When renovations started at the USC Chabad House, the group planned to add just 1,000 square feet of new space, as weekly Shabbat dinners began to overflow the space. After nearly 14 years of renovations, the usable space has more than doubled from 5,500 square feet to around 12,000 square feet.

Sunday marked the grand opening of the USC Chabad House, with speeches from campus and organization leaders. The site now includes a rooftop kosher restaurant, a larger dining room and student housing.

“Reaching a milestone doesn’t mean that the work is over. It means now you have a greater responsibility,” Rabbi Dov Wagner, co-director of USC Chabad, said in remarks during the opening. “For years, our goal was simple: build Chabad at USC a home. And now we have one. … Now comes the real question: What are we going to do with it?”

USC Chabad is part of the broader Chabad-Lubavitch movement that arose in 1700s Eastern Europe. According to the Chabad website, a total of 346 college campuses have a Chabad House. 

“The way in which we run things is very much as a family home being opened up to a large number of people, rather than as an organization,” Dov Wagner said. “We put a lot of emphasis on the educational classes and values we teach. … Everybody is welcome, but we stand clearly in terms of who we are and what we represent.”

USC Chabad was established in 1999 at an apartment west of campus, and the Wagners bought the current Chabad House on Severance Street in 2002. 

“We believed that if we created a place that was warm, welcoming and filled with Jewish joy, the students would come, and they did — slowly at first, then faster,” said Runya Wagner, co-director of USC Chabad. 

In 2012, USC Chabad broke ground on renovations. However, with the house being over 135 years old and pandemic-related delays, the project was halted and changed.

“[Dov Wagner’s] extensive training in Talmud is the primary reason he was able to navigate Los Angeles’ cryptic construction codes and permitting processes,” joked Varun Soni, dean of religious and spiritual life at USC.

In 2019, due to the kitchen renovations, the Shabbat dinners were moved to the Wagners’ house across the street. Two years ago, Chabad moved back into the updated house, but renovations were still ongoing. 

Curtis Cohen, an alum and parent to three Trojan alumni, said he remembered the wear and tear of the old house. 

“This is fantastic, night and day,” Cohen said. “This is a very modern and user-friendly facility, and it’s great. It’s a big draw to the Jewish students as well as all students.”

Dov Wagner said USC Chabad serves between 2,500 and 3,000 unique students each year, with between 250 and 350 students at its weekly Shabbat dinner. In 2022, then-President Carol Folt put the number of Jewish students at USC at around 3,500. 

Ariana Ettedgui, student co-president of USC Chabad, said the introduction of a kosher restaurant at the renovated Chabad House would make a significant difference for her.

“Kosher food is very limited at USC,” Ettedgui said. “If you’re a student who doesn’t even have a kitchen, you can’t provide yourself a healthy whole meal. Having the ability to have a restaurant here, you’re able to keep kosher at an [affordable price], and it’s also accessible to all students.”

After over a decade of growth, Dov Wagner said Shabbat dinners are still overflowing with guests on occasions like the first week of class or Trojan Family Weekend — though he said most weeks are no issue.

“There’s plenty more room to grow,” said Dave Cohn, executive director of USC Hillel, another Jewish organization serving USC. “It’s a huge milestone today, but I think we’re all committed to making sure — just like everything else at USC —  [that] every student here [is] to be supported comprehensively and holistically through spaces where they feel they can belong and support their entire selves.” 

At the grand opening, President Beong-Soo Kim focused on the community that the Chabad House represents.

“[It’s] comprised of current students and leaders. It’s comprised of the families of those students. It’s comprised of community members, and it’s comprised of alums who go back decades,” Kim said. “But this community is, as [Runya Wagner] was saying, not defined by numbers. It’s defined by its power, its moral compass, the joy that it brings — not just to this community, but to all of USC.“