Changes coming to Chabad House on Campus at Pitt
"There’s a lot going on in the world and both Shmuli and Chasi can meet those challenges with the students.
What difference does a name make?
If you ask Sara Weinstein, co-director of Chabad House on Campus, she’ll tell you that a name doesn’t mean much. Instead, it’s the work that matters — and she’s been impressed by what she’s seen from Rabbi Shmuli Rothstein.
Rothstein is the director of Chabad at Pitt, where he has served since 2015 with his wife, Chasi Rothstein.
“Rabbi Rothstein and his wife, Chasi, have already shown the difference they’ve made in the more than 10 years they’ve been here,” Weinsten said. “Shmuli is a rock star on campus. The students love him and Chasi.”
The pair have grown the organization and the number of students with whom they interact each year. Every week they engage with more than 700 students and host Shabbat dinners for hundreds. And now, they’re at the center of changes taking place on the campus.
Shmuli Rothstein has been named the new head of Chabad House on Campus — which oversees several local campus Chabad centers. And the organization is changing its name to Chabad House on Campus-Pittsburgh.
While Weinstein and her husband — Rabbi Shmuel Weinstein — will no longer serve as directors of the organization, “no one’s going anywhere,” Rothstein said.
“It’s not like a new CEO is coming on,” he said. “We’re using the term ‘emeritus’ very lightly.”
The Weinsteins, he said, will still teach classes, and are still invested in all of the programming and activities, as well as development and fundraising. They will continue to reside in their Shadyside home and will still come to the same office every day.
The reasons for the changes are two-fold.
The first is branding, Rothstein explained.
“It’s more of a branded term that Chabad International is trying to get everyone to use,” he said.
And while the name might suggest that Chabad House on Campus-Pittsburgh oversees all of the interactions that take place on the different campuses across the Pittsburgh region, that isn’t quite right.
Chabad House on Campus-Pittsburgh has, and will continue to have, relationships with students from Point Park University, Duquesne University, Chatham University and Robert Morris University; it doesn’t, however, administer Chabad of Carnegie Mellon University.
“The Silvermans [Rabbi Shlomo and Chani Silverman] take care of Carnegie Mellon as an independent Chabad House,” Weinstein noted.
The second reason for the changes is generational.
The Weinsteins began Chabad House on Campus nearly four decades ago after Shmuel completed graduate school.
“We weren’t that much older than the students,” he said.
And while the Weinsteins say it was exciting build the program and expand its reach, they acknowledge that it might be time for the next generation to take the reins.
“Everyone has their talents and abilities,” Sara Weinstein said. “We did what we could and will continue to do that, but it’s very clear that this is a new generation of younger kids. There’s a lot going on in the world and both Shmuli and Chasi can meet those challenges with the students.”
Most changes will be gradual, Rothstein said, but one immediate impact will be at the organization’s location.
Chabad House on Campus-Pittsburgh is working to buy the building in which its currently housed, and plans to convert it into a new 12,000-square-foot center by 2028, providing a secure location for students, ample space for Shabbat and holiday meals, and the opportunity to conduct multiple programs simultaneously. The facility will have a commercial kitchen, provide a safe place for the organization’s growing mental health services, and perhaps most importantly, imbue students with pride to stand up to antisemitism.
“You fight darkness by bringing in more light,” Rothstein said. “That’s what the building is going to look like — a beacon of light shining in the middle of campus.”
The updated building will also be home to JGrads, a program for graduate students at the University of Pittsburgh run by Rabbi Shua Hoexter and his wife, Shoshana Hoexter.
Chabad House on Campus-Pittsburgh’s new home, Rothstein said, will not only provide ample opportunities for Jewish students to explore their heritage, but will also be a welcoming place for non-Jewish students.
“That’s important,” he said, “because I think the next generation is going to need to have light everywhere. We’re going to focus on making sure that we bring a lot of joy, light and pride into this campus.”
Rothstein hopes Chabad House on Campus-Pittsburgh will continue to grow and the mission started by the Weinsteins nearly 40 years ago will continue to provide a space for Jewish students.
As for the Weinsteins, they’ll continue to be a presence on campus as well as spend time on the road visiting alumni.
“I explain to students all the time, when you graduate, you’re still a part of the family. Whether it’s a wedding, a bris, a simcha, or something that’s not quite as simple, like a funeral, it’s not ‘you’re here for four years and it’s over,’” Shmuel Weinstein said.
The connection to Judaism and the Chabad community, he said, generally grows over the years.
“We need to be there for them,” he said, “so we’ll be on the road, going to Florida and California and New York. Wherever they go, we’ll go.”
That lesson, he said, is evident not just at Pitt but across Chabad’s various centers.
“Chabad is seen in dynamic, favorable ways,” he said. “It starts with preschools, works with teens, is here on campus, and then as young professionals. There are community and other specialized Chabads. It used to be that we had to introduce Chabad to people, but now they know who we are before they ever get here.”
Rabbi Yisroel Rosenfeld, head shaliach of western Pennsylvania and rabbi of the Lubavitch Center of Pittsburgh, said the Weinsteins have done a “phenomenal job” over the last four decades and the Rothsteins are “picking up and moving forward with everything they’ve accomplished.”
Chabad House on Campus-Pittsburgh’s growth, Rosenfeld said, was more than he ever expected, adding that he is confident it will continue with the Rothsteins at the helm.
“It’s beautiful to see and it’s exactly what we need in today’s age,” he said. “We need to bring more light into the world.” PJC
David Rullo can be reached at drullo@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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