Baltimore Envisions Learning Hub

Excerpt from article by Melissa Gerr, Baltimore Jewish Times 2014

The Aleph Learning Institute isn’t Rochel Kaplan‘s first grand effort. In 2009, she created an annual event called the Jewish Victims of Terror Project; she also raised funds and assembled the design team needed to build a mikvah at the Chabad Center that is open to the whole community. The center recently celebrated the mikvah’s 10-year anniversary.

“After that project and [other] things were underway, I wanted to get into adult education,” said Kaplan. Getting Jews to be more aware of their Judaism is core to Kaplan’s, and Chabad’s, work. Her energy is contagious, and she takes any opportunity to connect with another Jew.

“Let’s put it this way: I’m a campaigner — you know on the road, in the store, anywhere,” she said with a laugh. “That’s me. I’m for the people, with the people, and I also feel like I’m learning from everyone else. … And you have to understand, my husband and I dedicate our lives to educating Jewish people.”

Kaplan’s long-range plans for the Aleph Learning Institute ultimately include an additional building to be erected behind the current synagogue that will house the institute on the second floor. But the courses and events offered now are an effort to cultivate more Jewish learning in the community and work toward that bigger goal.

“It’s the building before the building, meaning if two Jews meet and they think about Torah, this is a big accomplishment,” explained Kaplan, whose gestures and voice accelerate when talking about the institute’s future. “You never know the ripple effect.”

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Kaplan’s intense dedication has helped make her a driving force in the Jewish community since she arrived. Kaplan and her husband, Rabbi Shmuel Kaplan, lead Chabad Lubavitch of Maryland and have been in the Baltimore area almost 40 years.

The center also offers a prescribed set of courses that are based on a curriculum created by the Jewish Learning Institute, the international adult education arm of Chabad-Lubavitch. Those courses are developed separate from, but incorporated into, the Aleph Learning Institute curriculum.

One difference at the Aleph Learning Institute, said Kaplan, is the personalization and customization of studies. The institute accommodates individuals, friends and family members on any topic and for any type of class; anything is feasible, she said. “We really want to extend ourselves to the community and make ourselves available.”

It’s happening today for Aleph Learning Institute! Beginning at 12 noon today Rosh Chodesh Sivan for the next 24 hours all donations will be quadrupled, click here to donate.