Chabad Lubavitch of Denmark
Chabad-Lubavitch in Denmark: ChabaDanmark in Copenhagen, run by Rabbi Yitzchok Loewenthal and Rochel Loewenthal since 1996 or 1997
| Chabad Lubavitch of Denmark
| |
|---|---|
| Logo |  Logo of ChabaDanmark |
| Type | Jewish religious organisation (Chabad-Lubavitch) |
| Founded | 1996 or 1997 (accounts differ); association registered 2012 |
| Headquarters | Copenhagen |
| Location | Ole Suhrs Gade 10, 1354 København K |
| Area served | Denmark |
| Key people | Yitzchok Loewenthal (director), Rochel Loewenthal |
| Website | https://www.chabadenmark.com |
Chabad Lubavitch of Denmark, known as ChabaDanmark, is the Chabad-Lubavitch organisation in Denmark. It is based at Ole Suhrs Gade 10 in central Copenhagen and is directed by Rabbi Yitzchok Loewenthal and his wife Rochel Loewenthal.[1][2] Its website says it is funded only by private donations.[3]
History
Accounts differ on when the Loewenthals arrived. In a 2026 interview with the New York Jewish Travel Guide Yitzchok Loewenthal said "We came to Denmark in 1996", and Chabad.org and the Øresund Limmud festival also give 1996.[4][1][2] A 2003 article on lubavitch.com said the couple "moved here in 1997".[5] In the 2026 interview Loewenthal also said that Chabad rabbis had been in Denmark between 1960 and 1970.[4]
According to the 2003 lubavitch.com article, Chaim and Chana Gray, a Chabad couple who lived in Copenhagen for three years in the mid-1990s, "were the force behind Chabad's establishment in Denmark". The same article said that the organisation had recently moved into a 5,000-square-foot building in central Copenhagen donated for its use by Abraham Gutterman, an elderly Danish Jew.[5] According to Chabad.org, the house at Ole Suhrs Gade 10 is also the Loewenthals' home, and the Machsike Hadas synagogue is next door at no. 12.[1]
Activities
ChabaDanmark runs classes, Shabbat and holiday programmes and a Hebrew school, and lists the kosher restaurant Taim among its activities.[3][5] Loewenthal told the New York Jewish Travel Guide that Taim opened in 2017 and that a Chabad house in Aarhus is run by his son Levi.[4]
Registered entities
The Danish Central Business Register (CVR) lists three Chabad-related entities at Ole Suhrs Gade 10, 1354 København K:[6]
- Forening ChabaDanmark – forening (association), CVR 34432279, start date 22 May 2012, industry code 949900 (activities of other membership organisations).[7][6]
- Chaba Danmark Lubavitch v/Isaac Loewenthal – sole proprietorship (enkeltmandsvirksomhed), CVR 20890495, registered under restaurant and café services.[6]
- Chabad Huset ApS – private limited company, CVR 46400429, registered under buying and selling its own real estate.[6]
Funding and recognition
ChabaDanmark's website says it runs only on donations and receives no support from other countries or organisations, only from private donors.[3] Loewenthal told the New York Jewish Travel Guide that the government helps with security, which was stepped up after the shootings of 15 February 2015, and that the restaurant received government compensation during the Covid-19 pandemic.[4]
ChabaDanmark is not on the Danish Ministry of Church Affairs' register of recognised and approved faith communities, which lists Det Jødiske Samfund i Danmark and Machsike Hadas among the Jewish communities.[8]
Relations with the Jewish community
According to Chana Gray, quoted by lubavitch.com in 2003, when the Loewenthals "first came and started doing things publicly, they were met with a lot of suspicion", and Rochel Loewenthal said their first Hanukkah event "created something of an uproar in the community". The same article said ChabaDanmark worked "together with the local rabbi and the two local synagogues".[5] In a 2025 podcast produced by Lubavitch International, Yitzchok Loewenthal recalled that some in the community had held a "crisis meeting" because "Chabad has moved to town, and they want to snatch all our young people and turn them into very religious Jews".[9] In the 2026 interview he said: "Some people were very excited that we came, and others were very concerned."[4]
Israel
In February 2015, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged European Jews to move to Israel following the attacks in Paris and Copenhagen, Kristeligt Dagblad quoted Loewenthal, as "leder af den jødiske bevægelse ChabaDanmark" (leader of the Jewish movement ChabaDanmark), as opposing the call: "Danmark ville miste en del af sig selv" (Denmark would lose a part of itself).[10]
See also
- Chabad-Lubavitch movement
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Denmark
- Chabad Lubavitch of Sweden
- Chabad Lubavitch of Norway
- Chabad Lubavitch of Germany
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Howard Blas, "Where Jewish Travelers and Locals in Copenhagen Feel Right at Home", Chabad.org, 8 December 2016, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Yitzi Loewenthal", Øresund Limmud, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "ChabaDanmark", ChabaDanmark, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Meyer Harroch, "Keeping Jewish Life Alive in Copenhagen: An Interview with Rabbi Yitzchok Loewenthal of Chabad Denmark", New York Jewish Travel Guide, 28 August 2026, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 R. Wineberg, "Jewish Marriages Made In Denmark", lubavitch.com, 4 March 2003, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "Ole Suhrs Gade 10, 1354 København K – Virksomheder", cvrdb.dk (data from the Danish CVR register), accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ "Forening ChabaDanmark, CVR 34432279", cvrapi.dk (data from the Danish CVR register), accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ "Trossamfund i Danmark", Kirkeministeriet (Danish Ministry of Church Affairs), accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ "Connecting in Copenhagen: Rabbi Yitzi & Rochel Loewenthal", Lamplighters podcast, Lubavitch International, 16 February 2025, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ Nikolaj Krak, "Jøder advarer mod at udvandre", Kristeligt Dagblad, 20 February 2015, accessed 25 October 2026.