Chabad of Kenya Opens New Center, Starts Search for Bigger One

For nearly two years, Rabbi Levi and Chaya Mushka Notik searched Nairobi for a new home for Chabad of Kenya. Space, budget and security were among some of the considerations they had to consider in a city where many neighborhoods aren’t safe 

They finally found what they were looking for in an online listing. Chabad moved in one month before the High Holidays and held a dedication for the new center on Sunday, Sept. 6, joined by nearly 100 guests including local Jews and diplomats. Nairobi’s roughly 500 Jewish families include many diplomats posted to the U.S. and Israeli Embassies, the United Nations and other missions, alongside a steady flow of business travelers and tourists.

Until this summer, Chabad, which opened in Kenya three years ago, operated out of a home where a single living room served as synagogue, dining room and event hall that could comfortably fit only a few dozen people. The new center sits among Nairobi’s foreign missions, a short walk from the United Nations office and near both the U.S. and Israeli embassies. It has a dedicated synagogue, a kindergarten classroom, two guest houses and a large living room for Shabbat meals and holidays.

“The Lubavitcher Rebbe told Shluchim to find the biggest place they can — even bigger than they think they might need,” Rabbi Notik said. “It will be full.”

It took less than a month. Some 100 people attended Rosh Hashanah services, and over the High Holidays, at least 15 families who had never visited Chabad came through the door. Registration for the new Sunday Hebrew school closed after three days.

The location was a deciding factor. Crime rates in Nairobi are high, and Kenya’s anti-terror police unit secures Chabad’s major events. It guarded the original location around the clock for months after October 7. Embassy security now patrols their street.

“It’s the first time I’ve been able to go out on a walk after sunset,” Rabbi Notik said.

The long-term plan is a permanent Jewish center with a mikvah, a large synagogue and a home for Jewish education, on land of Chabad’s own. The Notiks are already on the hunt for a bigger property. Nairobi’s only mikvah is old and sits in an area residents avoid at night.

Barely a month after unpacking, the Notiks are back where they started. “Today,” he said, “We started our search again.”