The expansion and enhancement of CJL’s main kitchen and serving areas were made possible by a gift from David Mandelbaum ’57 and his wife, Karen Mandelbaum, as part of the Venture Forward campaign. The Mandelbaum Family Dining Pavilion, which opened its doors to the campus community on March 16, will serve as a gathering place for the entire student body while providing kosher dining options that nourish Princeton’s Jewish community. 

The new dining pavilion is named in honor of David’s parents, Philip and Ella Mandelbaum, who emigrated to the United States from Poland and had a deep appreciation for Princeton University. The dedication included a ribbon-cutting ceremony in which David and Karen and dozens of the extended Mandelbaum family participated. 

“The Mandelbaum Family Dining Pavilion honors Philip and Ella’s legacy and celebrates the transformative impact that they and their family have had on the Jewish community at Princeton — and on Princeton itself,” President Christopher L. Eisgruber ’83 said at the dedication ceremony. “What is especially meaningful to me is that this Mandelbaum family tradition at Princeton is not only about individual intellectual achievement, wonderful as that is. It is also a tradition of giving, building and belonging. The thriving Jewish community we experience at Princeton today, brought together in this Center for Jewish Life, owes a great deal to the dedication, leadership and generosity of the Mandelbaum family.” 

David and Karen Mandelbaum both serve as honorary trustees for CJL. Their contributions to facilities and programs have enabled an inclusive space for gathering community. In the 1990s, they contributed to the center’s construction and landscaping upgrades. Another contribution helped establish the Mandelbaum Lounge, a popular student meeting place on the building’s main level, dedicated in 2017. 

Rabbi Gil Steinlauf ’91, executive director of CJL and Jewish chaplain at Princeton University, quoted from the Mishnah, “If there is no flour, no bread, then there is no Torah.” What that means, he said, “is if there is no basic sustenance of feeding people, then there’s no possibility of the human spirit to flourish. There’s no possibility of learning to pursue justice and to do what we call tikkun olam — to repair the world. There’s no possibility of learning and leadership. This is why the Mandelbaum Family Dining Pavilion is so much more than just a space. It’s a place that enables Torah to blossom here at the CJL — the Torah of students living in dignity and compassion, of growth and of service to one another and to the wider Princeton community, all beginning with a meal.” 

The Mandelbaum Family Dining Pavilion includes new kitchens and expanded serving areas to enhance the kosher dining experience for all Princeton students. It also facilitates cultural programs, such as Shabbat dinners, Passover Seders and other events. 

“This beautifully renovated and expanded space, crafted with care and purpose, sends a powerful message of belonging to our Jewish students,” said W. Rochelle Calhoun, vice president for campus life. “Sharing a meal with others is an ancient, universal way to uphold our traditions and strengthen the bonds within our communities. It is also, especially in the Jewish tradition, an opportunity to ‘welcome the stranger’ and create new bonds with those who are different from ourselves.” 

David Mandelbaum, a graduate of Harvard Law School, is a partner of the Mandelbaum & Mandelbaum real estate law firm. He serves as trustee of Vornado Realty Trust and as director of Alexander’s, Inc., real estate investment trust. In 2005, he joined the ownership group that purchased the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League. 

Karen Mandelbaum graduated from Kean College and serves as a trustee for the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, Icahn Charter Schools and the Livingston Symphony Orchestra of New Jersey. Three of the Mandelbaums’ sons graduated from Princeton: Richard ’87, Michael ’89 and Jeffrey ’98, as did grandson Benjamin ’23. 

At the dedication ceremony, David Mandelbaum spoke of his parents, their hard work as new Americans, and what Princeton meant to them: “My mother never went to college. My father came here after World War I, just in time for a plague. He went to high school here and he made a living by making people bar mitzvah. Later on, he worked during the day and went to Newark Law School at night — it’s now Rutgers. And in 1929, having gone to law school, he passed the bar but he couldn’t practice — he was not 21 years old yet. In 1953, my parents took me to this school. My father cried. Poland: wood house, an outhouse. [In] one generation: Princeton. 

“I’m going to be 90 this year. They say as you get older, you get smarter. I don’t think that’s ridiculous. I’d like to read you something from a friend of mine named Marcus Aurelius — he was the emperor of Rome. And he said, ‘When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive. To breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.’ God bless Princeton. God bless America.” 

The Venture Forward campaign is a mission-driven campaign that is focused on Princeton University’s strengths in the liberal arts, pushing the boundaries of knowledge across disciplines, and collaborating to champion inclusion, the humanities, science, art, public policy and technology. The campaign has three areas of impact: deepening engagement of Princeton’s alumni community; providing a platform to communicate Princeton’s service to humanity and its vision for the future; and securing philanthropic support for the University’s strategic initiatives.