Do you have memories, photographs or documents about Rabbi and Rebbetzin Charitonow’s work in Buffalo? Please email history@chabadbuffalo.com or call/text/WhatsApp 716-545-6806.
הרב שמריהו חריטונוב
Rav of the Chabad Knesset Center
Shliach of the Lubavitcher Rebbe to Buffalo: 1986 (תשמ״ו) – present
Rav, Bais HaKnesset HaGadol–Lubavitch (Chabad Knesset Center) | Camp Gan Israel of Buffalo
Table of Contents
Overview
Rabbi Shmaryahu Charitonow has served Buffalo’s Jewish community as a shliach of the Lubavitcher Rebbe since 1986. He is the rav and director of Bais HaKnesset HaGadol–Lubavitch, the Chabad Knesset Center at 500 Starin Avenue in North Buffalo. Together with his late wife, Rebbetzin Shaina Rochel Charitonow, he directed Camp Gan Israel, and for decades the Charitonows taught Buffalo’s children, ran the women’s mikvah, and kept an open home for guests.1
He and the Greenbergs are the only shluchim from the group that Rabbi Noson Gurary brought to Buffalo between 1972 and 1986 who still serve in the city today. Rebbetzin Charitonow’s own shlichus in Buffalo began even earlier: she came to the city in 1976, at the age of nineteen, to teach at Torah Temimah. See also Chabad History in Buffalo.
A Family of Chassidic Song
Rabbi Charitonow comes from a Chabad family renowned for its niggunim. His grandfather, Rabbi Sholom Charitonow, was a shochet and a respected member of the Chassidic community in Nikolaev, Ukraine, and a composer of Chabad melodies. His father, Rabbi Shamshon Charitonow, was born in Nikolaev on October 12, 1918, studied in the underground Tomchei Temimim, and survived years of Soviet oppression before escaping the Soviet Union with hundreds of Chassidim in the great exodus after World War II.
In 5708 (1947), the Frierdiker Rebbe wrote to the young Shamshon, answering his question about learning a trade and asking that his list of the family’s niggunim be sent to the Nichoach society, which was then recording Chabad melodies. Rabbi Shamshon married Shterna (Shtzere) Hadassah, daughter of Reb Yeshaya Matlin, in 5709 (1949), and in 1956 the family settled in Crown Heights to live near the Rebbe. The Rebbe once described Rabbi Shamshon’s singing as “accurate to the sixteenth note.” In the early 1970s he released Negunei Shalom, a collection of the melodies composed by his father.
Rabbi Shamshon Charitonow passed away on 9 Kislev 5770 (November 26, 2009), at the age of 91. He was survived by his wife and four sons: Yosef Yitzchok; Rabbi Sholom, a mashpia at Oholei Torah in Crown Heights; Rabbi Shmaryahu, the Rebbe’s shliach in Buffalo; and Rabbi Avraham.2
Yeshiva Years
Rabbi Shmaryahu Charitonow grew up in Crown Heights, in the shadow of 770. According to Chabadpedia, he studied at Tomchei Temimim in Morristown and at the central Tomchei Temimim at 770, and as a bochur in 770 he was one of the editors of the Sefer HaLikutim – Dach Tzemach Tzedek, the encyclopedic index to the Chassidic teachings of the Tzemach Tzedek.3
Shaina Ebert: A Teacher in Buffalo from 1976
Shaina Rochel Ebert was born in Monticello, New York, on 5 Elul 5717 (September 1, 1957), to Rabbi Gedalya Yehuda Leib HaKohen and Rasha Fayga Ebert, a family of educators. The family moved to Baltimore, where her father was an educator and Hebrew school teacher and her mother a Bais Yaakov kindergarten teacher. Shaina was educated at the Bais Rivkah school in Brooklyn.
