Tempest over a Colorado Springs synagogue's Chabad validity

Mar. 26—Tucked in a storefront in a commercial strip facing North Academy Boulevard, the Chabad of Colorado Springs Jewish Community seems like most other synagogues.

But some accuse the temple's leader, Rabbi Boaz Vituk, of misleading worshippers.

"We don't have a Chabad rabbi by that name anywhere around the world. He is not a representative of ours," said Rabbi Motti Seligson, spokesperson for the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, which is based in New York City.

Chabad is an acronym for three Hebrew words meaning wisdom, understanding and knowledge, which are applied to the religious philosophy of the Orthodox Hasidic branch that originated in 1775 in the Russian village of Lyubavichi.

In a Pew Research Center study, "Jewish Americans in 2020," nearly 1 in 5 Jews said they often or sometimes participated in Chabad activities or services.

Chabad is popular in part because it's open to all Jews, regardless of their affiliations or ties, their level of practice or observance, or their education in the faith, say religious leaders.

Chabad has grown to become the largest Jewish organization in the world, providing educational, religious and humanitarian outreach through its network of 5,700 appointed family or couple emissaries.

Vituk and his wife, Chaya, are not among them.

Vituk objects to criticism about his rabbinical work. He says he is faithful to the teachings and passes along knowledge in a scholarly way with daily noontime online studies, regular services and special events.

He produces a certificate from 2005, which in Hebrew states he was ordained in New York City by a Chabad rabbi from Israel, where the Russian-born Vituk grew up.

"I'm a Chabad rabbi ordained by Chabad court," he said.

In the way that there are different Christian denominations, Vituk contends there are various shades of Chabad, and not all are affiliated with the primary organization.

Therein lies the issue, Seligson said.

There's a difference, he said, between a rabbi using the tradition of the Chabad movement versus one that holds himself or herself as a Chabad center, presenting an image that they represent the official movement.

"Chabad-Lubavitch has a 250-year history and is well defined, with more than 10,000 representatives, all of them appointed by Chabad, in every state in America and in more than 100 countries, which is likewise clearly defined," Seligson said. "Those are the facts no matter what some guy in Colorado says."

Chabad is not a trademarked word, Vituk said, which enables his synagogue and others to use it.

A 2010 application from the umbrella Chabad organization in Israel to trademark "Chabad" and "Lubavitch," to prevent unauthorized use by unaffiliated organizations, was struck down, on the grounds that the words are "descriptive" rather than "distinctive."

According to the ruling, the words were determined to be used by the general public to refer to the religious movement, its teachings and its mode of life instead of having a distinctive inherent character.

Seligson calls Vituk's position on the issue "dishonest mumbo-jumbo that seems designed to intentionally confuse and mislead."

"It's very simple," Seligson said. "Just as one is not the United States ambassador to London because they decided they are, one is not a Chabad rabbi or representative of Chabad just because they declare themselves so."

Vituk believes competition is at the heart of the disagreement.

After serving in the Army from 2007 to 2013, including deployment to Iraq as an airborne infantryman and training to become an Army chaplain, he left Fort Carson with the rank of captain and a desire to remain homebound and focus on his family.

"We never planned to stay," Chaya said.

"We fell in love with Colorado Springs," Vituk added.

Saying they noticed "a vacuum for a synagogue," the couple started the Chabad of Colorado Springs Jewish Community, which grew from 20 participants to 40 and then 60, Vituk said.

Inside their synagogue stands the traditional focal point, an ornate cabinet that enshrines the sacred Torah scrolls. Today, about 200 members participate in religious services, prayer, study, instruction, large communal meals and other social gatherings.

Colorado College music professor and department co-chair Ofer Ben-Amots switched eight years ago from a local Reform temple to Vituk's synagogue.

"I was there 20 years and was looking for something less Reform, more spiritual, more meaningful, and when my wife and I found this, we immediately changed," Ben-Amots said.

