For the first time in 16 years, this campus has welcomed new Chabad emissaries to join the Backman family.
Yudi and Yehudis Namdar are a Chabad couple who are living north of campus at the University of Maryland.
“[This] is such an exciting opportunity to share all the beautiful things that there are in Jewish life,” Yudi said.
Yudi’s journey to this campus began in southwest Sweden. His parents run a Chabad house in Gothenburg – also known as the birthplace of the acclaimed YouTuber PewDiePie.
Yudi, 29, noted that Gothenburg lacked a welcoming space for Jews when his family arrived.
“People weren’t used to having, you know, proud Jews out in the open the way we have it here at UMD,” he said.
Yudi and Yehudis aim to foster the same sense of Jewish comfort on campus that Yudi’s parents cultivated for the community in Gothenburg.
Yehudis, 24, on the other hand, grew up in what she called the “Chabad epicenter,” in the Crown Heights neighborhood Brooklyn, New York. Her house was not labeled as Chabad, but her family hosted weekly Shabbat dinners and events.
Yehudis’ aunt and uncle serve as the Chabad family at Illinois State University, and after helping them serve for about eight years, she gained an appreciation for the work Chabad does on college campuses.
“That’s where I really got a love for campus community and Jewish students and Jewish pride on campus,” she added.
“The power of the entire Jewish people is on a college campus, and I’m just so excited to be part of that,” Yehudis said.
Yudi and Yehudis bring extensive teaching experience. Yudi has been involved in Jewish life internationally – from Chicago to Tzfat to Denmark – while Yehudis has taught at schools in Brooklyn and the Oryah Seminary in Jerusalem.
The Namdars got married in the summer of 2022 and spent their first two years of marriage teaching at Mayanot Institute of Jewish Studies, an educational Lubavitch Institution in Jerusalem.
In September 2024, they moved to Crown Heights, and this past January celebrated the birth of their daughter Malka. By the end of August, they were settling into College Park.
Since arriving in College Park in 1995, the Backmans have only had one other Chabad family join them on campus. Rabbi Backman’s brother, Pinny, and his family helped out for two years before moving to the University of South Florida in 2009.
The Backmans had been looking for years for a second family to join them, and the Namdars came highly recommended – both by friends to Rabbi Backman and by friends who encouraged the Namdars to reach out.
After several meetings between the two families, the Backmans welcomed the Namdars in. “Their warmth and their energy,” Rabbi Eli Backman said, “just felt that they would be a good fit.”
During the first Monday night of the semester, the Namdars hosted an event on north campus while the Backmans were in Worcester Hall welcoming in new Jewish students on south campus.
“Chabad has been very big in meeting students where they are,” Backman said. “in doing dorm events.”
“We’re able to go to both places, and we’re able to kind of bring Chabad to both.”
The two families will host events and dinners together, but will reach all students on separate parts of campus – with the Namdars focusing on north campus, where many freshmen live.
The Backmans, who live closer to south campus, are looking forward to increased programming, and the Namdars are excited to be part of the “young energy” and foster Jewish pride.
“It’s just so inspiring and empowering to be surrounded by so many young, fresh minds that are so excited about their Jewish life and their Jewish pride,” Yehudis said.
Yudi and Yehudis want to reach Jews on campus who want to learn more about their Judaism — and to connect with students of all observance levels.
“[We’ll] offer the opportunity to students to learn about what exactly does it mean to be a Jew that [we are] so proud of being,” he said. “At Chabad, a Jew is a Jew is a Jew.”
