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On Dec. 21, Chabad of Central New Jersey broke ground on an extension of their current building. The center, which is located at Rutgers University and primarily serves Rutgers students, is adding 55,000 square feet to its current location on the corner of College Avenue and Senior Street, New Brunswick.

"You're witnessing today a new era of campus life, not only for Rutgers University, but an era of campus life that will literally change the lives of thousands of young men and women on college campuses across the country," said Rabbi Yosef Carlebach, director of Chabad of Central New Jersey. "Today, we are beginning the growth of the creation of the largest Jewish center on any campus of the world."

The expansion will include a dining hall that accommodates for 750 students; an international coffeehouse; a Sephardic synagogue, the first on a public college campus in the United States; and a boys' dormitory with 72 beds, a wing of which will be dedicated to Rabbi Gavriel and Mrs. Rivkah Holtzberg, who were killed in the Nov. 26 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. The expansion will also include new kitchens to accommodate for the larger dining facilities. The expansion is estimated to cost $10 million.

Dr. Richard McCormick, president of Rutgers, expressed his support for the expansion at the groundbreaking ceremony.

"The addition... will make Chabad even more welcoming and even more useful to our Rutgers students," McCormick said. "The growth of Chabad house is a testament to the strength and commitment of the Jewish community and support of our students, and for that support, on behalf of Rutgers, I am very, very grateful."

The expansion of Chabad will break Rutgers as well as Chabad-Lubavitch records. The Sephardic synagogue is the first to appear on any college campus across the country and a first for any American Chabad center. Officials said the square footage and attendance of the expanded Chabad will surpass any efforts on any college campus worldwide.

Donald Epstein, a member of Chabad's board of directors and president of The Matrix Group, remembers a time where there was no Jewish presence on campus. Now, he said, he sees the support that Chabad provides for the Jewish population on campus and is proud of the work it does.

"The kids that come through Rutgers have a great education," Epstein said. "They also, because of Chabad, have a great Jewish environment and it really helps the Jewish community."

Community philanthropist Ruth Hyman echoed Epstein's sentiments about Chabad.

"I'm standing here this morning to further underline my feeling about Chabad," Hyman said. "It never ceases to amaze me, to impress me of the awesome influence, the inspiration, the education, and the yiddishkeit installed into the hearts and minds of the young and older people in our Jewish world by Chabad," she said, and then announced that she would double her previous, undisclosed pledge to the new building's fund.

"Raising the money will also be simple because the more people that understand [Chabad's] mission, the easier it is to raise the money," Epstein said.

"Despite the economic constraints that we have, I'm sure we'll be able to come through," said Danny Kahane, chairman of Chabad of Central New Jersey. "I want you all to remember that the money we have is not our money -- it's God's money. We are just emissaries of God... as bad as the times are, if you're going to be doing the right things, God is going to give us more and God is going to make sure that all that we want to accomplish is going to be accomplished, despite the bad economic financial times that we're going through."

Also present at the groundbreaking was Deepak Patel, incoming president of the New Jersey chapter of the Federation of Indian Associations, which represents all Asian-Indian communities and organizations in the state. He expressed his gratitude to Chabad for reaching out to the Indian community in the aftermath of Mumbai.

"The Indian community is just like the Jewish community. They are a very peace-loving community and they have never, ever attacked anybody in the last 10,000 years," Patel said. "So we are there for peace on this earth, and that will bring prosperity on this earth, and that will drive away the evil forces."

After his speech, Patel presented Carlebach with a donation to the new building.

"The Rutgers community is graced by remarkable diversity, and by people of different faiths who seek to live out faith in the course of their work and their study and their lives," McCormick said. "So as we break ground today on this wonderful new facility, on this wonderful new addition to Chabad house, we know that Chabad house at Rutgers will continue to support our students and prepare them for lives of meaning and lives of purpose."

The extension to the building is expected to be completed in 18 months.