Chabad House at U.Va. — a space for Jewish students offering Shabbat dinners, challah baking workshops and weekly Cafe Chabad’s — has found a second home at 17 Elliewood Ave. Married couple and co-directors Rabbi Shlomo Mayer and Channa Mayer hope that the new location on the Corner will make it more convenient for students to participate in its activities and programs.
Rohr Chabad House at U.Va. is a Jewish organization on Grounds that provides community for University students and the greater Charlottesville area. The center provides various free programs for Jewish students, including Shabbat dinners and group and individual study on topics of Judaism.
“Our main objective in the last 22 years is to provide a home for U.Va. college students — especially for undergrad [students], when they go far from home and they are lonely, to have a place where they could make friends and they could have a meal,” Mayer said.
The Chabad House takes over the space from Skooma — a Charlottesville CBD dispensary — which had occupied the location since April 2022. Mayer said that he discovered the availability of the Elliewood Avenue location while taking a walk with his wife Channa during Passover,