A Shul-Boom in Moscow

By Chabad.org and Interfax

Hundreds of Russian Jewish leaders congregated in Moscow for the Fifth Conference of the Federation of Jewish Communities of the Former Soviet Union.

Rabbis joined lay leaders for the event earlier this month, which drew on presentations from Russian Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar, Israeli Religious Affairs Minister Ya’akov Margi, FJC President Lev Leviev, and Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries and FJC officials Rabbis Alexander Boroda and Boruch Gorin.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the conference by recorded message, and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin conveyed their blessings in letters read during the two-day meeting.

“You joined the Rebbe’s army of emissaries and you have done … a tremendous job to return Jews to their heritage, to return Jews to their nation, to return Jews to each other,” Netanyahu said.

“I ask that you continue your holy work for our common purpose to ensure a future for the Jewish nation and to ensure an awareness of Jewish heritage.”

The conference assessed the recent explosion in the growth of Jewish communities across the former Soviet Union, outlining the dozens of new institutions and synagogues that have been established since the last such conference four years ago.

Chief Rabbi Lazar assesses the recent explosion in the growth of Jewish communities across the former Soviet Union, outlining the dozens of new institutions and synagogues that have been established since the last such conference four years ago.

Speaking at a press conference, Boroda said the Federation would like to open no less than 5 new synagogues in Moscow.

There are five synagogues in Moscow – in Maryina Roshcha, Spasoglenishchevsky Pereulok, Bolshaya Bronnaya Street, Otradnoye and Poklonnaya Hill. Boroda said that was not enough.

“According to our estimates, up to 500,000 Jews live in Moscow and many of these people may join our flock,” he said.

The Federation also plans to open several Jewish schools in the upcoming years. The Jewish Museum of Tolerance is due to open in Moscow on November 4.