Built on love
Built on love - Rabbi following in family footsteps by starting Chabad in Twinsburg
By SUE REID for the Solon Times
As a child, Rabbi Mendy Greenberg would run around the property of the Solon Chabad, an enclave situated on Harper and Cannon roads. It was a result of the vision of his parents, Rabbi Zushe Greenberg and his wife Miriam.
There were two key things he noticed at the time, Rabbi Mendy recalled of his childhood. First, he said his parents, who brought a Jewish presence to Solon in 1991 with the Chabad movement, made their faith less about a building and more about the people and the community. Prior to the Chabad being built, the elder rabbi would hold services in his home and later in the lower level of a professional building on Aurora Road before growing to rooms at Solon High School and Arthur Road School. Solon Chabad was built in 2004 and now is home to 500 Jewish families. The second thing that Rabbi Mendy gleaned from those early recollections, was that his parents always made a place where everyone was welcome, a place where it was “fun and cool” to be Jewish - and most importantly built a community rooted in love. “I knew that was something I wanted to do,” Rabbi Mendy said. The oldest of his parent’s nine children, Rabbi Mendy, 24, will be following in his father’s footsteps, but just a few miles down the road in neighboring Twinsburg. The city has no Jewish congregation at this time. Along with his wife Mussie, 21, the young couple plan to start the Twinsburg Chabad. Rabbi Mendy and his wife are roughly the same age as his parents were when they first arrived in Solon. Chabad is a “couple’s job,” explained Rabbi Zushe, 51. Rabbi Mendy will begin by reaching out to all of the Jewish families in Twinsburg, meeting them in their homes, as well as conducting High Holiday services throughout the community. Like his parents, he will jump in feet first, determining the needs of the community with a goal of building a permanent home. “You jump in there, start swimming, and find out their needs,” said Miriam, 46. Rabbi Mendy excitedly described the first event of the Twinsburg Chabad, which will take place Friday (Sept. 1) in the form of a tailgate party for the Solon vs. Twinsburg High School football game. The tailgate, featuring traditional Jewish foods prepared by Mussie Greenber