In 1976, at the age of nineteen, she was hired by Rabbi Noson Gurary to teach at the Torah Temimah School in Buffalo. With her vibrant personality, contagious sense of humor and dramatic flair, she quickly won the hearts of her students and the community.4
1986: Shlichus to Buffalo
In 1985, Shaina married Rabbi Shmaryahu Charitonow, who shared her love of teaching and her dedication to the Rebbe’s vision. The couple spent a year in Brooklyn, where Rabbi Charitonow learned in kollel, and then moved to Buffalo to devote themselves to building Chabad in the city.5
A diary kept in 770 records the moment. On Friday, 24 Menachem Av 5746 (August 29, 1986), two avreichim of the kollel received the Rebbe’s answer about leaving for shlichus: one was going to Chicago, and “ר׳ שמרי׳ חריטאנאוו שנוסע לבאפאלא, אף הוא להיות מחנך בחיידר” — Rabbi Shmaryahu Charitonow, traveling to Buffalo, “also to be an educator in the cheder.” The Rebbe answered both: “אזכיר עה״צ” — “I will mention it at the Ohel.”6
Rav of the Chabad Knesset Center
Rabbi Charitonow became the rav of Bais HaKnesset HaGadol–Lubavitch, the synagogue at 500 Starin Avenue that Chabad purchased from Temple Beth David–Ner Israel in 1984. Known as the Chabad Knesset Center, it has been the home of Chabad’s community shul in North Buffalo for four decades, with Shabbos and Yom Tov services, shiurim and farbrengens. Rabbi Charitonow serves as its rabbi and director.7
The Rebbe followed the young family’s shlichus closely. On 24 Tammuz 5749 (1989), answering Rabbi Charitonow’s announcement of the birth of a son, Yosef, the Rebbe blessed the parents to raise him “לתורה ולחופה ולמעשים טובים” — to Torah, to the wedding canopy and to good deeds. On 8 Tammuz 5752 (1992), a letter written on the Rebbe’s behalf by his secretariat answered the news of Yosef’s third birthday, enclosing the Frierdiker Rebbe’s words on the custom of the upsherenish, the child’s first haircut, which begins his training in wearing a yarmulke and tzitzis and saying his blessings.8
Rabbi Charitonow’s work has reached beyond the shul’s walls. In the 2000s, working with the Aleph Institute, he regularly visited Jewish inmates at the Pennsylvania state hospital in Warren and at the federal prison in McKean County, Bradford, Pennsylvania, providing holiday programs and inspecting the food service.9
In 2026, at Buffalo’s central Siyum HaRambam at Ohr Temimim, held 41 years after the first-ever Siyum HaRambam took place in Buffalo in 5745 (1985), Rabbi Charitonow concluded the Rambam and shared a sicha of the Rebbe on whether the mitzvos will still apply in the times of Moshiach.10
Camp Gan Israel of Buffalo
For decades, Rabbi and Rebbetzin Charitonow co-directed Camp Gan Israel, the Chabad day camp that has given generations of Buffalo’s Jewish children a summer of Jewish fun and learning, along with winter camping programs. Today the camp continues under Rabbi Charitonow together with his son and daughter-in-law, Rabbi Sholom Ber and Rochel Charitonow.11
Rebbetzin Shaina Rochel Charitonow
Rebbetzin Shaina Charitonow taught Judaic studies at Torah Temimah and later at Ohr Temimim Day School for more than thirty years. She worked closely with Rebbetzin Miriam Gurary on community programs, co-directed Camp Gan Israel, taught classes, and managed the community’s women’s mikvah, instructing and encouraging Jewish women in this mitzvah.12
The Charitonow home was open to everyone. Sarah Voldman, an elderly immigrant from the former Soviet Union, recalled that “from the first day, Rabbi Charitonow and Shaina welcomed us and treated us like family.” She insisted on being called simply “Shaina,” and friends remembered how she would end a long conversation: “Now that we have solved all the problems of the world, let’s go do…” One of the hardest parts of her shlichus was sending her young children away from home for their Jewish education, a sacrifice she made for their sake.13
After an illness she bore with joy and unshakeable faith, Rebbetzin Shaina Rochel Charitonow passed away on Erev Shabbos, 14 Shevat 5773 (January 25, 2013), at the age of 55. Her levaya passed by 770 in Crown Heights.14
On February 1, 2015, an overflow crowd of some 200 people gathered at the Knesset Center for her second yahrzeit, where Buffalo native Dr. David Lazerson spoke on “Bringing Jewish Warmth Into a Cold World.” Her family later gathered the memories of her students and friends into a booklet titled Lessons I Learned.15
Family
Rabbi and Rebbetzin Charitonow raised four children: Levi Yitzchok, Mushka, Yosef (Yossi) and Sholom Ber. Their eldest, Rabbi Levi Yitzchok, married Frumie Kagan in 2011, and in 2020 the couple opened a new Chabad House as shluchim in Utica, New York. Rabbi Yossi Charitonow married Mushka Sheiman in Chicago in 2013, and Rabbi Sholom Ber and Rochel Charitonow carry on Camp Gan Israel in Buffalo.16
Four decades after the Rebbe answered “I will mention it at the Ohel,” Rabbi Shmaryahu Charitonow continues the shlichus in Buffalo, part of a Chabad story in the city that spans more than 130 years. Read the full history at Chabad History in Buffalo.
Sources, Footnotes & Links
- Chabad.org, February 2015; Lubavitch.com directory; Chabad Buffalo, “Chabad History in Buffalo.”
Chabad.org describes Rabbi Charitonow as “rabbi and director” of Bais Haknesset Hagadol-Lubavitch.
Chabad.org — “Buffalo Remembers Beloved Educator,” February 2015
Lubavitch.com — Chabad centers in Buffalo, NY
Chabad Buffalo — Chabad History in Buffalo ↩︎ - Lubavitch.com, December 2009; Chabadpedia, Rabbi Shamshon Charitonow; wedding teshura, 5773.
The teshura reproduces the Frierdiker Rebbe’s letter of 8 Kislev 5708, addressed “אל התלמיד החשוב מר שמשון שי׳ חאריטאנאוו.” Chabadpedia gives the year of the marriage and the name of Rabbi Shamshon’s father-in-law.
