Rabbi Boruch and Devorah Klar have added a unique aspect to the Lubavitch Center in West Orange. Along with their sales of beautiful Judaica, they now offer Cafe Klarbucks, which is a lounge area in the store, complete with complimentary coffee, where customers can connect in a comfortable, cafe-like environment. Their goal? To create a hub for Jewish geography, learning, socializing and so much more.
The Klars also run The Shabbat House, located around the corner from the store, where people of all denominations join to enjoy Shabbat together. The Shabbat House offers exciting programming for the community that cultivates enthusiasm for Jewish identity. With the addition to their programming through Cafe Klarbucks, the Klars hope people will “spend six days a week at Cafe Klarbucks and come home with us the seventh day for Shabbat,” said Rabbi Klar.
Throughout the week, Cafe Klarbucks presents the community with an array of fun and meaningful activities that are open to all. The programs include Hebrew reading classes; poetry nights; paint nights; art lessons, which presently includes a class titled “Art Through the Lens of Kabbalah,” which meets on Tuesday evenings; Jewish film nights, where “Shtisel” is currently being screened; Torah Studies and other events that connect with the programming at The Shabbat House. The current Torah Studies program is titled “Pipeline for Success: Where do the Blessings Come From.”
Devorah was especially passionate about making Cafe Klarbucks one’s “third place.” Along with home and work, she believes Cafe Klarbucks can be a comfortable space in which socializing, emunah and fresh styles of learning are the themes. She noted that people want and need a place of purpose in Judaism in which to connect to the community and to themselves. Judaism should be held sacred, added Devorah, because faith is “alive, relevant and real, and we want to provide a location for that.”
The new and improved Lubavitch Center, with the inclusion of Cafe Klarbucks, is a must-visit if you are in the West Orange area. The warm and welcoming environment is something that needs to be experienced to be fully appreciated.
Some classes are free of charge and some have a fee attached. For reservation and registration information, please contact Devorah at [email protected]. For more information or a list of upcoming events, please contact [email protected] or [email protected].
By Hannah Kirsch
Hannah Kirsch is a rising senior at Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School in Livingston and a summer intern at The Jewish Link.
