Chabad.org’s  Menachem Posner chose the ‘ Most Remote Chabad Houses on Earth- here is ours…

When compiling a list of “remote” Chabad Houses, the first challenge is trying to determine what makes one Chabad House more remote than another. After all, everything is close to something, and sometimes physical remoteness may be less important than other isolating factors (such as bad roads, hostile borders, etc.). With that in mind, coupled with the understanding that there is a certain amount of editorial latitude, here is my list of 8 most isolated Chabad Houses in the world.

4. Distant Utopia: Birobidjan

There’s only one place in the world where Yiddish is an official language, and that’s the Jewish Autonomous Region, so far east that it’s technically not even Siberia. In the late 1920s, the Soviet government encouraged this remote region on the Chinese border as an alternative Zion, where working Jews from all over the world could freely settle and make an honest living working the land.

It didn’t catch on for various reasons—its remoteness and harsh climate among them—and even among those Jews who did try to settle there, large numbers left a short time later.

Today, Jewish life in Birobidjan is experiencing a renaissance under the leadership of Ephraim and Ida Kolpak. Ida’s parents direct the Chabad activities in Khabarovsk, the nearest community, a mere 3-hour drive through the snow.

Under the Kolpaks, there are numerous opportunities for Torah study, Jewish celebrations, and connection for toddlers, seniors, and everyone in between.

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