Chabad of Almaden

What they offer

Chabad of Almaden is a Jewish community centre in San Jose, led by Rabbi Mendel Weinfeld.

There is a synagogue on the premises. Visitors are welcomed for Shabbat and holiday meals. Kosher meals are available on a meal plan. Accommodation for guests can be arranged. A kosher store is run here. There is a Judaica shop. They kosher kitchens for the community. A mikveh is available. Dishes can be toveled here.

Classes run regularly, one-to-one study can be arranged, courses from the Jewish Learning Institute are taught and public lectures are held. There is a library.

For children there is a preschool, a Hebrew school, after-school programmes, a children's club and a mother-and-child group.

Older children and young adults have a teen club, bar and bat mitzvah instruction, a bar mitzvah club, a bat mitzvah club and a young professionals' circle.

They officiate at weddings, circumcisions and funerals. Couples are prepared for marriage. A chevra kadisha serves the community.

The center visits patients in hospital, visits Jewish prisoners, serves military personnel, looks after the elderly, works with children with special needs, distributes food packages, provides humanitarian aid, runs a soup kitchen, runs a free loan fund, helps people who are homeless, runs medical services, provides psychiatric care, works to prevent drug and alcohol abuse, helps people find work, runs an orphanage, counsels families facing cults and missionaries, runs a club for seniors, helps people through addiction and recovery and serves travelers at the airport.

There is a women's group. There is a men's club. Holiday programs run through the year, hands on. Mezuzos and tefillin can be checked here. A mitzvah tank goes out from here. The building is wheelchair accessible. They publish. There is a Torah phone line. Genealogy research is offered. They produce television and radio programs. Computer training is taught.