Rabbi Zalman Braun (left) with a group of students at the resting place of Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson in Queens, New York. Courtesy photo.
Rabbi Zalman Braun and his wife Chana visited Lubbock for the first time about a year-and-half ago from Brooklyn, New York.
“What we noticed in Lubbock was a very strong thirst for traditional authentic Judaism,” Braun said.
That’s where Chabad comes in.
“The Chabad movement started about 250 years ago in White Russia,” Braun said. (White Russia is Belarus, just to the west of Russia.)
“The mission [is] to make sure that all Jews in every place should be able to have access to everything in Judaism – to be a home away from home – to feel a sense of belonging to Judaism. That’s really what it’s about,” Braun said.
Chabad started gaining traction in the United States in 1950s after the Holocaust.
“Many Jewish people around the world were very broken then,” Braun said. “Today we have about 6,000 Chabad emissaries in over 100 countries around the world and in all 50 states.”
Jews in Lubbock feel pretty fortunate, Braun said. There’s a sense of overall community support. But there was still a need and recent events in the Middle East exacerbated it.
Feeling like ‘the only Jew here’
“In such a small place like in Lubbock, I mean small in regards to the Jewish community, … many Jewish students think that they’re the only Jew here,” Braun said. “Especially since Lubbock is so isolated from other Jewish communities, many people expressed an interest in establishing a Chabad presence here.”
There had been Chabad events in Lubbock before, but not a permanent Chabad presence.
Braun got to work. In November, the announcement came on lubavitch.com “Chabad House comes to Lubbock, Texas.”
Even before the announcement, Braun said a full-time Chabad presence started about four months ago. The Chabad House is not directly on campus but nearby.
“We’re about a 5-to-10-minute walk,” Braun said.
So far, Braun said his organization has contact with 30 to 40 students, but he thinks there are many more. His goal is to slowly build up the numbers.
In November, he took a group of seven students from Texas Tech to New York for a gathering of 2,000 Jewish students from around the world.
“They see so many other Jewish students. It really gives a strong sense of proud identity to be Jewish,” Braun said.
Reaction to October 7
The U.S. State Department said October 7, 2023, was the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
“ … More than 1,200 men, women and children, including 46 Americans and citizens of more than 30 countries, were slaughtered by Hamas,” the State Department said.
Hamas, which had a political wing and a military wing, attacked from Gaza into the Negev region of Israel.
“Girls and women were sexually assaulted. The depravity of Hamas’s crimes is almost unspeakable. Hamas also took 254 people hostage that day, including 12 Americans,” the State Department said.
According to a recent article in timesofisrael.com, four Americans remain hostage and are believed to still be alive. Israel responded to the attack of October 7 with military force, which has been criticized by pro-Palestinian activists for a high death toll – more than 44,000 according to media reports including one from the Associated Press.
Braun said, “We have a few students that have family or friends in Israel. There are actually students studying here that are from Israel.”
LubbockLights.com asked how Lubbock residents and Texas Tech students reacted.
“It strengthened the Jewish students in their Judaism, and they felt like they have a need for more Jewish pride, and especially because of all the anti-Semitism around the world. And thank G-d in Lubbock we have it very easy. You know, here and there people say things, but overall people are very respectful and very supportive of the Jewish community here,” Braun said.
“There are pro-Palestinian gatherings, but overall, they’re very peaceful and not attacking, you know, like the way it is in some other places,” Braun said.
Stephanie Shine, president of Congregation Shaareth Israel in Lubbock, said, “Jewish residents do have friends and family in Israel. Everyone was shellshocked after October 7 and many worry about their friends and families at home. Many have expressed deep pain for the suffering of families in Israel and Gaza.”
Shaareth is a reform synagogue and represents a different tradition within Judaism – analogous with different denominations within Christianity. Shaareth has its own separate ministry on the Tech campus.
“The Lubbock and surrounding community, notably the churches, were very supportive of our Jewish community in the days and weeks after October 7,” Shine said.
“Our friends at Second Baptist Church showed up in solidarity for Shabbat services the following Friday and sent us post cards of affirmation for many months,” Shine said. “We were enormously moved and deeply grateful. We know this outreach was not the norm in other parts of the country and world.”
About Braun and looking ahead
Braun’s family moved from Sydney, Australia to Brooklyn when he was 15.
“My father became a community Rabbi, And I studied in the Yeshiva which is the Jewish schools in Brooklyn,” Braun said.
“My wife is from Detroit, Michigan. We met and got married in Brooklyn and then moved to Lubbock together with our daughter Mushka,” Braun said.
He and Chana are listed as co-directors on the Chabad website. Lubbock was the largest city in the U.S. without a Chabad presence until recently.
An article by Tzemach Feller in Lubavitch.com said, “Lubbock is five hours away from the nearest Chabad house, hundreds of miles from the closest kosher supermarket or mikvah.”
Now a Purim party, Passover Seder, High Holiday services or Shabbat dinner is a regular occurrence.
“Many younger Jews, many students are looking to find out more about Judaism. Chabad is not just for Jews,” Braun said.
There are events for the community as well. For example, last year, Chabad held a menorah lighting in the South Plains Mall. There’s another scheduled for December 30.
Chabad needs to be self-supported locally, Braun said. He invited everyone to visit chabadlubbock.com for events and for information about donating.
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