Thornhill Jewish youth network building Richmond Hill campus
Growing youth programs now in numerous rented locations

Yorkregion.com
May 13, 2014
By Simone Joseph

Thornhill-based Jewish Youth Network plans to build a new campus on Bathurst Street, just north of Hwy. 407.

“It will be designed in a very inviting, youth-oriented way,” said Rabbi Shmuli Nachlas, executive director of the network. “We believe it will be a model, it will be looked at and inspire others to do the same,” he said, adding there will be no membership structure.

“Being on Bathurst Street with an open door policy, we have good mentors, we are hoping to engage thousands of kids. We are hoping to have a big impact on the community,” he said.

The new campus, to be called the Miriam and Larry Robbins Jewish Youth Centre, will be on the east side of Bathurst Street between Birch and Teefy Avenues in Richmond Hill, on a one-acre property.

The network now operates out of rental locations in the GTA: It runs a Hebrew school at Bathurst Street and Rutherford Road, a north campus at Bathurst and Hwy. 407, Torah 4 Teens classes at Bayview Avenue and Green Lane and Centre Street and Atkinson Avenue and out of Bais Tefillah Franklin on Thornridge Avenue in Thornhill.

The network offers educational and recreational programs for youth, aiming to make Judaism relevant.

The campus was dedicated by Larry Robbins, principal partner of planning and development firm Erin Mills Development Corporation and builder Great Gulf Homes. Mr. Robbins contributed $1.8 million to the building dedication, plus $540,000 so the organization could get a matching fund program started.

It will be a good place for homework and peer mentoring, Rabbi Nachlas said, adding the facility will be equipped with Apple computers. The new centre, scheduled to open next year, will include a sports lounge, youth cafe, classrooms, social space, basketball court and playground. While the youth network has some programs for alumni and younger children, it mostly caters to teenagers.

It is affiliated with Chabad and is open to Jewish youth of all denominations, he said, adding that the organization is also open to the wider community.

Chabad is a Hasidic movement that adheres to the orthodox practice of Judaism. Rabbi Nachlas is orthodox, but the network is not a strictly orthodox organization.

The network serves some 500 youth a week.

Rabbi Nachlas says they knew there was demand for this new campus because of how quickly programs were growing.

For example, the network’s volunteering program, which started six years ago with 20 students has ballooned to more than 120 students.

“We have seen that type of growth in all of our programs,” Rabbi Nachlas said.

“We’ve seen our growth. We’ve seen our growth projection ... The small spaces have reached our breaking point,” Rabbi Nachlas said, predicting more growth after the move to the new location.

“It is a thriving, young community in that area,” he said.

While so far, the project has been funded using private donations, Rabbi Nachlas hopes to apply for government funding to help pay for programming and building costs.

The goal is to spend $4.3 million on the project.

So why didn’t the network locate its new campus at the Joseph & Wolf Lebovic Jewish Community Campus, home to the Schwartz/Reisman Centre, at the southwest corner of Bathurst and Lebovic Campus Drive, just north of Rutherford which is already a hub of Jewish activity?

“We looked at it,” Rabbi Nachlas said. “This was the more financially viable option and it made more sense this way.”

Visit JewishYouth.ca/CapitalCampaign for more information on the new youth centre or contact Rabbi Shmuli Nachlas at 905-889-7582.