United Kingdom - Anonymous Donor Doubles Chabad Presence On UK Campuses

United Kingdom -- Six new Chabad representative couples will be greeting students at some of the country's top universities- more than doubling the previous number of representatives. The initiative is funded by anonymous donor, a hedge fund manager who became fond of Chabad while studying at Oxford University.

New Chabad representatives will be in place at Bristol University, Imperial College London, Nottingham University, University of Edinburgh, and a cluster of universities in south London: Kingston, Roehampton, Surrey, Goldsmiths, Royal Holloway, Greenwich, St. Georges Medical School and Wimbledon School of Art. By the end of next year, additional representatives will be appointed to serve at other universities.

Most of the universities chosen as homes for new representatives have a sizable Jewish student body and no Chabad rabbi in the city. Another factor guiding placement was student demand. “We’ve had feedback from students who say they would really like a Chabad house on their campus,” said R’ Reuven Leigh, director of Chabad Jewish Society at Cambridge University. Although Chabad has a well-established presence in London, the sheer number of students and universities there warranted placement of two additional representative families.

“What we are doing is crucial for the future and continuity of Jewish life on UK campuses and Anglo-Jewry,” said R' Eli Brackman, Chairman of Chabad on Campus UK and director of Chabad at Oxford University.