Chapter 16: every tradition · Judaism
Chabad-Lubavitch
A Chabad House: the local center of Chabad-Lubavitch, the Hasidic movement led until 1994 by its seventh Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, whose emissaries, the shluchim, now direct over a thousand American centers. A rabbi and his wife, the rebbetzin, are sent out young by Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch, the movement's educational arm, to found and run the center for life, often living in or beside it; there is no elected board that hires them, and each house raises its own money. Its practice is fully Orthodox: a mechitza always, ten men for a minyan, no instruments or money on Shabbat, a strictly kosher kitchen, two festival days; but most who come are not Orthodox (half are Reform or unaffiliated), and they are welcome as they are, and may drive. Nothing is asked for membership: no dues, no High Holy Day tickets, free services (often in a hired hall), and belonging is coming and knowing the rabbi's family. Shabbat begins with Kabbalat Shabbat and a dinner open to anyone; Saturday morning ends with a kiddush lunch. The center lives on donations, sponsorships, foundation grants, and fees for its preschool, Hebrew school, and Camp Gan Israel. Outreach to every Jew is its purpose: public menorah lightings at Hanukkah, tefillin stands, mobile sukkahs, classes; but it doesn't seek converts, nor perform conversions or intermarriages. Larger centers hold daily minyanim; small ones may struggle to make ten on a weekday.
All 80 traditions · its profile in Faiths and traditions, with how to play it and what sets its faith apart; How people feel, what every factor is.
At a glance
| Faith | Judaism |
|---|---|
| Its words | center, center, shul; the rabbi leads the service; the d'var Torah; Shabbat; the Torah |
| Worship | torah focus, chanted, low formality (0.33 of 1); seated on chairs; men and women on either side; a quorum of ten men |
| Music | organ forbidden; gospel organ forbidden; piano forbidden; choir discouraged; band forbidden; brass forbidden; handbells forbidden; recorded forbidden |
| The room's sound | no strong preference |
| Its year | hebrew, chabad; full observance; fasts light |
| Leans | conservative on moral questions, neutral on economic ones |
| Polity | independent; leaders come by appointment; property local |
| Leaders | one leader, full time, trained by in house; marriage expected |
| Belonging | low commitment, none discipline, admitted by clergy |
| Giving | tithing taught; collected by mailed, online |
| Way of life | alcohol permitted, dress church clothes, sabbath strict, meat kosher, burial prompt |
The week's services
| Day | Time | Service | Led by | People look for it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday | 8:00 am | Shacharit (in Hebrew, short, and plays quickly: people come 8% as often as to a main service) | the laity | expected |
| Sunday to Thursday | sunset − 15 min 4:30 pm in January, 8:09 pm in July (Chicago) | Minchah and Ma'ariv (in Hebrew, short, and plays quickly: people come 6% as often as to a main service) | the laity | optional |
| Monday to Friday | 7:00 am | Shacharit (in Hebrew, short, and plays quickly: people come 8% as often as to a main service) | the laity | expected |
| Friday | candle-lighting 4:27 pm in January, 8:06 pm in July (Chicago) | Kabbalat Shabbat (in Hebrew) | the rabbi | expected |
| Saturday | 9:30 am | Shabbat morning service (in Hebrew) | the rabbi | expected |
| Saturday | sunset − 40 min 4:05 pm in January, 7:44 pm in July (Chicago) | Minchah and seudah shlishit (shabbat afternoon, in Hebrew, short, and plays quickly: people come 10% as often as to a main service) | the laity | optional |
- Leader: a rabbi. With none (a vacancy, or no one hired), the services are still held, but each costs everyone at it 0.10; on sabbatical a supply rabbi stands in ($800 a month) for a little less. The short daily services go on whether or not anyone leads them, and move no one's satisfaction.
- Bar mitzvah needs a Torah scroll: without it the rite is missed, and its regulars mind.
- Simchat Torah hakafot needs a Torah scroll: without it the rite is missed, and its regulars mind.
