A group of nine Russian Yeshiva students from the ‘Machon Ran’ Institution in Moscow, received their official ordination as ‘Shochtim’ – Jewish ritual slaughters – after months of study and training. They will serve in Russia and Jewish communities across the FSU. 

The new Shochtim were ordained after learning in the Machon Ran Yeshiva in the Moscow suburb of Ramenskoye. The yeshiva, housed in the ‘Ohr Menachem Mendel Center – 770’, is headed by Rabbi Yitzchak Kogan, famously known as ‘the Tzadik of Leningrad’.

After finishing their studies, the students were given two tests to ensure their mastery of the halacha and their practical application. They were first tested on the laws and their knives were tested for proper sharpness. The next day, an additional test was held on the laws of salting and the testing rabbis watched each of them personally. After witnessing their skill and knowledge, they were ordinated.

The achievement was celebrated at a great event where the students received their certificates, and heard inspiring addresses from the testing rabbis and the heads of the yeshiva.

Rabbi Kogan told the new Shochtim about the dedication for proper ‘shechita’ shown by the famed Rabbi Refoel Nimotin. Even during the most challenging times of the communist era, he would not relent. Rabbi Kogan noted that Machon R”N was established in his memory and named after him.

Each year dozens of students spend the year learning at the Machon Ran Institute in Moscow, and many are ordained as expert Shochtim. Many of them already serve all over the world and especially in the FSU, assisting rabbis in far-flung areas.

Based on an article by Eliyahu Ezagui | Anash.org
Photos: Shimi Hershkop, Avi Kay