Rabbi Menachem Mendel Kot, together with his wife Rachel and their family, is moving to Gomel, Belarus, where they will serve as Chabad emissaries, and Rabbi Kot will assume the role of the Jewish community’s chief rabbi. Rabbi Kot is the son of the Chief Rabbi of Estonia, Shmuel Kot, continuing a family tradition of dedicated Jewish communal service.

Gomel, historically known in Jewish sources as Homel, has a distinguished place in Jewish and Chassidic history. Once a major center of Chassidic life that drew thousands of Jews, the city was home to the renowned scholar and Chassid Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Epstein, known as Reb Eizik Homiler, who served as its rabbi at the direction of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, founder of Chabad and author of the Tanya. In later years, a branch of the Chabad Tomchei Temimim yeshiva operated clandestinely in the city, preserving Jewish learning during a period when religious life was largely driven underground.

Today, Belarus’s second-largest city is home to an active Jewish community. Chief Rabbi of Russia Rabbi Berel Lazar welcomed the Kot family’s move and reflected on Gomel’s rich Chassidic heritage, noting that their arrival will build upon the extensive Jewish programming already taking place. The local community is led by its president, Mr. Yosef Zholdov, who has played a central role in developing Jewish life in the city and welcomed the new rabbinic family.

Rabbi Kot and his family are expected to expand existing activities, reach additional members of the Jewish population, and add new opportunities for Jewish learning, tradition, and Chassidic life.

Photography: Community Spokesperson