By COLlive reporter
West Coast Chabad announced the acquisition of a 300,000-square-foot, 16-story campus in Los Angeles that will become the largest Jewish center in North America on Monday.
The $100 million Chabad Campus for Jewish Life was donated by the Abady family, making it one of the largest contributions in Chabad’s history, COLlive has learned.
The gift, from real estate professional Alon Abady and his wife, Monique, was made in honor of Alon’s mother, Liora Abady, and will house the “Abady Family Center” in her honor.
Located at 9911 West Pico Boulevard, the campus sits in the heart of Jewish Los Angeles, at the gateway to Century City and Beverly Hills. It is directly across from the Hillcrest Country Club and near the iconic Fox Studios lot and the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
The campus will house a range of communal functions: a synagogue; educational facilities for students of varying ages; Jewish life-cycle venues; youth and senior programming; mental health and social services; support for thousands of Jewish students on college campuses; and a convention and banquet hall for communal gatherings and international events.
It will offer specialized programming for children with special needs, comprehensive services for California’s growing aging population, and a state-of-the-art museum that will use multimedia and virtual reality to engage the broader community with Jewish history, heritage, and the story of the Land of Israel.
In addition to its immediate use as a center for worship, service, education, and community engagement, the property benefits from newly granted by-right residential conversion entitlements, providing meaningful flexibility for future housing initiatives, including the potential conversion of the existing structure to residential use.
Never Forgot
When the Abady family immigrated to the United States in the 1970s, they arrived with little means. Within two years, facing financial hardship and with no support network, they met Chabad and Rabbi Shlomo Cunin, the West Coast Director of Chabad-Lubavitch.
Then a young Shliach of the Rebbe sent to grow Chabad-Lubavitch across the West Coast, Rabbi Cunin and Chabad helped the Abady family navigate their hardship and helped provide them with the foundation to rebuild their lives.
Alon Abady went on to build a real estate empire, and Rabbi Cunin continued the Rebbe’s work of transforming Jewish life on the West Coast. But the Abadys never forgot.
When Chabad approached Abady about the campus he had recently acquired, the response was immediate. He shared that the family had never forgotten the kindness Rabbi Cunin and Chabad had shown them in their time of need, and that it was time to repay that kindness.
“This gift reflects our deep commitment to the Los Angeles community of all faiths and backgrounds, and our desire to leave a lasting impact that will endure for future generations,” said Alon Abady.
“The Abady Family Center, owned and operated by the Chabad Campus for Jewish Life, is intended not only as a physical home for the Los Angeles community, but also as a platform for growth, adaptability, and long-term community benefit. This is a lifelong dream that also allows me to honor my parents and my children. When my family immigrated to Los Angeles in the 1970s, Chabad was there for us. That was never forgotten.”
The closing took place on the afternoon of Friday, January 9. As Shabbos approached, leaders and friends of Chabad hurried to join Rabbi Cunin at the property to celebrate and affix a mezuzah to the front door of the campus.
The Jewish date of the closing coincided with 20 Tevet, the yahrtzeit of the Rambam, also known as Maimonides. In 1984, the Rebbe established a daily study cycle of the Rambam’s monumental work, Mishneh Torah, explaining that this would unify the Jewish people regardless of background. Rabbi Cunin felt it was a particularly auspicious date, as the new center will likewise be a point of unity for people from all walks of life.
The announcement comes during a period marked by rising antisemitism and harrowing events—most recently, the Bondi Chanukah Massacre in Australia, which claimed the lives of 15 people, including Chabad Rabbi Eli Schlanger and Rabbi Yaakov Levitan, chief operating officer at Chabad of Bondi.
Chabad views the launch of what will be the largest Jewish center in North America as a direct response to the darkness and a concrete way to channel the Rebbe’s teachings to double down on good works in the face of difficulties.
“This extraordinary gift reflects the Rebbe’s mission to illuminate the world through goodness and kindness,” says Rabbi Shlomo Cunin. “The Chabad Campus for Jewish Life will serve as a beacon of light, strengthening Jewish life while uplifting and serving the entire Los Angeles and global community for generations to come.”
CHAZAK U BARUCH