Another Chabad House and JCC has opened in Moscow, in the “ZiL” neighborhood along the Mark Chagall Promenade in the southern part of the city, joining the 34 Chabad Houses and community centers already active in the Russian capital.

“ZiL” is an acronym in Russian for Zavod Imeni Likhachyova (“Factory named after Likhachyov”), the director of the ZiL automobile plants, which once spanned a vast area in southern Moscow. The name replaced the earlier “ZiS,” named for Stalin, and was changed after the dictator’s death as part of efforts to eradicate his cult of personality.

The name “ZiL” is historically associated with the luxury, high-powered cars made in very small series for senior Soviet officials. As of this week—on the eve of the Lubavitcher Rebbe father’s Hilulah on the 20th of Menachem-Av—it will also be known for its new Chabad House and JCC, serving thousands of Jewish families in the many neighborhoods along the Mark Chagall Promenade, one of the most elegant and elaborate promenades in Moscow.

Rabbi Mordechai Weisberg, head of the Jewish community and director of Chabad Houses in Moscow, affixed the mezuzah at the entrance to the new home of the neighborhood’s rabbi, Chabad emissary, Rabbi Shaul Shimon Deutsch. After a small Chassidic gathering (farbrengen), they set out to view the vast neighborhoods, rapidly developing with major, upscale construction projects.

Rabbi Shaul Shimon Deutsch, appointed about a year ago by Russia’s Chief, Rabbi Berel Lazar, to serve as a Talmudic lecturer and director of the Hebrew language program at the Yeshiva Gedolah, has now been entrusted with the additional mission of serving this neighborhood, located near major shopping centers and numerous businesses.

Chabad Houses in the Russian capital continue to expand steadily, and in the coming year, several more Jewish centers are expected to open in other neighborhoods of the city, each home to thousands of Jewish families.

Photo: Mevaser Tov Moscow