As the college Jewish scene is concerned, Queens College is unique for having a sizable Jewish student body on a campus located next to a thriving Jewish neighborhood. Since 2004, Rabbi Shaul and Tzipah Wertheimer have been on campus to strengthen Jewish observance among students, splitting their events between on-campus spaces and their attached home on 69th Avenue.
“It means that there will always be a space for students, an independent space for multiple events,” Rabbi Wertheimer said. “They can have it without the bureaucracy and anti-Semitism.”
Two recent events highlighted the need for a standalone Chabad center. During the pandemic lockdown, students living on campus, and in the neighborhood had few means of connecting with each other, as all on-campus events were canceled, and during normal times, designated spaces for public events can be booked by other organizations.
The reaction to the war between Israel and Hamas has not been as hostile to Jewish students at Queens College, but there is a feeling of unease in regard to faculty and peers who oppose Israel. Rabbi Wertheimer is hesitant to describe the off-campus Chabad center as a “safe space,” but recognizes that it would foster a feeling of security for Jewish students.
The leading donors for the center are Elizabeth and Adam Caplan, siblings whose mother had graduated from Queens College in 1948. “For ten years, she gave us a modest donation and then she died in 2020. In her diary were numerous references to me and the Chabad of Queens College,” he said. The Caplans’ gift was supplemented by George and Pamela Rohr, prolific Chabad supporters whose philanthropy supports shluchim across the globe.
Since their arrival on campus in 2004, the Wertheimers understood that their shlichus would be different from a typical Chabad campus experience. “Most of the students are commuters. Typically, they come to class and then go home. That’s part of the challenge,” he said.
He noted that many of the students are not Orthodox, but with a spiritual sense. There are also many students raised in Orthodox homes who find encouragement in Chabad, which in turn provides them with minyanim, kosher meals at events, and learning opportunities.
“There are students who are not Orthodox per se, but are strongly knowledgeable and affiliated,” he said. “I told Tzipah about the time when I was wrapping t’filin on a student on campus and a visibly Orthodox student walked by and said “yasher koach.’’
He described this moment as a mitzvah for the student wearing t’filin and for the Orthodox peer who passed by this scene. “It’s a chizuk to other students, not to be embarrassed to do a mitzvah in public. He added that in times of crisis, Orthodox students have approached him to hear the Torah view on current events.
Another strength the Chabad of Queens College has shown is its network of alumni, who maintain relationships with the Wertheimers and each other. “This Thursday I am officiating at a wedding in which the kallah is an alumna who graduated six years ago,” he said. “We visited alumni in Israel this past summer and there are many of them. We visit alumni on Long Island. The alumni network is a natural outgrowth of their experience.”
With former students marrying and building families, Rabbi Wertheimer bolstered his knowledge of Taharas HaMishpachah laws to answer family-related questions from students and alumni. Concerning his place in the community of Kew Gardens Hills, his home hosts classes on the Tanya, the defining sefer of Chabad, written by its founding rebbe, Shneur Zalman of Liadi. “It’s a beautiful religious neighborhood. I have a class with students from the Lander College for Men. They’re already observant, so we have a minyan and learn together. I deliver a morning class on Tanya. They don’t have to become Chabad; it is a sefer that has relevance and meaning.”
From an outward appearance, one would not know that Rabbi Wertheimer was not born into a Chabad family, and his worldly knowledge includes the band Phish, whose concerts he attended as a student at Northwestern University. “I met Chabadniks in Illinois, and through them I met the Rebbe. It was a soul connection, and I went with it.”
Tzipah was raised in New City, a short drive from Monsey; but in her youth, it did not have a sizable Jewish community. “She also does not come from a Chabad family. Both of us already knew what Shabbos is. She also encountered Chabad in college. She went to a seminary in Tz’fas, and I learned in kollel in Morristown. We were then introduced, married, and settled in Queens.”
The unique backgrounds of the Wertheimers are matched by their work at Queens College, where most Jewish students already know about being Jewish, but their shlichus offers encouragement, personal spiritual growth, friendships, marriages, and a sense of community that continues long after graduation.
By Sergey Kadinsky
