By Stacey Dresner

MIDDLETOWN – Matt Renetzky hails from Los Angeles where he was raised in a Conservative Jewish home, was active in United Synagogue Youth (USY) and attended Camp Ramah.

Since arriving at Wesleyan University in Middletown, the rising senior has grown active at Chabad at Wesleyan where he serves as president of the student board.

“Chabad provides a unique Jewish space on campus which feels like a home away from home,” Renetzky explains. “Like many other students on campus, I found myself drawn to the warm and welcoming environment which Rabbi Levi [Schechtman] has created with Chabad at Wesleyan. Whether baking matzah, studying Jewish texts, or celebrating Shabbat ‘family-style,’ every event allows me to enjoy myself while incorporating a bit of Judaism into my week – which I otherwise would not be doing.”

Since it was founded six years ago, Chabad at Wesleyan has been housed in a small, 1,800-square-foot rental home on High Street in Middletown, a ten-minute walk from Wesleyan.

Now, Chabad at Wesleyan has purchased a new building on Church Street and has launched a fundraising campaign that will turn it into a permanent Chabad House on the campus of the Middletown university.

Rabbi Levi and Chanie Schechtman and their three sons.

“Soon after we arrived we realized we needed a better location,” says Rabbi Levi Schechtman, who runs Chabad at Wesleyan with his wife, Chanie. “We always had our eyes open for something, but then when we started to have a larger number of students coming and more programming, the search became a little more intense.”

Since Wesleyan owns many of the properties in the area, it is rare that houses on campus go up for sale, Schechtman explains. So when the house on Church Street went on the market last October, Chabad quickly made an offer and purchased the property in December.

The three-family home is in disrepair, Schechtman says. “The ceilings are very low. We are going to have to gut.”

When that is done, the building will then be renovated and expanded to include a large dining room that can seat up to 75 students, a large kitchen, a library and conference room, an office for the rabbi, and guest suites.

The living space for the Schechtmans and their three children will be on the second floor.

The new dining room, which will be part of the expansion, will be a multi-purpose space that will double as a student lounge on weekdays and, of course, will allow for more space for Shabbat dinners.

“Right now we have close to 25 students on a Friday night and sometimes more than that,” Schechtman says.

“As it stands, our Shabbat dinners are bursting at the seams,” agrees Renetzky. “The new building will create a space which will further enable deep Jewish learning which happens nowhere else on campus. Bringing the Chabad Center into the heart of campus and into a significantly bigger space will help us create an even greater impact in the lives of Jewish students.”

Chabad of Wesleyan has received what Schechtman refers to as a “significant donation” to help with the purchase of the house from the Rohr Family Foundation, a major philanthropic supporter of Chabad, which also helped purchase the University of Hartford Chabad house. The foundation has also agreed to match all funds for renovation and expansion up to $200,000.

Thus far, fundraising efforts have raised between $60,000 and $65,000, primarily from alumni and parents of current students at Wesleyan who are, Schechtman says, “interested in seeing a vibrant Jewish life at Wesleyan.”

Schechtman says they are working with an architect and designer on plans for the new space, and that they hope to begin construction toward the end of the summer.

And that is important, because Chabad at Wesleyan has seen a steady “organic growth” in recent years, says Schechtman.

“This past year was off the chart successful,” Schechtman says. “We have a very active student board that meets every other week to plan events and discuss what more can be done in the future to make Judaism and Jewish activities more accessible to all of the students at Wesleyan.”

He cites “Shabbat 100,” an event organized by the student board last semester bringing together 100 Jewish students and young professionals together for one special Shabbat dinner.

“They really pulled together to spread the word and make it all happen – all of the planning, organization and logistics. It was just a tremendous event, a capstone event.”

Schechtman adds that the new Chabad Center will be more than just a Jewish center; for Jewish students at Wesleyan, it will be a home away from home.

“When we welcome students we welcome them as part of our extended family,” he notes. “We want to get to know them and their names and everything about them and it goes beyond just the formal role that a Jewish center plays. It is being there for them whenever they need us and wherever they need us.”

CAP: A rendering of what the new Chabad Center at Wesleyan will look like when competed.