- Lay helpers at each service: Expected: a ba'al koreh.
- Day of rest: Shabbat (Saturday), kept from candle-lighting (18 minutes before sunset) the evening before to nightfall. Weddings are held on Sunday instead, and a main service on Sunday costs everyone at it 0.12.
- The minyan: ten men of 13 and up, counted as each service begins. With fewer, the prayers that need it can't be said, and everyone at a main service feels it (−0.08).
- Burial: prompt: the funeral is the next day, or the first after it that isn't Shabbat or a holy day kept free of weddings and funerals.
- A kosher kitchen: meals cost 1.35× as much, or 1.2× with a mashgiach on the staff; pork and shellfish are never served.
Rites
- Bar mitzvah (monthly, +0.03 to those there): At thirteen a boy becomes obliged to keep the commandments: he is called up to the Torah for the first time, often reads the portion or the haftarah himself, and from then on counts in the minyan and puts on tefillin each weekday. His family sponsors the kiddush. A girl's bat mitzvah, at twelve, is marked apart: a party, a d'var Torah, or a reading among women.
- Brit milah and baby naming (per birth, +0.025 to those there): A son is circumcised by a mohel on his eighth day, even on Shabbat, and given his Hebrew name, at home, in the hospital, or in the center after the morning service, with a festive meal. A daughter is named at the Torah, when her parent is called up, or at a ceremony of welcome. The community answers with mazel tov.
- Yahrzeit (weekly, +0.005 to those there): Before the Mourner's Kaddish, the names of those whose yahrzeit, the anniversary of their death, falls in the coming week are read aloud, their lights on the memorial board are lit, and their families rise to say Kaddish together.
- Yizkor (yearly, +0.02 to those there): The memorial prayers said on Yom Kippur, and on the last days of the pilgrim festivals: those who have lost a parent stay in the shul to remember them by name, and pledge charity in their memory; by custom, those whose parents are living step outside.
- Simchat Torah hakafot (yearly, +0.03 to those there): On the evening Simchat Torah begins, every Torah scroll is taken from the ark and carried around the bimah seven times, the hakafot, with singing and dancing that spills out of the doors; children wave flags and are given sweets. Next morning the last verses of Deuteronomy are read, and the first of Genesis.
- Public menorah lighting (yearly, +0.02 to those there): On the first night of Hanukkah, a giant menorah is lit in the town square or outside the center, often with the mayor, music, hot latkes, and doughnuts: the year's best-known event for Jews who come to nothing else, and a way to meet them.
- Farbrengen (yearly, +0.03 to those there): A Hasidic gathering around long tables: the rabbi tells stories and teaches from the Rebbe's talks, everyone sings niggunim, the wordless melodies, and toasts l'chaim over vodka or whisky late into the night. Held on Chabad's own days, above all Yud-Tes Kislev, the 'New Year of Hasidism'.
- Wedding under the chuppah (on request, +0.02 to those there): The couple stand under the chuppah, a canopy open on all sides, before the rabbi and two witnesses; the ketubah, the marriage contract, is read, a ring given, seven blessings sung over wine, and a glass broken underfoot to shouts of mazel tov. Never on Shabbat or a festival.
- Shiva minyan (on request, +0.02 to those there): After a funeral, held within a day of the death, the mourners sit shiva at home for seven days: the community brings meals, and gathers in the house each evening (and in traditional communities each morning) for a minyan, so the mourners can say Kaddish.
Joining
- No formal membership: a content regular of three months belongs, without a vote.
- Joining age: 13.
- Kinds of belonging: the community (may hold office); received by the rabbi.
- What it means: being received is worth +0.1 to the person, +0.05 to family there, and +0.03 to everyone else at the service. It roots them: a rooted household drifts away only 0.6 times as often, and if it does fall away, it has a 25% chance of coming home at each of its great days (at most once a month) for ten years.
