Members and supporters of Chabad at Yale University, including Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal and the university’s Provost, Peter Salovey, participated Sunday, September 20, at the ground-breaking of Chabad’s future home on campus.

The Berger Family building will be the center of the Bender Chabad House’s outreach activities serving Yale’s 2,000 Jewish students - roughly 25% of the total student population.

The $2 million expansion will be more than eight times larger than Chabad’s current home. In addition to a synagogue and library, the new center will include a state-of-the-art kosher kitchen and dining room, a much needed addition. To date, Sara Rosenstein, Chabad representative to Yale with her husband, prepares Shabbat and Holiday meals for as many as 120 students from her home.

Rabbi Shua and Sara Rosenstein have served Yale’s Jewish students since 2003.

Construction will begin next month and is slated to finish by 2013.