Jewish center gets upgrade
By Vanessa Ebbeling • Press & Sun-Bulletin • September 13, 2008
VESTAL — Measuring a whopping 24,000 square feet, the Chabad Center for Jewish Student Life is the largest Jewish center in the State University of New York system.
This weekend, students and leaders will gather to celebrate completion of the most recent addition, which expanded the $3.5 million center on Murray Hill Road, near Binghamton University, by 18,000 square feet.
The new building includes a great room that accommodates 450 people, a fitness center, synagogue and a café.
Along with the addition, a Holocaust memorial was established with support from local developer Barry Newman, officials said.
The building's expansion reflects both BU's growth and increased student interest. Friday night Shabbat dinner at the center can draw as many as 350 students. Before the addition, the facility couldn't accommodate the turnout, said Rabbi Levi Slonim, director of programming and development.
"They wouldn't come back," Slonim said. "There wasn't room for them to sit down."
Today, students are astounded by the building's size and amenities, said BU junior Tobey Lass, vice president of the center's student board.
On Tuesdays, Lass teaches a Pilates class at the center. On Fridays, she helps cook Shabbat dinner.
"Whenever I'm there, there'll be people there in the library studying or playing pingpong in the game room," Lass said.
The goal, Slonim said, is to provide as many services as possible to the approximately 4,000 Jewish students at BU so the center feels like a home away from home.
"At a certain point in college, it hits them," he said. "They're all of a sudden looking for some purpose in life, some direction. That's why it's so crucial the Jewish life on campus is strong and vibrant."