Giving, and what goes up
How its people give and what else comes in, as Money explains it for every faith.
- How it's given: the tzedakah, by gifts by post, and giving online. With no plate passed, visitors give nothing at the service. Gifts by post or in envelopes come in at the month's start. Those who give online give whether or not they come (8% more a month).
- Fundraisers: any it allows (below).
- Owed above: nothing.
The rabbi, the staff, and who decides
- How the rabbi comes: sent by the Region, which moves them on; you can't advertise for or dismiss one, but can ask for a move.
- Paid: full time; housed by the congregation.
- Who they are: trained in-house (they ask 90%); men; nearly all married; always a couple, who care for 75 more together; a spouse who leads alongside cares for 75 more.
- Tenure: for life (retiring after 35 years); a son or daughter succeeds at once.
- Staff it can hire or name (see Staff and volunteers):
- Bivocational rabbi ($22,000–$38,000; cares for 75)
- Rabbi ($55,000–$85,000 + $18,000 benefits, full time; cares for 150)
- Associate rabbi ($42,000–$62,000 + $15,000 benefits, full time; cares for 100 more)
- Choir director / organist / pianist ($15,000–$35,000; leads the music (up to +0.06))
- Caretaker ($18,000–$30,000; slows the building's wear)
- Center secretary ($20,000–$35,000; runs the office (+50 to the leader's reach, once))
- Youth director ($20,000–$40,000; up to +0.08 for households with young people)
- Education director ($30,000–$55,000; up to +0.08 for households with young people)
- Cantor ($48,000–$88,000 + $15,000 benefits, full time; leads worship; leads the music (up to +0.06); cares for 50 more)
- Executive director ($55,000–$95,000 + $15,000 benefits, full time; runs the office (+50 to the leader's reach, once); cares for 30 more)
- Its boards: the advisory board (advising, over the money).
- Renovations: The rabbi decides.
- New construction: The rabbi decides, advised by the advisory board.
- Who votes: no kind of belonging votes, so what would go to the members goes to the board.
Life together
What its Community screen offers it, with the dilemmas only its own faith or family meets; see The congregation in its community.
- Ministries of its own: Bikur cholim, Chevra kadisha, Torah study, Youth chapter.
- Ministries every tradition can run that it's offered: Blood drive, Food pantry, Health clinic, Preschool, Youth group.
- Fundraisers of its own: Gala and tribute journal, Kol Nidre appeal, Latke dinner and Hanukkah bazaar, Purim carnival.
- Shared fundraisers it may hold: Auction, Bake sale, Bingo night, Car wash, Casino night, Center festival, Raffle, Rummage sale.
- Tenants it can take: A Masonic lodge, A scout troop, A twelve-step group, Dance classes, Parties and receptions, Wedding receptions.
- Outreach: an open-air meeting, invitation Shabbat, a home Torah study (Community → Evangelism).
- Places beyond the congregation: Camp Gan Israel, the community mikveh.
- Dilemmas of its own faith (besides those every congregation meets): Keeping the doors safe, The community mikveh, The price of a kosher kitchen.
- Dilemmas its code of life brings: A raffle for the roof, A recruiter asks for the hall.
What the building needs
- required Ark (aron kodesh)The Torah scrolls are kept in the ark on the front wall, and the congregation faces it in prayer.
- required BimahThe Torah is read aloud from the bimah, the reading desk.
- required MechitzaMen and women pray apart, on the same floor, divided by a mechitza.
- required Torah scrollThe bar mitzvah is called up to read from the congregation's own Torah scroll. The congregation dances with its Torah scrolls. A congregation reads from its own Torah scroll, written by hand on parchment.
- forbidden Drum kitThis tradition's worship is sung without instruments.
- forbidden Hammond organThis tradition's worship is sung without instruments.
- forbidden Handbell tableThis tradition's worship is sung without instruments.
- forbidden Upright pianoThis tradition's worship is sung without instruments.
- forbidden Pipe organThis tradition's worship is sung without instruments.
