Rabbi Chanan Chernitsky
Director, Teacher, and Rabbi in St. John's, NL, Canada
Rabbi Chanan Chernitsky is the CEO of Chabad of Newfoundland, based in St. John's.
Rabbi Chernitsky was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. When he was 13 he moved with his family to Winnipeg, Canada.
After completing high school in Winnipeg he went on to pursue Jewish studies at the Rabbinical College of America in Morristown, New Jersey.
After 3 years in Morristown Rabbi Chernitsky spent another year of study in Montreal before heading to Venice, Italy to study for his rabbinical ordination. He was ordained in the summer of 2012.
Rabbi Chernitsky met his wife Tuba shortly afterwards and they got married in Winnipeg in November 2012 after which they moved to Montreal.
In February 2017 Rabbi Chernitsky together with his wife and children moved to St. John's, Newfoundland to serve the Jewish community. Upon moving to Newfoundland they realized that the scope of their work would expand beyond the Jewish community and have adjusted their programming accordingly, providing at least 2 major programs a year that are open to the general public: The public Menorah lighting in December and the Holocaust Speaker Series in the summer.
Since April 2019 Rabbi Chernitsky has been working hard to implement a "Moment of Silence" throughout all schools in Newfoundland and Labrador. The idea is to implement a minute of meaningful, quiet reflection at the beginning of the school day in all schools across Newfoundland and Labrador. An integral part of the project is that the children will discuss with their parents/guardians about which positive value to think about during that minute, critically engaging them in their children's lives. This isn't a prayer and it isn't connected to any particular religion.
There is strong evidence that this one daily minute of reflection directly leads to a boost in the mental health of the students and a reduction in youth crime and substance abuse.
You can read more about the project here: https://lnkd.in/gjsyATc/
In 2021 Rabbi Chernitsky launched his own podcast "Positivity Boost".
In November 2021 Rabbi Chernitsky, together with his wife Tuba, started The Friendship Circle, serving children and youth with special needs across Newfoundland and Labrador.