Celebrating a new home

On Sunday, May 17, the Valley Chabad, serving Jewish families in northern Bergen County, held a celebration to mark the groundbreaking of its new home.

After years of legal disputes, Valley Chabad and the town of Woodcliff Lake came to an agreement that allowed the organization to build on Chestnut Ridge Road.

According to its website, valleychabad.org, the organization’s mission is to create a place where “Judaism is celebrated joyfully and meaningfully.” That’s what it did in 2000 when it moved into the Pascack Valley. Since then, it has provided the community with a variety of programs, including religious services; a Hebrew school; Linking Hearts, which brings bar and bat mitzvah-age students to local nursing homes to foster connection between generations; Friendship Circle, which allows teenagers and people with special needs to engage in activities together; CTeen, the teen outreach program; adult learning classes, and a Women’s Circle.

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As participation in Valley Chabad’s events and programs grew, the organization needed more space. The groundbreaking is a testament to its determination to grow in the Pascack Valley area.

At the celebration, community members lined up for refreshments and treats while swaying to Israeli pop and traditional Jewish music.

The guests included many local officials. Representative Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ Dist. 5), Woodcliff Lake Mayor Carlos Rendo, Montvale Mayor Mike Ghassalli, Hillsdale Mayor Mike Shienfeld, state Senator Holly Schepisi, Bergen County Commissioner Tracy Zur, and Woodcliff Lake Council members Jen Margolis, Julie Brodsky, and Chris Bonanno were there. Speakers included Rabbi Dov Drizin, who heads Valley Chabad, as well as other Chabad leaders.

“Having our elected officials come out and stand with us means so much,” Rabbi Yosef Orenstein, the director of Valley Chabad’s Hebrew school and teen outreach program, said. “It shows the Jewish community that we are not alone.”

According to the Anti-Defamation League, Bergen County has had the most antisemitic incidents in New Jersey; 139 were reported in the county, out of 687 reported in the state, in 2025. New Jersey had the third highest number of antisemitic incidents in the country.

“This is not something we proudly put on a bumper sticker,” Mr. Gottheimer said about those incidents. Still, despite the hate, he sent a strong message: Jewish life in Bergen County will prevail. “My attitude is that we will stand strong,” he said. “We will open
more Chabads, here and around the country, and remind all Americans that the Jewish faith stands strong and that we will stand by and protect all faiths.”

The programming Chabad offers focuses on the positives within the Jewish community, not on antisemitism. “One of the things people have found is that there could be a lot of talk about hate and about what we are supposed to do,” Rabbi Drizin said. “There are two ways that we are defined: we can choose to be defined by the voices and the actions that try to tear us down, or we can be defined by our mission and our purpose.” He hopes that Valley Chabad will continue to provide education to counter that hate.

Valley Chabad’s new home is planned to be 20,000 square feet and will be built over the next seven to eight months. It will include a Hebrew school, a teen lounge, a sanctuary, a social hall, and a library, and it will continue to be a center for Jewish education and community.

“I am excited most about watching friendships be made in our new lobby,” Rabbi Drizin said. “One of the wonderful things in the world is to see people of all ages coming together with shared values. It is inspiring.”

“What fills my heart even more is thinking about the future of this place,” Rabbi Orenstein said. “This is going to be a home where kids can explore their Judaism with pride and joy, where teenagers feel comfortable and proud of who they are and where they come from.

“Chabad has always been about warmth, belonging, and blessing, and this beautiful new building means we can bring that to so many more families for generations to come.”

Maya Zislin is a sophomore at Pascack Hills High School in Montvale. She is the 2026-27 managing editor of her school newspaper, the Trailblazer, and she writes for her local newspaper, the Pascack Press.