In choosing a name for the beautiful, new campus in Chicago housing the Lubavitch Girls High School (LGHS), Mrs. Elizabeth (Shira Malka) Walder wished to select a name that would inspire the girls who attend this premier Chabad high school, which attracts students from around the country.
“I wanted to name the campus for a woman who would serve as an outstanding role model – whose life was devoted to advanced learning at the highest levels,” she said.
Mrs. Walder soon came across a new book adapted and published by Rabbi Dr. Eli Rubin, a scholar of Chabad Chasidic history, which inspired her.
Titled The Lamdonis, the small book culls together a collection of stories about Rebbetzin Devorah Leah of Vitebsk, a little-known Jewish heroine who lived in 18th-century Belarus. Rebbetzin Devorah Leah’s nephew was the famed Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (also known as the Alter Rebbe), the founder of the Chabad Lubavitch movement. She was affectionately known as the Lamdonis, “the learned one,” and the stories of her pivotal impact on the Chabad movement were told by the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, in his memoirs.
“I was captivated by the stories of Rebbetzin Devorah Leah’s extraordinary life,” Mrs. Walder said. “It was as if I was just introduced to a new, impressive friend. She played such an important role in the origins of Chabad – how did I not know about her?”
On September 14, the Devorah Leah Campus in Chicago was inaugurated in a grand communal celebration. The grant represents one of Walder Foundation’s largest grants to date.
“It is my hope that the Devorah Leah Campus will serve as an inspiration to all of the students and faculty, and their families – to be passionate about chassidus and Torah learning,” said Mrs. Walder. “Devorah Leah was an inspiration in her learning and was very bold. I wish the same for all the students and faculty – that you will learn deeply in this beautiful building, live with purpose, and make a positive impact on the world through your learning.”
The beautiful new campus and girls high school building features four state-of-the-art science labs, a large beit midrash for the young women, a sun-drenched library, an art studio, and a centralized atrium.
“The quality of the education is already elevated because of this bright space where the girls can think, grow, learn, and become future leaders,” said Rabbi Baruch Hertz, Dean of the Aaron & Clara Jolcover Lubavitch Girls High School, who noted that the campus project was more than two decades in the making.
The school’s sophisticated biology lab is dedicated to the late Dr. Joseph Walder, a scientist and philanthropist, and co-founder of Walder Foundation. “He would have been incredibly proud that LGHS students can pursue their love of science in a state-of-the-art lab in a Torah environment,” Mrs. Walder said.
Rabbi Hertz credits Mrs. Walder’s expansive vision for helping bring this project to fruition. “In addition to her generous donation, her vision, faith, and encouragement pushed us to dream bigger and build something that would impact generations to come,” he said. In addition to the girls’ high school and the connected synagogue, the Devorah Leah Campus will also feature a mikveh (ritual bath) and kollel for men’s Torah study.
At the dedication, Walder Foundation distributed hundreds of copies of a special printing of The Lamdonis, ensuring every student received her own copy.
In attendance, accompanying her father, was eight-year-old Chasiah Rubin, who loved listening to stories of Rebbetzin Devorah Leah every night before she went to bed. As it turns out, Chasiah had inspired her father to publish The Lamdonis to mark the occasion of her most recent birthday, so that others could enjoy these stories just as much as she did.
Rebbetzin Devorah Leah’s story “sends a powerful message – in chassidus, there is a long line of dedicated women to look up to and aspire to,” said Mrs. Walder. “There’s a well-established precedent to set the bar high for Torah learning for girls. The Lubavitcher Rebbe stated that Torah scholarship is essential for young women, a foundation that they can carry into their lives as future mothers and leaders of the next generation.”