home. But her husband has visited Chandler many times, including in the summer, so they’re both prepared for desert living.

“This community is so amazing and we’re just excited to meet everyone,” said Chaya Minsky.

Her husband recounted that only a few days earlier he was contacted by someone who has lived in Ahwatukee since the 1980s. He invited the couple to his home and told them how excited he is to have a Chabad open nearby.

That was music to the couple’s ears.

“We’re on fire and we’re going for it,” Minsky said. JN students kept talking.

For more information, visit ChabadAhwatukee.com.

“We were all so motivated and encouraged by our conversation, and even after he left, we sat and talked for another 45 minutes,” Bell said. He’s hopeful that Jewish student leaders can brainstorm more ways to build coalitions with other minority student groups to create a more unified front on “this epidemic of hate” that affects many minority communities.

While the students were somewhat impatient to tell friends and family about their meeting with the Second Gentleman, they did as instructed and kept it hushhush, Bell said.

“We just did what we had to do.” phoenixcjp.org/camp

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