The Hidden Tunnel in The Bolshaya Bronnaya Synagogue

The Bolshaya Bronnaya Synagogue in Moscow was opened in 1883.  It was a private synagogue founded by a successful businessman, millionaire Lazar Solomonovich Polyakov who was the head of the Jewish community in Moscow. The synagogue was initially an ordinary Moscow house. It was bought by Polakov and reconstructed by the […]

Happy 100th Birthday Getzel Lifshitz

Getzel Lifshitz, a member of the Jewish community in Perm, Russia celebrated his 100th birthday this week. Rabbi Zalman Deutch, The Rabbi of the community (and Chabad shliach) gave him a new pair of #Tefillin as a present for his birthday. В эти дни пермская еврейская община отмечает замечательный праздник: […]

Victory Day, May 9th

“73 years ago today, Russian soldiers like my beloved grandfather Israel (Z”L), liberated the Jews from the hell of the Holocaust. I’m honored to be the granddaughter of a modern day Maccabbe, who had the vision to send his young wife and toddler son (my father) to the outskirts of […]

The Maryina Roshcha Synagogue is a synagogue in Moscow established in 1925.

The Maryina Roshcha Synagogue is a synagogue in Moscow established in 1925. The building, completed in 1996, replaced the one destroyed by fire in 1993. Since 2000 it’s also a Chabad-Lubavitch Community Center. The Synagogue is part of a large Jewish spiritual center under the auspices of the Moscow Jewish […]

“It was around the time of the First World War,” said Miriam, “when a group of evil bandits came to town.”

  “Pogroms were quite common in Zaporozhe, Ukraine during those years. When they entered the synagogue, they found an old, pious-looking man deep in prayer. They grabbed him by his beard and dragged him through the streets of the town.” “Four days later, he died from the wounds. His family […]

“My grandfather Mikhail Lubarsky who fought the nazis in WWII currently lives in Brighton Beach Brooklyn. He’s 94 years old and was at my house this past Thursday for Thanksgiving and sang the yiddish song “Le Chaim”.

My grandfather was born in 1926 in a small Jewish village called Saroki back then it was a territory of Romania which eventually was renamed Moldova and became part of the Soviet Union. When WWII started my grandfather was only 15 when he was given the task of evacuating his […]

“My mother was a traditional Jew,” said Natasha. “She’d fast on Yom Kippur, wouldn’t allow bread into our home on Passover, and would pray often.”

But as a young girl, tradition didn’t interest me. I loved music and dreamt of being a famous singer. I wanted to be part of the Soviet cultural scene. My mother tried discouraging me from leaving my roots behind, but I was determined.” “My dream became a reality, singing and […]

Meet Hershel.

My wife died this past September. We were married for 59 years. I survived three heart attacks, but losing Alla was unbearable. I laid my feet down, never intending to use them again. I had given up. Then one day a few teens from our community came knocking on my […]