By Tzemach Feller – Lubavitch.com

On December 8, 2024 Chabad of Los Feliz—a neighborhood in northeastern Los Angeles, California—dedicated a newly-renovated Chabad Center to serve the neighborhood’s Jewish community, as well as families of young patients in nearby Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

The new Chabad House includes a spacious sanctuary, mikvahs, a commercial kitchen, and a preschool. A self-serve pantry and kitchenette will be open to anyone wishing to help themselves with sandwiches, pastries, and hot drinks, with fresh meals that are cooked twice a week. It also includes guest bedrooms and a lounge for families of patients at Children’s.

On Sunday, December 8, 2024, hundreds gathered for the grand opening. Donors, friends, and faculty spoke about the impact the new center would have on the community. One speaker was Peter Kraus, who dedicated the synagogue sanctuary.

“This multi-functional center is very needed in the neighborhood,” Kraus told Lubavitch.com. “The people who came to the event were wowed by the beauty and the different functions of the center. The rabbi has great vision of bringing more people in.”

His vision was quickly put to the test. Barely a month after its inauguration on January 7, 2025, the most destructive wildfires in Los Angeles’ history broke out. As evacuees began streaming away from Pacific Palisades and Altadena, Chabad of Los Feliz opened its doors, offering meals and hospitality to those in need. Then the Sunset Fire began to spread, and the neighborhood itself was threatened. With smoke filling the air and evacuation orders in place only blocks away, the Korfs prayed for their city, their community, and their brand-new center, 25 years in the making.

The Sunset Fire was contained, and the neighborhood survived. Others were less fortunate. As the fires continued to rage, Rabbi Mendy Ceitlin of Chabad of the nearby Silver Lake neighborhood gathered volunteers, and Chabad of Los Feliz’s brand-new commercial kitchen was put to work churning out hundreds of meals for firefighters, first responders and evacuees.

For as long as it’s needed, the hospitality center, pantry and kitchen will continue to support victims during the crisis. Then they’ll return to what they do each and every day: supporting families who may be undergoing their own personal crisis, and being there for every Jew in Los Feliz.

Building Community in the Living Room

Chabad of Los Feliz was founded in 1998, serving the neighborhood tucked between Hollwood, Highway 5, and Griffith Park in northeast Los Angeles, California. From the start, Rabbi Leibel and Dvonye Korf focused on building community—”We taught Hebrew school and hosted prayer services in the living room of our small rental home,” Dvonye Korf said—and on being a home for patients and their families at the neighborhood’s hospitals: Children’s Hospital, Kaiser Permanente Sunset, and Hollywood Presbyterian

After a stint operating out of a storefront in a mini-mall, Chabad moved into a larger property at 1930 Hillhurst Ave in 2006.

In 2007, the Korfs partnered with Frank and Lynn Menlo to establish Child First LA in 2007. They named the organization in memory of Rebbetzin Leah Raichik. “She and her husband were the first Chabad emissaries in the state of California, and her hospitality was legendary,” said Dvonye Korf. Now the Korfs set out to emulate that example.

Child First offers homemade kosher meals; books, videos and storytelling; arts and crafts and activities with volunteers; chaplaincy and visitations; and support and assistance for all.

Ten years later, they outgrew the 4,000-square-foot building and began searching again for a new, larger space. In 2016, Chabad purchased what was then an office building down the block from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. The new space was triple the size of the old location on Hillhurst Ave, and more importantly, its location right near the hospital made it easier for patients and their families to access Chabad’s assistance.

The new space is already proving its value, with so much coming out of one Chabad house, including a dynamic preschool under the leadership of Mrs. Korf. But, says Kraus, the Korfs are equal to the task.

“Rabbi Leibel is one of the few rabbis I know who’s able to wear so many different hats: teacher, developer—personally overseeing all aspects of the building of this wonderful center—helping the community,” Kraus said. “Rabbi Leibel and Dvonye’s individual work with people, as teachers and as parents—they amaze me with the amount of enthusiasm and energy they bring to the world.”