In the week between the High holidays of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, newly established communities have merited to inaugurate new Torah scrolls of their own in emotional and uplifting events participated by the Chief Rabbi of Russia, Berel Lazar. 

Jewish Russia in general, and its capital Moscow in particular, experienced a week full of events with the introduction of five new and elegant Torah scrolls to synagogues and Chabad houses that serve as a warm spiritual home for thousands of Russian Jews on a daily basis.

The Torah scrolls were brought to the Chabad houses in the following Moscow neighborhoods: Alekseeva, Pushkino, Leninsky-Prospekt, and to the campus of the Jewish Orphanage in Moscow. Some of these communities have just recently been established and are now getting their own Torah scroll for the first time.

The city of Nizhny Novgorod, in an exciting and impressive ceremony, celebrated the 140th anniversary of the establishment of the largest synagogue in the city. The event was combined with the completion of the writing of a new Torah scroll. The special guest of honor, the Chief Rabbi of Russia, Rabbi Berel Lazar, was received in a special reception by the city and district’s governor, accompanied by the city’s rabbi, Rabbi Shimon Bergman. This was followed by a great celebration in honor of the Torah with the participation of leaders and representatives of the government and a large crowd.

In all the events, the chief rabbi of Russia combined words about the magnitude of the holy days, in which every Jew and every person, wherever he is, takes stock of the year that has passed, and prepares well for the coming judgment day. Rabbi Lazar encouraged and called everyone to participate in prayers in the many synagogues scattered throughout the capital’s neighborhoods as well as in other cities across Russia, to fast on the holy day and observe all the special commandments of the Shabbat and the holiday.

Photo: Mevaser Tov Moscow