For Rabbi Sholom Deitsch, sharing the beauty and richness of Judaism isn’t work. It’s a calling. That’s why he and his wife moved to Virginia from New York in 1991 to found the Chabad Lubavitch of Northern Virginia.
Deitsch, the director of this local Chabad center, said anywhere between 80 and 140 community members attend Shabbat services now, more than three decades after he built the center from the ground up.
Deitsch lives in Fairfax with his wife, Chani, and youngest daughter, who is attending community college. Their four other adult children have moved out. Deitsch is a grandfather of six.
Having grown up in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, Deitsch was heavily influenced by Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe who was a “tremendous inspiration” to many in the Jewish community.
“Growing up with the Rebbe my whole life, basically, [he] was an embodiment of someone who literally devoted his whole life to studying Torah in depth and sharing the beauty of Judaism and reaching out to people who were unaffiliated,” Deitsch said. “And he cherished the soul of every Jewish person, whether they were affiliated or unaffiliated, observant or not observant.”
Deitsch felt compelled by the Rebbe’s encouragement for young people to open Chabad centers across the world.
“It was just the feeling of, ‘I want to be part of that; I want to be part of this revolution, of revolutionizing what Judaism in the world means,’” Deitsch recalled.
He was drawn to Fairfax because his late father-in-law lived in Richmond, Virginia, at the time and encouraged Deitsch and his wife to open a Chabad center in the area. After asking around, others told Deitsch that Northern Virginia had a sizable Jewish population, but “not much of an organized Jewish community,” something he still sees to be the
case today.
In January 1991, Deitsch and his wife made the move, knowing no one in Fairfax aside from the Jewish realtor who rented them their house. It was an “exciting and challenging” time building a Chabad center from scratch in a place unfamiliar to them.
“We didn’t know anybody else, but it became quickly obvious to us that there’s a community here in Northern Virginia that is thirsting to learn more about traditional Judaism,” Deitsch said. “So we just started doing things, and really, we never looked back. It was always very exciting with a lot to do.”
Now, there are a total of eight Chabad centers in Northern Virginia, and Chabad Lubavitch of Northern Virginia will soon celebrate its 34th anniversary. Deitsch said that people inspire him to continue his rabbinical work.
“You’re inspired when you see that you share a thought or are studying the Torah and their eyes brighten up,” Deitsch said. “In many, many instances, [Judaism] transforms their life. That is, as they say, priceless. It inspires you to move to meet more people and do more.”
One of his favorite aspects of Northern Virginia’s Jewish community is people’s openness to learning new things rather than being set in their ways, which he attributes to the nature of the region.
“The transience of the area allows for people to say, ‘Sure, let me experience something new,’” Deitsch explained. “We have a lot of interactions with people who are affiliated and unaffiliated. It’s almost like everybody’s a pioneer here. Everybody’s new, everybody’s open to things, to learning more.”
His hope is that the local Jewish community continues to expand and evolve in its Jewish knowledge and experiences, with a goal to reach all 120,000 Jewish Northern Virginians.
Deitsch said he also makes an effort to interact with non-Jewish community members who are interested in learning more about Judaism or the way that people have studied the religion for millennia. Some have converted to Judaism over the years, and others have realized that Judaism is a “serious commitment” that they may not feel prepared to take on.
“I tell people sometimes who come here to convert, ‘You know you’re ready to convert when you cannot live without Judaism,’” Deitsch said.
Orthodox Judaism isn’t just a facet of Deitsch’s day job: “My observance is all-encompassing from the minute I wake up to the minute I go to sleep.”
He prays three times a day and studies Torah every day, making it a priority to reach out to others in the community to share this knowledge with them.
“The Mishnah says that the world stands on three pillars: Torah, prayer and good deeds and helping people,” Deitsch said. “So every day of my life, that’s what it is.”
Editor’s note: This article was written prior to the tragic murder of Rabbi Zvi Kogan, Chabad-Lubavitch emissary to Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. May his family be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.
