The Rohr Chabad Jewish Center at Towson and Goucher is providing Jewish students with more than just Shabbat dinners. Rabbi Mendy Rivkin and his wife, Sheiny Rivkin, have created a unique Jewish community by purchasing and renting out nearby houses to Jewish college students, fostering a deeper sense of connection and support just steps from campus.
In 2011, Rabbi Rivkin noticed that the house next door to the Chabad, where a few Jewish students lived at the time, was a gathering place for Jewish students, outside of traditional Chabad programming. Then, when the house was for sale, the couple decided to buy it and rent it out to Jewish students.
“The question [was], would it help build Jewish community or would it just be renting a house to Jewish students?” Rivkin recalled. “If it is just renting a house to Jewish students, that’s not something that fits with what we’re trying to do. But if it helps community and creates an environment where Jews could strengthen and be more Jewish, then it absolutely was unequivocal. After the first year, it was obvious that it was the right move.”
After a year, another neighbor was moving out, and the neighbor approached the Rivkin family about buying the house after hearing about the first house they bought to rent out to Jewish students. At the time, the Rivkins didn’t have the funds for another house, so they called on their community members for support, and they were able to pull enough together for a second home and, after that, a third home.
Peri Schandler, a junior at Towson University, has been living in one of the houses for over a year and said, “I love it.”
“I think it’s really awesome because literally around the corner and upstairs you have people that are able to relate to you,” added Schandler. “I feel like [Rabbi] Mendy and his family are my second family.”
Sheiny Rivkin echoed that sentiment, saying that they want to create an environment for students that is a home away from home.
“I’ve even had the honor of taking the girls to the mikvah before they get married and see them start their own little Jewish-proud home,” she said.
Schandler added that the house has had many tenants, all of whom were college students, so problems with the apartments are expected, but Rabbi Rivkin “does try his best” and “gets done what needs to get done.”
“I’m not in the real estate business,” said Rabbi Rivkin. “But I am in the Jew business.”
The rabbi told Baltimore Jewish Times about the time that the president of Towson University, Dr. Mark Ginsberg, joined them for Shabbat.
“[Ginsberg] made a comment about the Jewish student housing as well, and he goes, ‘I’m sure the rabbi’s the best landlord,’ and everybody started laughing because they know what we’re doing, we’re doing Jewish student housing, which means that we’re not in the housing business, we just want to create an environment for [the students],” Rivkin said. “There are times when we could not be the best landlords because of that, but everybody knows what we’re doing, everybody knows why we’re doing this and everything. We’re transparent about it.”
Every Friday night during the school year, the Rivkins host anywhere from 40 to 80 students for Shabbat dinners.
“There’s a really special energy that our students bring,” said Sheiny Rivkin. “Everybody makes an effort to get dressed for Shabbat, and everyone feels very much part of it; they help set the table, they help make the salads, they play with the kids, so definitely the students are the heart of our Chabad.”
Outside of their Shabbat dinners and real estate, the family has established a Hebrew school and preschool. The Rivkins have built not only a community students can go to but also live in.
“It’s not a job. It’s a life mission,” Sheiny Rivkin said.
