One Year After Devastating Arson, Plans for New Jewish Center Unveiled at University of Delaware
Firefighters tackling the blaze started by an arsonist at the University of Delaware’s Chabad Center for Jewish Life. Photo: Aetna Hose, Hook & Ladder Company.
A year after an act of arson caused some $200,000 in damage to a beloved University of Delaware Jewish institution, leaders of the campus Chabad center unveiled plans for a new building on Monday.
Joined by Rabbi Avremel Vogel and Newark Mayor Jerry Clifton, President Dennis Assanis revealed plans for the new $3.5 million, two-story building at a press conference, with Avremel’s father, Rabbi Chunl Vogel, blowing the shofar in celebration.
Assanis said the Newark, Delaware community turned last year’s attack on the Chabad Center into an opportunity for unity.
“The fire was not the end of the story, but rather it was the beginning of a great new chapter,” he said, according to the local WDEL broadcaster. “We turn adversity into opportunity. Thousands of Blue Hens and alumni here and around the world, no matter what their religious beliefs are, stood up and reached out to help rebuild.”
Blowing of the shofar helps Chabad Center at the University of Delaware celebrate its plans for new building following last years arson attack. #netDE #universityofDelaware @UDelaware @chabad pic.twitter.com/k8ndWX4Nk7
— Mark Eichmann (@MarkEichmann) August 30, 2021
Firefighters arrived at the scene of the Chabad Center fire after it was reported shortly after 11 p.m. on August 25, 2020. The Delaware Fire Marshal’s office determined the blaze was set intentionally, but the investigation is still ongoing, with no arrests made.
Rabbi Avremel Vogel said Monday’s event sent a message of support to Jewish community.
“Our message is that Judaism is still here and we’re still here for each other,” Vogel said, according to Delaware Online. “Buildings and synagogues can be closed down, but if you have the home and you have the family and you have the community, then Jewish life is still going to go on,” he continued.
“We didn’t know how we were going to do it but we knew we were rising out of these ashes,” he continued. “We were going to come back fiercer, we were going to come back stronger, more inclusive, more welcoming, and try to reach even more students on campus.”
The new facility on South College Ave. will include study areas, guest rooms, a mikveh ritual bath and a backyard for events, as well as living quarters for the Vogel family.
“We don’t respond in kind,” Mayor Clifton said, of the arson. “We don’t respond with hatred. We respond with a better idea. And that better idea is one of love and inclusivity. I think that you’ve seen it. I think you’re going to see it.”