Lubavitch.com — “Scion of Chabad Musical Family Passes Away,” December 2009
Chabadpedia — הרב שמשון חריטונוב
Teshura, wedding of Yossi Charitonow and Mushka Sheiman, 25 Sivan 5773 (2013) (PDF) ↩︎ - Chabadpedia, Rabbi Shmaryahu Charitonow.
Chabadpedia cites HaTamim, issue 45, p. 90, for his work on the Sefer HaLikutim.
Chabadpedia — הרב שמריהו חריטונוב ↩︎ - Wedding teshura, 5773, pp. 14–15; Anash.org, “The Miraculous School.”
Anash.org: “In 1976 / 5736, Rebbetzin Shaina Charitnow A”H joined the school as a teacher.”
Teshura, wedding of Yossi Charitonow and Mushka Sheiman, 25 Sivan 5773 (2013) (PDF)
Anash.org — “The Miraculous School: 50 Years of Torah Tmimah of Buffalo” ↩︎ - Wedding teshura, 5773, p. 14.
Teshura, wedding of Yossi Charitonow and Mushka Sheiman, 25 Sivan 5773 (2013) (PDF) ↩︎ - The 770 diary of Rabbi Mordechai Mishulovin for 5746, reprinted in the Super–Mishulovin teshura, 23 Av 5774.
Teshura Super–Mishulovin, 23 Av 5774, reprinting the 770 diary of Rabbi Mordechai Mishulovin, 5746 (PDF) ↩︎ - Chabad.org, February 2015; Lubavitch.com directory; Chabad Buffalo, “Chabad History in Buffalo”; Rabbi Noson Gurary.
Chabad.org — “Buffalo Remembers Beloved Educator,” February 2015
Lubavitch.com — Chabad centers in Buffalo, NY
Chabad Buffalo — Chabad History in Buffalo
Chabad Buffalo — Rabbi Noson Gurary: Founder of the Chabad House of Buffalo ↩︎ - Wedding teshura, 5773, p. 5.
Teshura, wedding of Yossi Charitonow and Mushka Sheiman, 25 Sivan 5773 (2013) (PDF) ↩︎ - Aleph Institute Northeast newsletter, Winter 2006.
“Rabbi S. Charitonow of Buffalo continues to regularly visit the Jewish inmates at the PA State Hospital in Warren.”
Aleph Institute Northeast newsletter, Winter 2006 (PDF) ↩︎ - Anash.org, 2026.
Anash.org — “Buffalo Proud to Be First at Siyum HaRambam,” 2026 ↩︎ - Chabad.org, January 2023; Chabad.org, February 2015; Chabad Buffalo, “Chabad History in Buffalo.”
Chabad.org — Menachem Posner, “The Smile and Strength of Shaina Charitonow,” January 26, 2023
Chabad.org — “Buffalo Remembers Beloved Educator,” February 2015
Chabad Buffalo — Chabad History in Buffalo ↩︎ - Chabad.org, February 2015; Chabad.org, January 2023; wedding teshura, 5773.
Chabad.org — “Buffalo Remembers Beloved Educator,” February 2015
Chabad.org — Menachem Posner, “The Smile and Strength of Shaina Charitonow,” January 26, 2023
Teshura, wedding of Yossi Charitonow and Mushka Sheiman, 25 Sivan 5773 (2013) (PDF) ↩︎ - Chabad.org, January 2023; wedding teshura, 5773.
Chabad.org — Menachem Posner, “The Smile and Strength of Shaina Charitonow,” January 26, 2023
Teshura, wedding of Yossi Charitonow and Mushka Sheiman, 25 Sivan 5773 (2013) (PDF) ↩︎ - COLlive, January 2013; wedding teshura, 5773.
COLlive — “Shaina Rochel Charitonow, 55, OBM,” January 2013
Teshura, wedding of Yossi Charitonow and Mushka Sheiman, 25 Sivan 5773 (2013) (PDF) ↩︎ - Chabad.org, February 2015; Chabad.org, January 2023.
Chabad.org — “Buffalo Remembers Beloved Educator,” February 2015
Chabad.org — Menachem Posner, “The Smile and Strength of Shaina Charitonow,” January 26, 2023 ↩︎ - COLlive, January 2013; wedding teshuros, 5771 and 5773; Anash.org, June 2020; Anash.org, 2026.
Anash.org (2020): “Rabbi Levi is originally from Buffalo, NY, where his parents Rabbi Shmaryahu and Shaina a”h have served as Shluchim to the local community.”
COLlive — “Shaina Rochel Charitonow, 55, OBM,” January 2013
Teshura, wedding of Levi Yitzchak Charitonow and Michal Frumit Kagan, 29 Iyar 5771 (2011) (PDF)
Teshura, wedding of Yossi Charitonow and Mushka Sheiman, 25 Sivan 5773 (2013) (PDF)
Anash.org — “New Chabad House Opens in Upstate NY,” June 2020
Anash.org — “Buffalo Proud to Be First at Siyum HaRambam,” 2026 ↩︎