A new chapter that will benefit all of Orange County is coming to life at the Chabad Center for Jewish Life in Newport Beach.
The Chabad Center, located in Upper Back Bay, has been a focal point in the community for two decades, offering a smorgasbord of services for members of the Jewish faith as well as the surrounding community. A recent construction project is expansing its contributions.
The venue is open to anyone who wants to participate, without the requirement of membership.
On Sunday, Aug. 22, the Chabad Center opens its new Holocaust Education Center, with some 700 artifacts recovered from Nazi concentration camps and collected by Mel Mermelstein. Among those are uniforms worn by inmates, pieces of barbed-wire fence and even parts of a prayer book found buried near an incinerator.
Mermelstein, the sole survivor in his family of five of the Holocaust, dedicated his life to fighting Holocaust denial and promoting greater tolerance.
The center will be a place to educate people about the Holocaust and the atrocities committed against Jews during World War II, said Rabbi Reuven Mintz.
“As we look at the rise of anti-Semitism, we want to work with the schools to inspire greater tolerance, moral courage and personnel integrity, which have proven helpful for youth,” said Mintz, who with his wife, Chani, opened the Chabad Center 20 years ago.
Mintz said he is hopeful the greater Orange County community will make use of the museum. He expects thousands of high school and middle school students to visit this year.
In the past, the artifacts were housed at Mermelstein’s lumber company in Huntington Beach. The collection has also traveled as a special exhibit and been featured in documentaries.
“It’s been in storage for a couple of years,” said Edie Mermelstein, whose father assembled the artifacts over 60 years.
“He kept going through the process,” she said of his healing. “Because he was a sole survivor, it became a way to work out his pain.”
Edie Mermelstein said over the years, school buses would roll up at her father’s company in Huntington Beach.
“I have calls now from students who went through it, who want their own children to see it,” she said. “His collection is powerful because of the personal touches. I’m very grateful it will have a place in Orange County.”
While the Chabad Center was already drawing Jews from across Orange County, it has also become a place for people of varying backgrounds, especially when it comes to its popular Friendship Circle, a place for parents and children with special needs to meet and participate in new programs and therapies.
The new renovations at the 20,000-square-foot, former commercial building – donations of good and services helped with more than $10 million cost – also include a new Center for Special Needs.
The venue features the newest technology from Europe and Israel to help children with autism, cerebral palsy, Downs syndrome and vision and hearing impairments, Mintz said. There is a therapy room, a multi-sensory room and a calming room – each is outfitted with state-of-the-art technology.
The Friendship Circle, directed by Chani Mintz, first opened in 2006 with just a handful of children. Now, that number has risen to more than 800. The circle has been a place of support and resources for people living with special needs and their families, offering programming, camps and sports leagues for many years.
“When we came here, we sought to serve the needs of the community where the needs were greatest and were not met,” Rabbi Mintz said. “While we’ve grown on all fronts, we’ve seen a demand in that area. That has increased dramatically, especially over COVID.”
The Chabad Center’s renovation also includes a new kitchen, specially outfitted for young adults with special needs where they can take lessons taught by professional chefs with the goal of increasing their own independence and helping with getting jobs in the food industry.
“The concerns we hear from parents is who will look after our children when we’re gone and will they be a burden to society?” Mintz said. “We tell them they have this unique mission in their lives. We want to facilitate it so they can live independently.”
Additionally, the Chabad Center has a new sanctuary, gathering hall and library.
“We try to be a source of light and unity,” Mintz said. “This new center will propel us to great growth.”
This post first appeared on ocregister.com
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