Sandwiched between the established Chabad communities of Albany and Woodstock in Ulster County, Rabbi Mendel and Rochie Kremer have set up shop in Hudson, Columbia County, to attract Jews of all stripes and help county residents expand their sense of Yiddishkeit. Chabad joins three other congregations in the area. There is a vibrant Conservative synagogue in Hudson, Anshe Emeth. The artsy community of Chatham has an unaffiliated, member-led congregation called the Chatham synagogue Netivot Torah [the Pathway to Torah]. Across the Hudson River there is Temple Israel of Catskill, a Reform congregation that traces its roots back to 1923.
The Kremers officially opened their Chabad House on August 20, 2023. During the past seven months, the Kremers had amazing success attracting Jews in the rural county of more than 60,000 residents for services and programming events.
“Chabad is Orthodox, we follow all the halacha. We follow all the Jewish laws. We work with all the local synagogues in the community,” Rabbi Kremer told The Jewish Press. “We follow the traditional, authentic Judaism halacha and that has a certain view of how a shul works and runs. Chabad and especially people not associated with Chabad – the majority of the work that we do, 90 percent of it, is outside the synagogue, is outreach, making social events, being there for the needy, being there in times of crisis. Services are a minor part of what Chabad does. That is why I say we work together with all local synagogues. We deal with people from all forms of Judaism. Chabad does not just cater to the Orthodox community. The policy here, at our Chabad center, is that everybody’s welcome at whatever level they are. Obviously, in that Chabad setting, in that Chabad synagogue we respect the Jewish laws. What people do in their personal life, that’s for them to decide and that could be many things, not just the driving [on Yom Tov and Shabbat].”
“Most people who are coming are open to growing. That’s why they’re here. We haven’t had a situation yet where someone refused to wear a yarmulke,” said Rebbetzin Rochie Kremer. “My son has a little bit more of an understanding of people, what they do and how they dress. He doesn’t blink an eye when a Jew walks to our door and doesn’t have a kippah or the children don’t dress the way he dresses or a mother doesn’t dress the way he sees his mother dress. He knows that not every Jew looks the same and it doesn’t make them less of a Jew. He knows that sometimes he shares his yarmulke with other people, with other children and other men. He would pick out one of his colorful yarmulkes to share. Chabad is welcoming because that’s the way we are brought up. That’s why you’ll see a pile of yarmulkes on a table at the entrance to the Chabad House because most people coming probably won’t be wearing a yarmulke. It’s there if they want it but if they don’t want it, we won’t say anything.”
The Kremers’ home on Bayley Boulevard in Hudson doubles as the shul but is not finished yet and needs a lot of work before becoming a regular place to daven. In late January, the Kremers held their first Shabbat service.
“We had [services] in the shul downstairs and more than 40 people – men, women, children attended. The breakdown was 15 to 18 men, about 14 women, and the rest were children,” said Rabbi Mendel.
Jacob Elbaz, 94 years old and a Holocaust survivor, is a painter from Israel. He was one of the first people the Kremers met. “When we were just visiting the area, there was nothing visibly Jewish on the outside of his gallery. We went into his store in a random strip mall in Hudson and saw a gallery full of Judaic pictures and Israel. It was very welcoming. It was reassuring also that there is a vibrant Jewish life here.”
A recent event featuring a survivor of October 7, Matan Boltax, attracted more than 100 people to the Wick Hotel, a place the Kremers are using until they can get a larger permanent space as they grow their audience.
“I think what October 7 has taught us is that nobody else cares about our differences,” Rochie Kremer said. “To them, a Jew is a Jew. The real message of Chabad is that there is way more that unites us than divides us. Chabad is an Orthodox organization and we practice Judaism differently than Conservative and Reform and other denominations but it really doesn’t matter. We’re just here for every Jew wherever they’re at. At the end of the day, Chabad’s message is no matter what you do or what you practice, a Jew is a Jew. We’re here for them.”
Boltax said he believes Hamas saw an opening to attack Israel when discord between political factions were at its height and Israel was caught off guard. The bombings took place during the Nova Festival in the Negev on the border with Judea and Samaria.
“Before October 7, there was a lot of debate and fighting amongst Israelis and Jews and disagreements, and now you just see everyone coming together helping everyone out no matter what their point of view is,” Boltax said during his half-hour talk about how he escaped harm while attending the electronic music festival. His friends at the concert were kidnapped, killed or wounded. He came away unscathed.
“We can’t forget what happened. There was an exhibit of the festival in Tel Aviv, which I know is supposed to be coming to New York City very soon,” said the 23-year-old Boltax, a native of Great Neck, Nassau County, and a member of the Israel Defense Forces reserve unit. “We’re really ensuring the future of Israel. We’re all still fighting strong and making sure that we have the safest country that people can live in for our future.”
The war between Israel and Hamas is bringing congregants to Chabad.
“The Israel situation, which is hard on everybody, has put a really big mandate on us because a lot of people are calling and reaching out,” Rabbi Mendel said. “They want to connect and they want to know more about being Jewish because what’s happening in Israel isn’t just happening in Israel, it’s happening to us here in America as well. It’s very much connected to antisemitism here, so a lot of people are coming out of the woodwork. People who would not otherwise be interested in the Chabad center or a Jewish center, but because of that they are really reaching out. We’re only here for a couple of months but the amount of people that are emailing and calling us is really impressive.”
Rabbi Mendel Kremer grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he lived until the age of nine. After emigrating to Montreal, Canada, with his family, he studied in Canada, France and the United States. The 29-year-old rabbi has been involved in Jewish outreach and youth programming throughout the U.S. and as far away as Peru, Argentina, Cuba and Ukraine. He received a rabbinical certification and is a certified mohel.
“For yeshiva study, I’ve been around the world. After we got married, we moved to Crown Heights for two years,” Rabbi Mendel recalled. “We were always looking for a community that could use a Chabad center to be a place to infuse new energy and a new center for Jewish life. Initially, we moved back to Montreal, where Rochie was born and raised. We served the Chabad centers there. We do a lot of driving from Montreal to New York [City] so we got to know the area. Especially during Covid, this place [Hudson] really picked up. A lot of young families have moved up here. Until now it was only a vacation home with older people but in the last three to four years, a lot of young Jewish families have moved up.”
Rochie, 28, has engaged in various outreach activities throughout Canada and the United States. She has been involved with early childhood education for nearly a decade and is passionate about bringing Judaism to life through joyful experiences.
The couple have three children, ages four, two, and a few months old.
A recent event the Kremers held was for Purim. Approximately 75 attended, including several children under the age of ten in costume. Rochel Kremer’s father Rabbi Shmuel Kramer, read the Megillah. (He was proud to have finished it in less than 25 minutes.)
Keeping the fledgling Chabad center afloat takes money and the Kremers are seeking help.
“We are in touch with a lot of local people, philanthropists. We would like to find a permanent home. Nothing is set up right now but it is being discussed and it is definitely in the plans,” Rabbi Mendel said. “We have some big donors and we’re working on some more.”
There are currently 23 Chabad Centers cutting across 10 upstate counties from the southern Adirondacks to Beacon, Dutchess County, according to the website Chabad.org.
