Rutgers Chabad raised $1.5 million at its annual dinner, helping to support its growing list of programming begun in the last year in response to campus antisemitism triggered by the war in the Middle East.

The 46th yearly dinner on December 10 at Chabad House on the university’s main campus in New Brunswick drew about 400 attendees and honored Michael and Penny Kaplan of Edison, Morris Oiring of Long Island and Israel Consul General in New York Ofir Akunis, who had to cancel his appearance to fly back to Israel for his daughter’s induction ceremony into the Israel Defense Forces.

Chabad now has an annual operating budget of $6 million and has striven to increase programming for students as anti-Israel protests, which have often turned antisemitic, have become far too common.

“We wanted to open up and expand every program and make it bigger and better so that students feel they have a place to go where they can feel safe,” said Chabad Executive Director Rabbi Yosef Carlebach, noting many established programs have seen a doubling in attendance in the last year.

In addition to programming costs, Chabad has spent 30% more on food, which is available at no cost at many of its functions.

Rabbi Carlebach said it has continued to offer catered Shabbat meals and now has JCafe on Tuesday nights, which offers themed events such as Italian night with food, which can run all night and draws up to 600 students; Sushi and Soul on Wednesday nights, where students make their own sushi and hear a guest speaker; and challah-baking on Thursday nights, which is now attracting between 50-100 female and male students. Chabad has also sponsored two marches and two concerts.

Israeli-born Yair Herskowitz, vice president of the Chabad student board, said when he first came to Rutgers he stumbled upon Chabad and “it was like God showed me the light.”

He recalled how “everything changed” after October 7, 2023 as he was about to go to sleep when alerts from Israel lit up his phone. Herskowitz’s fears about going to class the next day were realized when a student stopped and asked him if he was Jewish and then proceeded to spew hate. However, the next person who asked him the same question said, “We love you and support you through this time.”

Although he said he doesn’t always feel safe outside, “When you are in here it is like a hug from God,” and said he now feels more connected to what the Jewish people stand for.

The Kaplans were honored for almost 40 years of supporting Chabad dating back to the 1980s when Rabbi Carlebach established a Chabad house in north Edison, which became a spiritual home for them.

The Kaplans and their family have a long history of involvement in the local Jewish community. Penny has been a strong advocate for Jewish education; she worked for many years at Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva (RPRY) in Edison and more recently at Yeshivat Netivot Montessori in East Brunswick, where she served as director of learning services. Michael, a retired managing director for Standard & Poor’s, spent almost 40 years in the financial industry. He co-authored with Rabbi Moshe Goldberger the book “Blueprint for a Unique & Rich Life,” a Torah-based guide to personal growth and enrichment. It is available on Amazon. Their son, Jordan, is president of RPRY and their son-in-law, Arkady Broder, is president of Congregation Ohr Torah in Edison.

Oiring, an observant Jew and founder of the Oiring Group and longtime COO of Pleet Homecare, is known as a trailblazer in healthcare with a long history of tikkun olam. His lifelong advocacy for serving patients and the Jewish community reflects his dedication to improving lives.

A supporter of Rutgers Chabad, Oiring is a graduate of Touro University’s Lander College of Arts and Sciences in Brooklyn and remains an active supporter of his alma mater, supporting numerous scholarships and dedicating the library at Lander.

Debra Rubin has had a long career in journalism writing for secular weekly and daily newspapers and Jewish publications. She most recently served as Middlesex/Monmouth bureau chief for the New Jersey Jewish News. She also worked with the media at several nonprofits, including serving as assistant public relations director of HIAS and assistant director of media relations at Yeshiva University.