Mickayla Oswald, a University of Colorado at Colorado Springs student who started a student Jewish club on campus, thinks Vituk is besmirching Chabad.

"He's a fake Chabad rabbi," she said.

He doesn't seem to follow the rules that govern the lifestyle of a Hasidic Jew, Oswald said.

For example, photos posted on social media do not show Vituk keeping a prescribed distance from females, she said.

The females pictured are his relatives, Vituk said, including some of his seven children, and close proximity to family members is allowed.

Oswald questions an arm gesture Vituk makes in many of his photos. Vituk says it's a dance move, since his synagogue emphasizes joy, music and movement as part of its religious practices.

"There are inconsistencies — he's shown incorrectly wrapping a tefillin (small prayer boxes with scrolls inside with Torah verses) — and things just don't seem to add up with him," Oswald said.

Rabbi Tzvi Steinberg, who leads Congregation Zera Avrohom in Denver and serves as the presiding judge of Neve Tzedek Rabbinical Court, said he's fielded "complaints from several quarters" about Vituk.

"The claim that he is a Chabad rabbi is false," Steinberg said. "There's no ambiguity."

The jurisdiction of the rabbinical court over which Steinberg presides includes Colorado Springs and handles matters of Jewish divorce, conversion, estate planning, wills, prenuptials and other issues.

Because his court is not an investigative body, it would not take any action regarding complaints, Steinberg said.

Instead, he said he's referred people who have expressed concerns to the court to local law enforcement or advised them to keep their distance from Vituk.

Steinberg would not specify the nature of the complaints.

"Trust is developed in two fashions: spending time with the person and developing your own feelings and trust, or by referral," he said. "It's important when engaging with anybody of authority to formulate that trust."

Vituk thinks people are besmirching his reputation. He said he has never been in trouble with the law and has no idea what the complaints about him might be.

During The Gazette interview, Vituk called a law rabbi in Israel to appear on video chat and vouch for Vituk's validity, character and rabbinical teachings.

Vituk said the Jewish court of law defines what Jews can do and the mission, not a movement.

"For anyone to malign him is the ugliest thing," said Ben-Amots, the Colorado College professor. "It's not right."

The synagogue has amassed a strong, loyal following, Vituk said, blaming the nastiness on competition and jealousy.

"There's politicking," Vituk said, "with differences on service of God, the Messiah, redemption."

Colorado Springs has had an official Chabad synagogue and emissary couple for 22 years.

Rabbi Moshe Liberow and his wife, Zelda, were appointed by Chabad's regional leadership in Denver in 2001 as emissaries, and they started Chabad Lubavitch of Southern Colorado and continue to run the synagogue on the city's northeast side.

Attendance at worship services and events varies, Liberow said, but in general he describes them as "very well-attended." Next week, the annual Got Matzah project will deliver matzah for Passover to more than 200 homes in southern Colorado, he said.

"As the only representative of the Chabad movement in Colorado Springs, we are grateful for the support of the community and our ongoing growth," Liberow said.

Vituk noted that there are other Chabad houses and synagogues not affiliated with Chabad-Lubavitch, including Chabad of Cherry Creek.

A man who answered the phone said the synagogue had no comment about the matter of affiliation.

Seligson said the situation in Cherry Creek, a neighborhood of Denver, is different from what's happening in Colorado Springs, and that what Vituk is doing is "exceedingly rare."

"Chabad representatives around world dedicate their lives to serving their communities and sacrifice so much in that effort," he said. "It's unfortunate that there are some that would exploit that reputation."

The headquarters does not plan any recourse, he said. "We deal with this by alerting the public."

One of Oswald's main concerns is that Jewish people don't realize Vituk's synagogue is not sanctioned by the headquarters, and they're donating money without knowing that.

"They don't send multiples to a place that doesn't need multiple Chabads," she said. "It seems strange they would send two to this location."

Says Vituk's wife, Chaya: "There's heavenly competition and not heavenly competition. It's not heavenly when you try to damage others."