Chabad Lubavitch of Costa Rica
Chabad-Lubavitch in Costa Rica: Jabad Lubavitch de Costa Rica in Escazú, led by Rabbi Hershel Spalter since 1987, with Chabad houses for travellers on the Pacific coast and at La Fortuna
| Chabad Lubavitch of Costa Rica
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Jewish religious organisation (Chabad-Lubavitch) |
| Founded | 1987 (arrival of Rabbi Hershel Spalter) |
| Headquarters | Escazú, San José |
| Location | Entrada noroeste de Escazú Village, frente al parqueo de Walmart, Escazú, San José |
| Area served | Costa Rica |
| Key people | Hershel Spalter (director), Chana Spalter |
| Website | https://www.chabadcostarica.com |
Chabad Lubavitch of Costa Rica (Jabad Lubavitch de Costa Rica) is the Chabad-Lubavitch organisation in Costa Rica, based in Escazú, near San José, and led by Rabbi Hershel Spalter and his wife Chana.[1] Its emissaries also run Chabad houses in the Pacific beach towns of Jacó, Santa Teresa and Tamarindo and in La Fortuna, which serve resident Jews and Jewish, largely Israeli, tourists.[1][2]
History
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported in 2005 that Rabbi Hersh Spalter came to Costa Rica from the United States as a Chabad emissary in 1987. He found almost no kosher food available; after a shipment of beef was held up in customs for almost five months, he began ritual slaughter of chickens and imported kosher food for local distribution. Local Jews credited him with renewed interest in kashrut, and by 2005 Spalter and Rabbi Gershon Miletski of the Centro Israelita Sionista each sold their own brands of kosher meat and poultry and certified products for exporters.[3]
In 2022 Rabbi Berel and Chana Dubinsky moved to Santa Teresa, on the Nicoya peninsula, to open Chabad Lubavitch de Costa Rica's newest branch. Chabad said that Israeli surfers and spiritual seekers had begun settling there about twenty years earlier, that some 300 Jews had attended a Passover Seder on the beach that year, and that Spalter had previously served the community from San José.[2]
Organisation and key people
Chabad's world headquarters lists Rabbi Hershel Spalter and Chana Spalter as the emissaries of Jabad Lubavitch de Costa Rica, with a preschool, Gan Chaya Mushka, directed by Chana Spalter.[1] Its website, under the name "Jabad Lubavitch de Costa Rica", offers kosher catering orders and information on its mikveh and for tourists.[4] The regional emissaries are Yehoshua and Adina Lipkin (Jacó), Berel and Chana Dubinsky (Santa Teresa), Shlomo and Chana Chanina Ben Ami (La Fortuna) and Yaakov Yehuda Rubinstein (Tamarindo).[1]
Institutions
Chabad's world headquarters lists the following centres:[1]
- Jabad Lubavitch de Costa Rica, Entrada noroeste de Escazú Village, frente al parqueo de Walmart, Escazú, San José (Rabbi Hershel Spalter), with the Gan Chaya Mushka preschool.
- Chabad Jaco, Barrio La Nación, Jacó, Puntarenas (Rabbi Yehoshua Lipkin).
- Chabad S. Teresa, Santa Teresa de Cóbano, Puntarenas 60111 (Rabbi Berel Dubinsky).
- Chabad of Tamarindo, Tamarindo (Rabbi Yaakov Yehuda Rubinstein).
- La Fortuna Chabad House, La Fortuna, Alajuela 21007 (Rabbi Shlomo Ben Ami).
Registered entities
The organisation's donation page says that its bank accounts are held in the name of Jabad Lubavitch de Costa Rica, cédula jurídica 3-002-126820.[5] Costa Rica's Registro Nacional (Registro de Personas Jurídicas) was not queried, so the legal form of the entity registered under that number has not been established from the register itself.
Funding
In 2005 Spalter's kosher meat and poultry business and his kosher certification of products for export formed part of Chabad's activity in Costa Rica.[3] The organisation's donation page thanks donors to "Chabad Lubavitch Costa Rica" and says their support helps it continue its work "reaching thousands of Jews". It offers set amounts from $36 to $1,080, an amount chosen by the donor or payment through PayPal, and links to the organisation's synagogue services, adult education, youth programmes, holiday celebrations, women's events and community services. It also invites deposits to the organisation's accounts in San José, in colones and dollars, at Scotiabank and BAC San José, both held in the name of Jabad Lubavitch de Costa Rica (cédula jurídica 3-002-126820), and tells donors that the organisation depends on local funds and that every dollar will be used for the Jewish community. The page footer gives the name Jabad Lubavitch de Costa Rica and Escazú, and says the site is powered by Chabad.org.[5] No published accounts or donor information were found.
Controversies
No criminal cases, civil cases or published allegations concerning Chabad's institutions in Costa Rica were found in the Costa Rican, Spanish-language Jewish or English-language Chabad press as of October 2026.
Politics and Israel links
The beach-town Chabad houses serve the many Israeli travellers in Costa Rica; Chabad describes the Santa Teresa community as having been founded by Israelis seeking "a break from the intensity of the Middle East".[2]
See also
- Chabad-Lubavitch movement
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Costa Rica
- Chabad Lubavitch of Panama
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Costa Rica – Centers", Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters, accessed 25 October 2026, with the linked city and centre pages.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Chabad Comes to the Jungles of S. Teresa, Costa Rica", Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters, 10 July 2022, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Around the Jewish World: After Years of Improvisation, Jews in Costa Rica Are Now Turning Kosher", Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 22 April 2005, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ Jabad Lubavitch de Costa Rica, homepage, screenshot supplied by David Miller, accessed 28 October 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Donate, Jabad Lubavitch de Costa Rica, screenshots and full page text supplied by David Miller, accessed 28 October 2026.