Chabad Jewish Center of Issaquah ready to share its wisdom
By Bob Taylor
If you want to stop by to hear a little Kabbala, Rabbi Shalom D. (Berry) Farkash’s Klahanie house is always open. Kabbala, for those unfamiliar with the term, is an esoteric wisdom that explains the secrets of the cosmos and illuminates the practices of Judaism.
And Kabbala is just one of the things people can learn at the new Chabad Jewish Center of Issaquah.
Want to learn how to cook kosher? Nechama, Farkash’s wife, offers classes on how to prepare some tasty recipes.
Would you like to learn Hebrew? Farkash provides classes in reading and writing the language.
Or, if you want to take a class on the Talmud, the collection of Jewish laws, Farkash has the entire library.
All these classes are available at the Chabad Jewish Center of Issaquah, which is currently centered in the Farkash house. Classes are free and open to everyone.
“We don’t charge. We’re not a business,” Farkash said. “We’re here as part of a mission.”
In the near future Farkash hopes to have a synagogue, the Jewish house of worship, somewhere on the community. The nearest synagogues for Jews in the area are in Bellevue and Mercer Island. The synagogue would have to be within walking distance for Farkash because, according to Jewish law, rabbis are forbidden to drive on Saturdays, which is the Jewish Sabbath or Shabbat, or on holy days.
The Farkashes and son Menachem moved to Klahanie last summer from New York. Berry had visited the Issaquah area two years when he came out to vacation with a brother in Bellevue. He was surprised to find that there was no synagogue in the Issaquah-Sammamish community.
Because his visit came during the Jewish holiday of Purim, Farkash thought it would be nice to hold a service. By visiting Jewish families in the area and sending out fliers, he got the word got out about the event.
“The response was very good,” Farkash said.
Later, he decided to return to the area to hold a Passover service. Once again there was a good response — 30 to 35 families attended the service.
When he returned to New York, Farkash talked to Nechama about the potential for a Chabad to serve the Issaquah-area community.
“We decided to move here,” Farkash said. “We’re here to stay.”
Farkash held another Purim service last year but the event was not publicized well and did not bring in a large crowd.
“It was disappointing at first but we tried to stay optimistic that more people would come,” Farkash said.
Just before they were ready to close down for the night, a somber woman walked through the door.
“She was in tears because her daughter, who was in the service, was going to Iraq,” Farkash said. “I prayed for her and for her daughter. I knew then there was a reason for me to be here. If it meant helping one person, it was well worth it.”
Farkash, who was born in Jersualem, comes from a family of rabbis. His father is a rabbi and his brothers are rabbis.
“My parents have 17 children. I’m No. 10,” Farkash said with a laugh.
Nechama also comes from a large family of seven, and her father is also a rabbi.
“We are a very rabbinical family,” Farkash said.
Farkash is a follower of the late Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who was possibly the 20th century’s most well known Orthodox Jewish leader. Schneerson was the spiritual leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement that spearheaded a worldwide reconstruction of post-Holocaust Jewish religious life and inspired a reawakening of Jewish awareness and observance. Among the things the movement did was establish education and outreach centers, and provide social-service programs and humanitarian aid to all people, regardless of religious affiliation or background.
Rabbis were urged to build Chabad-Lubavitch centers to serve the spiritual and material needs of communities.
“The Issaquah and Sammamish community seemed like the perfect place for a Chabad,” Farkash said.
The Chabad at Farkash’s house currently offers classes throughout the week. Nechama, a teacher at Yeshiva High on Mercer Island, teaches a class for women on Wednesday nights. She covers topics ranging from kosher cooking to the secrets of Shabbat. There is also a children’s library equipped with books and tapes.
“We’re open 24 hours a day,” Farkash said. “Everyone is welcome.”
