By Tamar Runyan, Chabad.org
The past month saw the unprecedented opening of four new Jewish ritual baths across Russia.
Located in Moscow, Kostroma, Orenburg and Bryansk, the facilities were constructed under the supervision of the office of Russian Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar and with the financial help of philanthropist Lev Levievs Ohr Avner Foundation, Mikhail Mirilashvili, Yitzchak Mishaan, the Alashvilli and Shamilashvilli families, and the Rabbinical Centre of Europe.
The new bath in Moscow was built alongside the Darkei Shalom synagogue run by Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Dovid and Shulamit Karpov in the capitals Otradnoye district.
In Kostroma, meanwhile, crews rebuilt a facility reportedly used by the Sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, of righteous memory, during his exile there in 1927.
It had been sealed by Communist authorities and was largely forgotten until its discovery by local Chief Rabbi Nison Ruppo 10 years ago.
The project in Orenburg was directed by Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Goel Myers, while Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Menachem Zakles supervised the Bryansk construction.
The past month saw the unprecedented opening of four new Jewish ritual baths across Russia.
Located in Moscow, Kostroma, Orenburg and Bryansk, the facilities were constructed under the supervision of the office of Russian Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar and with the financial help of philanthropist Lev Levievs Ohr Avner Foundation, Mikhail Mirilashvili, Yitzchak Mishaan, the Alashvilli and Shamilashvilli families, and the Rabbinical Centre of Europe.
The new bath in Moscow was built alongside the Darkei Shalom synagogue run by Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Dovid and Shulamit Karpov in the capitals Otradnoye district.
In Kostroma, meanwhile, crews rebuilt a facility reportedly used by the Sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, of righteous memory, during his exile there in 1927.
It had been sealed by Communist authorities and was largely forgotten until its discovery by local Chief Rabbi Nison Ruppo 10 years ago.
The project in Orenburg was directed by Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Goel Myers, while Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Menachem Zakles supervised the Bryansk construction.