- expected Ner tamidThe eternal light hangs before the ark, as the lamp burned before the Temple's sanctuary.
- expected Yahrzeit boardThe names of the congregation's dead are kept on the memorial board, and lit on their yahrzeit.
- expected beit midrashThe weekday minyanim and the rabbi's classes meet in the beit midrash, a study hall lined with books, smaller and warmer than the sanctuary.
- expected social hallAfter Shabbat morning services everyone stays for the kiddush, and the families' celebrations, the b'nai mitzvah and the weddings, are held in the social hall.
- expected kitchenShabbat dinners and holiday meals, open to every Jew who comes, are the heart of the center: they're cooked here, kosher, by the rebbetzin and volunteers.
- expected the shul facing eastSynagogues face Jerusalem: in America, east, with the ark on the eastern wall.
What people here feel
- Architectural style: Colonial brick +0.052; Modern synagogue +0.034; Gurdwara +0.028; Japanese temple +0.016; Islamic +0.01; Shinto shrine +0.01; Chinese temple +0.004; Dravidian temple -0.002; Nagara temple -0.002; Thai temple -0.002; Jain marble -0.008; Gothic -0.014.
- Building fit: up to ±0.15 for everyone, the average fit of the characterful items in its worship rooms (the table below).
- Acoustics: it wants a room between ringing and dry, about 2.2 seconds of reverberation: neither bare stone nor a carpeted low room. Up to ±0.05.
- Seasonal decor: in their seasons, the hanukkah menorah and sukkah are worth up to ±0.013 (missing them, the minus); out of season, nothing is called for.
- Orientation: facing the way it wants is +0.04, and not, −0.04.
- Shabbat: it worships on Saturday; a main service on Sunday costs everyone at it 0.12.
- The minyan: fewer than ten at a main service costs everyone there 0.08.
- The d'var Torah lands by its topic and the tradition's leaning (below); the rabbi's preaching adds or costs up to 0.08 more.
- The daily services move no one's satisfaction: no offering, sermon, or welcome; people come one by one, the retired twice as often, those of working age half as often on a weekday from nine to five.
How each d'var Torah lands
The topics its leader can choose from (some are only for one faith or family), and what each is worth.
- Sanctity of Life+0.06
- Faith & Family+0.04
- Faith of Our Fathers+0.04
- Obedience & Discipline+0.04
- Personal Holiness+0.04
- Resisting Temptation+0.04
- The Yoke of the Commandments+0.04
- A Palace in Time+0.015
- Gratitude+0.015
- Hope & Comfort+0.015
- Israel and the Jewish People+0.015
- L'dor Vador+0.015
- Sabbath Rest+0.015
- Songs of the Psalms+0.015
- Stewardship & Generosity+0.015
- Teshuvah+0.015
- The Life of Prayer+0.015
- The Week's Parashah+0.015
- Tzedakah+0.015
- Zachor: Remember+0.015
- Care for Creation-0.02
- Healing for All-0.02
- Tikkun Olam-0.02
- Welcome the Stranger-0.02
- You Were Strangers-0.02
- Social Justice Call-0.03
- Interfaith Understanding-0.05
- Reading Scripture in Context-0.05
- Swords into Ploughshares-0.05
- The Prophets' Call-0.05
- Racial Justice & Reconciliation-0.075
- Radical Inclusion-0.075
Every item, for this tradition
Fit runs from −1 (jars) to +1 (just right); the building fit is the average over the characterful items in the worship rooms. An item with no character (a table, a toilet) has no fit. A rule applies wherever the item is.
