It’s not exactly 40 years in the desert, but Chabad of Noe Valley did spend most of the last decade wandering from place to place, teaching preschoolers and holding Shabbat and holiday services around the neighborhood.
But with the dedication of a new Chabad center at 3781 Cesar Chavez St., those wandering years are over. Rabbi Gedalia Potash and his wife, Leah, welcomed scores of friends, well-wishers and minyanites to their new base Sept. 18.
The celebration included the hanging of a mezuzah and the launch of a new Torah scroll for the shul, a project that should take about a year to complete. Elad Rozenfeld, a Torah scribe from Palo Alto, was on hand to write the first letters.
“It was awesome,” Potash said of the occasion, “an unbelievable outpouring of support, celebration and happiness.”
Thanks to an intensive fundraising effort, in three months the couple collected more than $250,000 toward a down payment for the 5,000-square-foot property next to their residence. The building cost $900,000.
The rabbi said the community’s giving spirit — about 100 members also helped pay for the Potash home in 2005 — encompassed more than dollars and cents.
“The generosity goes beyond donations,” he said. “Because of the financial meltdown, it was impossible for us to get a mortgage. So one member of the community took out a mortgage on their home and loaned the money to us. I’m in awe of the sense of devotion and pride that the Jewish community here has.”
Potash moved to San Francisco with his wife in 2000, starting Chabad of Noe Valley in the bedroom of a nearby bed and breakfast inn, using the bed as a bimah. Nine people showed up for the first Shabbat service.
From there, the Potashes rented space at a local school, a storefront on 29th Street and a few other sites. The couple opened their preschool five years ago, starting with an enrollment of four. That number today tops 40. The preschool classes eventually will be consolidated in the new space.
With a total of 9,000 square feet now at their disposal, the Potashes are already dreaming of what more they can do with their new Chabad center, which they say can hold about 70 people for regular services and events.