Third-Generation Fellers Warming Up Minnesota

Sixty years ago, Rabbi Moshe and Mindy Feller opened one of the first Chabad centers in the U.S., in frigid Minnesota. In the decades since, countless neshamos have been warmed by the light of the Rebbe’s teachings. Now, the third generation of Fellers have joined the ranks of Minnesota’s shluchim.

Rabbi Tzemach and Mushky Feller recently opened Chabad of Macalester-Groveland, which serves the college campuses in St. Paul, MN and the surrounding community. Their shlichus presents its own unique challenges, from the freezing winter weather to the unique style of shlichus at the liberal arts colleges they serve, but they are determined to forge on, bringing the light and warmth of Chassidus with them and warming hearts and souls.

“Our goal is to create a warm and welcoming Jewish home for every student to proudly live and celebrate their Yiddishkeit,” says Rabbi Tzemach Feller. “A place where students, faculty, residents and businesspeople alike can reinforce their Jewish identity and sense of community and celebrate Shabbos and the holidays with pride in a warm, welcoming and non-judgmental environment.”

A Home for St. Paul’s Jewish Students

The colleges they serve boast some 1,000 Jewish students, as well as many Jewish faculty members. Since they arrived in the neighborhood, the Fellers have heard from students who were hesitant to proudly observe their Yiddishkeit on campus, for fear of being ridiculed — or worse. An increased sense of Jewish pride is something the Fellers hope to bring to the neighborhood, along with a heightened sense of community and belonging.

The 2019 Brandeis University Twin Cities Jewish Community Study found that the Jewish population in St. Paul has skyrocketed in recent years, as it more than doubled in 10 years from 10,000 in 2004 to 22,000 in 2019. Some 4,000 of those Jews live in walking distance from the new Chabad House, many of whom are involved in the ecosystem of the four universities Chabad serves. 

Jewish students flock to Macalester College — whose student body is more than 10% Jewish — from across the country, as Chabad has welcomed natives of Texas, Illinois, New York, and many other states. Hamline University attracts more local students, and the prestigious Mitchell Hamline School of Law’s Jewish Law Students’ Association is seeing a rebirth with the help and encouragement of the Fellers. 

The venerable University of St. Thomas — a local Division-1 powerhouse — just saw what may have been the first-ever public menorah lighting on campus in its nearly 140 years of existence, with plans already underway to welcome Jewish students for a Purim celebration as well.

A Chabad House Decades in the Making

While the Fellers are just getting started in their new venture, the thirst for a connection to Yiddishkeit has always been deeply-felt in generations of students in St. Paul. In the 80s and 90s, the Mishulovin family, who owned a local kosher store and pizza shop, welcomed dozens — sometimes more than 100 — Jewish students, who’d crowd into their home for Shabbos and Yom Tov celebrations. In more recent years, students have joined services and events at Lubavitch House in nearby West St. Paul, and Rabbi Mendel and Tzemach Feller have visited campus for mivtzoim from megillah readings to mezuzos on dorm doors.

And now, after decades serving St. Paul’s Jewish students, there’s finally a Chabad center open in the neighborhood, adding another point to the mosaic of Jewish life in St. Paul.

“We are here to bring more light to the neighborhood, to hear from Yidden how best we can help them live a proud Jewish life,” says Mushky Feller. “That’s why we’ve focused on meeting with student leaders and campus faculty members, to deepen our understanding of how best we can serve the community.”

Unlike a more typical college town, which is often more sequestered and remote, the location of St. Paul’s colleges in the middle of one of the city’s most thriving neighborhoods creates a unique dynamic, with opportunities for students to meet with Jewish residents and participate in local Jewish communal life.  

And they’ve enthusiastically begun joining Chabad events. 

From menorah lightings in subzero temperatures to welcome BBQs to Shabbos lunches and dinners and holiday events, the excitement has been palpable — and the future is bright for Yiddishkeit in Mac-Groveland.

Chabad of Macalester-Groveland has launched their first-ever crowdfunding campaign. Join in warming up the neshamos of Jewish students in St. Paul: Click here to partner with them.