| Item | Fit | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Seating | ||
| Box pew | -0.333 | |
| Meeting bench | no fit | |
| Oak pew | no fit | |
| Row of chairs | +0.333 | |
| Liturgical furniture | ||
| Ark (aron kodesh) | +0.5 | required The Torah scrolls are kept in the ark on the front wall, and the congregation faces it in prayer. |
| Bimah | +0.5 | required The Torah is read aloud from the bimah, the reading desk. |
| Columbarium niches | -0.333 | |
| Kiddush cup | no fit | |
| Lectern | no fit | |
| Pulpit | no fit | |
| Torah scroll | no fit | required The bar mitzvah is called up to read from the congregation's own Torah scroll. |
| Music | ||
| Drum kit | -0.333 | forbidden This tradition's worship is sung without instruments. |
| Electronic organ | -1 | |
| Grand piano | -1 | |
| Hammond organ | -1 | forbidden This tradition's worship is sung without instruments. |
| Handbell table | -1 | forbidden This tradition's worship is sung without instruments. |
| Pipe organ | -0.667 | forbidden This tradition's worship is sung without instruments. |
| Sound system | -0.333 | |
| Upright piano | -1 | forbidden This tradition's worship is sung without instruments. |
| Decor | ||
| Banner | 0 | |
| Eternal flame | no fit | |
| Great dome | -0.333 | |
| Hanukkah menorah | 0 | |
| Memorial plaque | no fit | |
| Menorah | 0 | |
| National flag | 0 | |
| Ner tamid | +0.5 | expected The eternal light hangs before the ark, as the lamp burned before the Temple's sanctuary. |
| Small dome | no fit | |
| Stained glass window | -0.333 | |
| Yahrzeit board | +0.5 | expected The names of the congregation's dead are kept on the memorial board, and lit on their yahrzeit. |
| Furnishings | ||
| Alms box | no fit | |
| Coffee pot | no fit | |
| Commercial coffee pot | no fit | |
| Computer | no fit | |
| Crib | no fit | |
| Desk | no fit | |
| Desk chair | no fit | |
| Folding table | no fit | |
| Full-length mirror | no fit | |
| Mechitza | +0.5 | required Men and women pray apart, on the same floor, divided by a mechitza. |
| Pillar | -0.333 | |
| Projection screen | +0.333 | |
| Tallit rack | 0 | |
| Vestment cabinet | -0.333 | |
| Wooden table | no fit | |
| Utility | ||
| A/V rack | no fit | |
| Camera | no fit | |
| Cast-iron boiler | no fit | |
| Central air conditioner | no fit | |
| Commercial HVAC plant | no fit | |
| Commercial stove | no fit | |
| Congregation van | no fit | |
| Ductless heat pump | no fit | |
| Electric wall heater | no fit | |
| Gas furnace | no fit | |
| Hearing loop | no fit | |
| Lift | no fit | |
| Mikveh pool | 0 | |
| Packaged heat pump | no fit | |
| Plumbing stack | no fit | |
| Ramp | no fit | |
| Shuttle bus | no fit | |
| Sink | no fit | |
| Solar panels | no fit | |
| Stairs | no fit | |
| Toilet | no fit | |
| Used school bus | no fit | |
| Wall camera | no fit | |
| Window air conditioner | no fit | |
| Grounds | ||
| Evergreen tree | no fit | |
| Flower bed | no fit | |
| Fountain | no fit | |
| Garden bench | no fit | |
| Hedge | no fit | |
| Playground | no fit | |
| Shade tree | no fit | |
| Sukkah | 0 | |
Sources
- About Chabad (Chabad.org) (link)
- Jewish practices and customs (Pew Research Center, 2021) (link)
- A new Chabad every three days (JNS, 2022) (link)
- Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch (Wikipedia) (link)
- Chabad centers and the financial crisis (Chabad.org, 2008) (link)
- Financial FAQs (Shabbos House, Albany) (link)
- Membership Information (Chabad of Cheviot Hills) (link)
- High Holidays: FREE, NO TICKETS (Chabad of Arizona) (link)
- Shabbat at Chabad (RIT) (link)
- Chabad Place, events (link)
- Chabad mitzvah campaigns (Wikipedia) (link)
- Where is Chabad? (Cleveland Jewish News) (link)