Upon chatting with dozens of Jewish residents of Germantown, Clarksburg, Boyds and Damascus, Rabbi Yossi and Chanie Kagan found one commonality: many felt isolated. They felt they didn’t have a Jewish community. It seemed like each was “the only Jew” in the area.
Many expressed that they lacked a place to meet locally, Chanie Kagan said. For Jewish holidays, most who wanted to celebrate in community would drive 20 to 25 minutes south to Rockville or Gaithersburg.
The rabbi and rebbetzin set out to change this. “The goal is to create that over here, so they feel that sense of Jewish community and belonging where they live, right around the corner,” said Chanie Kagan, the founding co-director of Chabad of Clarksburg and Germantown.
The Kagans revived the local Chabad center, relocating from Potomac to a house in Boyds. Their new home is a block away from both titular towns. Chabad had already had a presence in upper Montgomery County for the past 15 years, but its rabbi recently moved away and the community lacked access to full services.
“This Chabad is really the first synagogue in Germantown, in Clarksburg,” said Rabbi Kagan, the founding co-director of Chabad of Clarksburg and Germantown. “This is the next stage of reestablishment and growth.”
As the young family of eight settles into their home, their first priority is to continue building the Jewish community and getting the word out about the new Chabad house. They’ll do that by hosting monthly Shabbat dinners and Shabbat services, holiday programs and classes.
“We’re constantly connecting with other people and telling them, ‘Spread the word,’” Chanie Kagan said.
“Knocking on doors,” Rabbi Kagan chimed in.
“We’ve seen, just within the year, how that works, but [there’s] still much more to do,” Chanie Kagan said.
Eventually, they hope to give back to the wider community through mitzvah projects such as “giving kitchens,” as Chanie Kagan enjoys cooking.
For more than eight years, the Kagans served the Chabad Shul of Potomac, where Rabbi Kagan directed development and education.
“We feel we’re blessed that we had that opportunity to be in Potomac for the past eight and a half years and build experience and learn from our head rabbi, Rabbi Mendel Bluming, to understand the ins and outs of building community,” Chanie Kagan said.
Tasks that seemed “daunting” to the rebbetzin eight years ago — making two batches of challah and “huge pots of chicken soup” — no longer intimidate her, she said. But, in Potomac, the Kagans worked to support an already-established community with a large Jewish population.
As the new family on the block in Clarksburg, they’re building from the ground up.
“We’re excited for the new journey, and we also are so blessed that we’ve had the past experience,” Chanie Kagan said.
“There are a lot of feelings of gratitude,” Rabbi Kagan added. “They say it takes a village to raise a child, so it takes a community to build community.”
He credited not only the Blumings, but Rabbi Shmuel Kaplan, the regional director of Chabad of Maryland, and Rabbi Yehuda Glick, the co-director of Chabad of Germantown, who Rabbi Kagan said laid the groundwork for building the local Jewish community.
The Kagans also thanked the many donors who have supported their endeavor — mainly Potomac residents, but also the Kagans’ family members and friends from their hometowns of Toronto and Miami. “It’s a vast pool of donors and friends,” Rabbi Kagan said.
Though the family just moved in in early March, rows of white folding chairs are already neatly lined up for guests — courtesy of their children — and a framed portrait of the Lubavitcher Rebbe overlooks the multipurpose room dedicated to services and gatherings.
The six kids, who range in age from almost 2 to 9 years old, helped decide what to display on the shelves: a stack of kippot, potted pink flowers and a silver menorah. The Kagans try to involve their children in everything they do. In a recent social media video, five of the kids can be seen dancing excitedly as their father carries in the Chabad center’s first Torah scroll.
“It’s really a whole family mission — a journey of building community,” Rabbi Kagan said. “It’s not a career; it’s 24/7.”
The Kagans have already seen the positive impact of their work. At recent programs, two attendees said they hadn’t been involved in Jewish community in decades, according to Rabbi Kagan.
One such gathering was Chabad of Clarksburg and Germantown’s Purim party at a Clarksburg venue, where an attendee in his 70s said the last time he celebrated the holiday was when he was 13.
“Just to see that is already worth it,” Rabbi Kagan said. “We know that a lot more are going to be coming — a lot more of these stories and families being able to connect with each other … just from [our] programs.
“Even before we moved, these two guys connected and other people connected. So we’re excited to be able to see that happen, and eventually to continue growing.”
Learn more and/or contact Rabbi Yossi Kagan at chabadupcounty.com.
