Chabad House plans first permanent home Facility would provide space for synagogue, activities, classes, shop BY BRIAN DONAHUE Staff Writer MONROE - Saying it would be "the nicest building in Monroe," Rabbi Yehuda Spritzer has big plans indeed for the proposed Chabad Community Center. Planned for a 3.5-acre site on Applegarth Road across from a commuter park-and-ride, the community center would be a 20,000-square-foot facility that provides much-needed space for the growing organization, Chabad House of Monroe. "This is a building that will cater to every aspect of the community," Spritzer said over the phone while at work at Everything Jewish by Chabad, the nonprofit store he runs in the Concordia Shopping Center. The community center would serve as a synagogue for Chabad House, and also would be the new location of the Everything Jewish store. It would also house a social hall for up to 400 people, classrooms and space for senior and youth activities. Spritzer's organization has already made good progress on the building, having purchased the property in August and received use variance approval from Monroe's Zoning Board of Adjustment. It still requires site plan approval, which will be the subject of a Dec. 12 hearing before the zoning board. But another major hurdle is raising the funds to complete the building, estimated to cost $2.5 million. Spritzer is hoping the community will step up to help the growing organization accomplish its goal. The group is planning events to raise money and is reaching out to the community for donations. Opportunities are available for supporters to have a portion of the building dedicated to a loved one. A fundraising event, "Chanukah Lights and Music," is set for Dec. 20 at the Monroe Township High School cafeteria. It will feature a performance by the Clearbrook Mandolin Ensemble, whose conductor, Jerry Sperling, arranged the benefit concert with the Chabad Building Fund. The organization will also hold a Hanukkah celebration, scheduled for 4 p.m. on Dec. 19 in front of Everything Jewish, 1600 Perrineville Road. Chabad House is part of an international organization on the front lines of Jewish education and activism, according to a press release. Now numbering over 3,500 centers around the globe, Chabad provides care, inspiration, hospitality and knowledge to Jews in all walks of life. Chabad House of Monroe is independent of other local Jewish organizations such as the Chabad Jewish Center of Monroe, which was founded in 2002 and is located on Gravel Hill Road. The origins of the Chabad House of Monroe go back 28 years, when Rabbi Yosef Carlebach, head of the Chabad center in New Brunswick, began giving classes in Concordia. Over time, interest in the program grew, and four years ago Carlebach contacted Spritzer to come to the area and continue Carlebach's work. Since moving to Kelly Court, Spritzer has been holding religious services at his house on the first Saturday of each month, but the accommodations are obviously limited, and even during the High Holidays no more than 60 people attend. Chabad House holds its other holiday events, which at times have attracted as many as 300 to 400 people, at locations including Monroe's high school and middle school. If the zoning board approves the site plan, construction would ideally begin on the community center this spring, Spritzer said, with completion possibly by the end of the year. In the meantime, Spritzer wants the community to know that he's available at the Everything Jewish store except on Mondays, when he works as a state employee visiting New Jersey prisons as a chaplain, providing classes and counseling. Otherwise, people can contact him at (609) 409-1000.