One Year Later, Exiled Rabbi Returns to ‘Surreal’ Lugansk, a Ukrainian City Ravaged by War
By Dovid Margolin | Chabad.org Rabbi Shalom Gopin was in a car heading back towards Lugansk. Burned-out shells of cars and tanks littered the side of the highway, and as they drove, Gopin’s driver took care to avoid the missile craters pockmarking the road. War had irrevocably changed this once quiet eastern region of Ukraine. “Don’t […]
In Mariupol, Ukraine: Faces on the Frontlines
By Dovid Margolin and Jonathan Alpeyrie | Chabad.org MARIUPOL, UKRAINE—The southeastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol has been on edge for more than a year now, with the thud of Grad rockets falling in the distance a part of daily life. “During Shavuot, we heard them all day long,” says Rabbi Aron Kaganovski, 30, who assists the […]
First Kosher Restaurant Opens in Novosibirsk
History in Novosibirsk, Russia: Chief Rabbi Zalman Zaklas announced the opening of the very first kosher restaurant in Novosibirsk. The new eatery, named “Jerusalem Cafe’” offers a well rounded menu of kosher dishes and is centrally located in the Bait Menachem Community Center. The restaurant offers hot and cold entree’s, salads, soups and desserts. , […]
A First for the Rohr Family
By COLlive reporter Photos by Levi Nazarov The philanthropic Rohr family of New York and Miami have over the years helped build numerous synagogues, community centers, schools and humanitarian institutions for Jewish communities around the world. Yet there is always a first, even for the Rohrs. The new Brit clinic in Moscow, a division of […]
Once Ukraine’s kosher food basket, Donetsk now reliant on food packages
By Sam Sokol | The Jerusalem Post Every day Jews wait on line outside of the Beth Menachem synagogue in Donetsk, waiting for food packages and hot meals. Gone are the days when this industrial city was the primary producer of kosher comestibles in Ukraine, exporting its products to Jewish communities throughout the country. Over […]
The Shmuel Rohr Brit Milah Clinic of Russia Opens
By Lubavitch.com At Marina Roscha—Moscow’s Jewish Community Center—men and women make life changes on a daily basis as they discover their Jewish traditions. “Today there will be five circumcisions here,” noted Rabbi Berel Lazar, the country’s chief rabbi, Monday afternoon. Remarkably, they are young and not-so young men who, having learned about the fundamentals of […]
Why Michael From Siberia Cried on Shavuot
By Yerachmiel Gorelik, Tyumen, Siberia, Russia | Chabad.org It was Shavuot morning. Our synagogue in Tyumen, Siberia, was filled with men, women and many children who had all gathered to hear the reading of the Ten Commandments during the services. After a lavish dairy Kiddush lunch, we began drawing raffles (in a way permitted on […]
‘Eurostars’ Program Shines, Seen in the Effect on Russian Youth Visiting Europe
By Dovid Margolin | Chabad.org Gliding down the Seine under a soft drizzle, the lone flame of the traditionalHavdalah candle seemed to illuminate not just the boat, but the entire “City of Light.” Havdalah is the ceremony marking the end of Shabbat, and for the 500 young Jewish participants who traveled together to Paris, Berlin and […]
Children and War: Urgent Challenge of Education in Ukraine
By Sarah Leah Lawent | Chabad.org Anna comes from a small village outside of the city of Zhitomir in western Ukraine. Like many Jewish children in rural corners of the former Soviet Union, she and her 4-year-old brother spent the initial years of their young lives barely surviving in material poverty, with no idea of their […]
‘EuroStars’ Return from Life Changing European Tour
A group of 500 Russian EuroStars university students recently returned from a unique six day trip to Poland, France, and Germany. This educational tour was the culmination of a eight month Jewish learning program in 24 locations throughout Russia which delved into Jewish thought, heritage, law and tradition; much focus was given to Jewish holidays, […]