In Iceland, Chabad spreads Hashem’s light at top of the world

Jews have lived in Iceland for more than a century, but the community spent most of that time without a permanent rabbi or a synagogue, an absence that set Reykjavik apart from every other capital in Europe.

That gap was filled on July 7, when the 9,000-square-foot Beit Shvidler Jewish Center of Iceland opened. Three stories tall, its distinctive color and design makes the building an instantly recognizable landmark.

“We dreamed of this moment for years,” Rabbi Avraham Feldman told about 100 people celebrating the event. “And now we are sitting in this dream that has become reality.”

Rabbi and Mushky Feldman moved to Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital, in 2018 as Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries and opened the country’s first Jewish center. For the past eight years, the Jewish Community Iceland — Beit Tovah Chabad — operated out of the Feldman’s home and temporary spaces.

The new venue is “a place where you can walk through the door and feel comfortable,” Rabbi Feldman said in his remarks. “Where you can simply be Jewish.”

In addition to visiting Iceland for its Northern Lights, colorful capital and Blue Lagoon, wandering Jews may also want to check off from their bucket list a visit to the world’s northernmost (or almost northernmost) Chabad house. While both Reykjavik and Fairbank may be laying claim to that distinction, Fairbanks (at latitude 64.83-degrees) is about 47 miles further north than Reykjavik (at 64.15-degrees).

Serving both Iceland’s local Jewish community and the Jewish travelers who pass through the country, the center will also have space for programming that the community’s previous more limited quarters could not accommodate. It will house a Judaica and kosher store, as well as a stunning social hall for community events.

Construction of a geothermal mikvah is expected to begin soon.

The center will host the Gallery of Jewish Life in Iceland, a new permanent exhibit that traces more than 100 years of the island’s Jewish history through photographs and documents that, until now, had nowhere to be shown.

Any Icelander curious about Jewish life can walk in and encounter it directly.

“This is exactly the kind of place the Rebbe [Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory] envisioned when he spoke of ahavat yisrael, giving every Jew the chance to connect with and celebrate their Judaism,” Rabbi Feldman said.

Jón Gnarr, Reykjavik’s former mayor and now a member of the Icelandic Parliament, used his remarks to talk about the country’s debts to its Jewish community, and the Jewish authors he has been influenced by. He described the new center as “a living bridge, connecting cultures, dispelling ignorance, and fostering dialogue and understanding.”

“Many Jews in Iceland have felt hesitant to say out loud that they’re Jewish,” Gnarr said. “That’s why education and dialogue are key.”

Acting US Ambassador Joanie Simon, Rabbi Mendy Kotlarsky, community member Patrick Sulem and Mushky Feldman also addressed the gathering, while cantor Aryeh Leib Hurwitz brought the sound of traditional chazzanut into a room that had never held it before.

The opening drew recognition from the highest levels of Icelandic government.

Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir, a guest of Jewish community events in the past, sent a letter describing the center as “an important milestone for the Jewish community and for Icelandic society,” and expressed hope for “continued cooperation between the Jewish community and the Government of Iceland.” Þórunn Sveinbjarnardóttir, Speaker of Althingi (parliament), wrote separately to recognize the occasion.

The evening closed with thanks to the donors whose generosity built the center, among them Eugene Shvidler, whose vision and generosity helped propel the center from an idea into a building people could actually walk into and celebrate Jewish life, philanthropists Isaac and Tovah Cohen, George and Pamela Rohr, The Shmuel Isaac and Miriam Popack Foundation and Dovid and Rivka Feldman.

“Together, we are writing the Icelandic chapter in the story of the Jewish people,” Rabbi Feldman told the room.

The Jewish Star contributed to this report.