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Chabad Young Professionals brings new life—and purpose—to Young Hearts Distilling’s former Downtown digs.
A Downtown legacy wrapped last year when Young Hearts Distilling, Trophy Brewing’s pourworthy concept, closed up shop on S. Wilmington Street. After 15 years and three iterations—including Busy Bee Cafe and Trophy Tap & Table—the brick-clad corner locale had earned its stripes as a Raleigh staple.
But the prime real estate spot didn’t stay quiet for long. In January, Chabad Young Professionals Raleigh took over the iconic space and transformed it into The Shul Downtown, a beacon of spiritual and social light for Raleigh’s next-gen Jewish community.
The spiritual community isn’t new to Raleigh—Rabbi Zalmy Dubinsky and his wife founded the Chabad group seven years ago. “My sister was living in Raleigh at the time, so we’d come to visit,” reminisces Dubinsky. “I remember coming Downtown for drinks with my wife and looking at the growth in the city, and we just looked at each other and said, ‘There’s got to be a need here to be filled.’”
Dubinsky says other Chabad spaces around the world take their cues from the communities they serve—and in Raleigh, he saw a chance to show up for the urban, early-career crowd.
The org started by hosting Shabbat dinners out of a townhouse Dubinsky rented—but within months, it was standing-room only. They relocated fast, but as their crowd kept growing, Dubinsky dreamed of a permanent place Downtown. When the former Young Hearts space hit the market, it felt kismet.
That is, thanks to a fated connection by Elm Partners’ VP Jeremy Deckelbaum—aka one part of the powerful duo singlehandedly saving Raleigh’s soul one building at a time. As his tireless agent, Deckelbaum connected Dubinsky with Trophy Brewing partner David Meeker, who then, alongside his team, helped make the handoff seamless, even letting CYP Raleigh host a fundraiser to support the space’s transformation.
“At every level of donation, people were so committed to see this happen,” Dubinsky recalls of the event. “That, to me, is the most telling because that’s what a healthy, thriving community is made out of.”
Eight months in, The Shul Downtown is thriving, and finding fresh ways to bring the community together—from Friday night Shabbat dinners to themed social mixers, classes and prayer services to “Work From Shul” days—with new opportunities like community outreach and volunteer work in the cards for the future as well As Dubinsky puts it, “the sky’s the limit” for what’s next for CYP Raleigh.
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