By Morris Malakoff, JTNews Correspondent
Growth among a number of Jewish organizations centered in the neighborhoods north of the University of Washington has put in motion a chain of relocations that will take place over the course of the summer.
The re-chartering of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity at the UW last year has meant that the chapter will reclaim the house it owns at 4626 21st Ave. NE, currently occupied by Alpha Epsilon Pi. That sends AEPi to the Chabad House two blocks away at 4541 19th Ave. NE. As AEPi moves in, the Menachem Mendel Seattle Cheder day school will depart the building it has called home for nearly 35 years, to a site still to be determined.
As complicated as it seems and all the energy that will go into moving established institutions, all the parties involved see nothing but a positive outcome ahead.
While the ZBT revival is putting the events in motion, Chabad Director Rabbi Elie Estrin is acting as the maestro, coordinating the musical chairs that will reshape the physical layout of the Jewish community in the U-District.
“I have had a good relationship with AEPi,” Estrin said. “When I heard that ZBT was moving back to the house they own, I worked with AEPi to find a way to put them in the Chabad House.”
Estrin said he imposed a set of requirements, including that they assist the day school when they are ready to move and that they strive to keep the kitchen kosher.
Also, AEPi will allow Chabad to hold its minyan in a room at the soon-to-be AEPi house. Other Chabad duties and functions will continue to function from both the current location or other locations in the neighborhood.
AEPi is excited about the move as well. According to chapter president Spencer Launer, not only is the growth of ZBT good for the Greek community at the UW, the move will allow for growth by AEPi.
“We have about 46 residents in the current house,” he said. “But as we get moved into the new facility, we will be able to eventually accommodate 50 to 60 residents.”
AEPi currently has 65 active members overall.
Launer says the move is revenue neutral for the chapter, but that being able to spread costs over more residents will result in savings for its for members.
He says he is excited about one other attribute of the building that served as a sorority before becoming the Chabad House: “If you look at a map of the Greek community, it puts us right in the middle,” he said. “That is a great place to be.”
As for MMSC, its search committee is in the final stages of settling on a new location.
“We have some strong possibilities,” said Tzviah Goldman, who serves on the search committee. “We are hoping to keep in the 98115 and 98105 ZIP codes.”
Those areas, which are in the general vicinity of the current location, are also home to 60 to 70 percent of the 90 students enrolled.
But a move will allow for growth of the school that provides early childhood education, and is home to a co-ed grade school and a girls’ high school.
“At the current location we have very little outdoor space,” she said. “We are hoping to have more outdoor space for the students.”
The board of the school is currently negotiating not only on a new building for the school but the funding as well. It had been operating rent-free at the Chabad House despite being a separate organization with common roots.
According to MMSC’s head of school Rabbi Yossi Charytan, a new facility will allow not only growth of the student population, but the possible addition of specialized classrooms. It will also allow for something the school has been working toward with its early childhood education program.
“We believe that we will be able to continue to transition it into a Jewish Montessori program,” he said.
Both Goldman and Charytan said that the school had been preparing for this move for more than two years.
“We knew we would eventually need to find a larger facility and we have been looking,” Goldman said. “We came close on a few places, but things didn’t work out. Now is the right time.”
She and Charytan both said this change is a tremendous opportunity for the school.
All the parties involved plan to be in place by the start of the next school year. AEPi moves on July 1 with ZBT returning to its house by August. MMSC hopes to announce its new location soon, with classes beginning in September in that location.