A school and a youth center. An adult education institute, a synagogue, and a community center. A chesed for children with special needs, a Sunshine Club for seniors, a social service center for the needy and the troubled. To many people, Chabad of Venice & North Port means many things — and its doors are open to all.
A man once came to the Lubavitcher Rebbe to thank him for dispatching an emissary to bring the joy of Judaism to a “little Jew in a wayward community.” The Rebbe responded:
“There is no such thing as a 'little Jew' or a 'wayward community.' In the scope of G‑d's master-plan, the fate of a single soul holds the same cosmic significance as that of the entire world.”
That outlook is the guiding principle behind everything Chabad of Venice & North Port does — every program, every class, every open door.
Born in Zurich, Switzerland to a caring and generous Chabad family, Rabbi Schmerling studied in Paris, Israel, and New York. As a young boy he met the Lubavitcher Rebbe — an interaction that “continues to inspire the work that I do today.” Drawn to Jewish outreach as a student, he received his Rabbinic Ordination from the Chief Rabbi of Chabad in Israel, with a dream of building a Chabad Center and continuing the Rebbe's work.
Raised in Crown Heights, Brooklyn in a large, loving family whose home was always full of guests, Chaya Rivka lived in the Rebbe's presence until her Bat Mitzvah year. Inspired by his teachings, she committed her gifts to Jewish education — seminary in Israel, a teaching degree from Beth Rivkah, and years of Hebrew School leadership across New York and Connecticut, from head counselor to Youth Director.
Friends warned the young couple there “weren't enough Jewish families” in Venice to support their vision. As the Rabbi puts it:
“We didn't move here for a convenient Jewish location — for that we could have just stayed in Brooklyn.”
Rabbi Sholom and Chaya Rivka arrive with baby Nechama and start Chabad from their living room — a handful of people, two families with school-age children. “We started Hebrew School with those four children on my lanai.”
Just two years in, Chabad outgrows the living room and moves to a storefront on Tamiami Trail in Venice. Hebrew School of the Arts, Gan Israel summer camp, CTeen, and JLI adult learning quickly follow.
Chabad brings Holocaust survivor Eva Schloss — step-sister to Anne Frank — to the Venice Community Center. The same year, Chabad dedicates its first Torah, carried in procession down Tamiami Trail.
With generous support from the Tabicinic family, Chabad acquires a 4.5-acre parcel on Jacaranda Blvd. A capital campaign follows, laying out a two-phase vision for a true center of Jewish life.
Phase I opens: the 3,600 sq. ft. Dr. Judith Kestenberg Jewish Education Center — dedicated thanks to many people's incredible generosity.
A 12,000 sq. ft. Chabad Center for Jewish Life: a social hall, a sizable synagogue, a kosher café, a commercial kitchen, a mikvah, a rich library, a senior activity center, and a Jewish history museum.
What began as four children on a lanai is now a full calendar of Jewish life — services and classes, camps and clubs, holiday celebrations and quiet cups of coffee. The address changed; the open door never did.
Chabad opens its doors to people of all walks of life — and never asks anyone to pay to pray within its walls. There's a seat at the table for you.
