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Moscow Synagogue Celebrates 100th Anniversary
Moscow's central Choral Synagogue has celebrated its 100th anniversary in the presence of the Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Olmert, the Mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov and leading rabbanim, philanthropists and lay and community leaders. The celebration took place on October 18th and followed a six year restoration project costing over 12 million dollars supported by Mayor Luzhkov and the city council together with the Safra Foundation and the Moscow Jewish business community. The synagogue was originally built in 1892 but was forced to close in 1896 when the Jews of Moscow were expelled under a Czarist anti-Semitic decree. The decree was finally overturned and the synagogue was reopened in 1906. Opening the event Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt Chief Rabbi of Moscow and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Conference of European Rabbis recalled the sainted memory of Chief Rabbi Shmaryahu Gedalye who was arrested and subsequently killed in1937 by Stalin after criticizing the government for forcing Jews to abstain from services on Yom Kippur. Chief Rabbi Goldschmidt also paid tribute to the historic role of the synagogue in the refusenik movement which was centered outside the building. Among a host of dignitaries at the event, Alexander Torchin Vice Chairman of the Duma brought congratulations from Sergei Mironov Chairman of the Senate. Greetings also came from Russia's principal religious leaders including Bishop Vsevolod Chaplin who read a letter of congratulations from the Patriarch of all Russia Alexei II. The dome of the synagogue which was restored by Mayor Luzhkov and the Jewish community had been forcibly removed from the synagogue at the request of the Patriarchate in Czarist times. Arcady Gaidamek President of Russia's KEROOR Jewish community umbrella organisation told the assembled congregants that the synagogue "was and always will be the major center for Russian Jewry." Adolph Shayevich Chief Rabbi of Russia thanked the donors Mr. Len and Alexander Blavatnik, and Mr. Arcady Gaidamak who contributed to the restoration of the magnificent synagogue and presented them with a special edition of the "Song of Songs" marking the centennial of the Moscow synagogue. Alexander Machkevich President of the Euro Asian Jewish Congress and Moshe Kantor President of the Russian Jewish Congress also addressed the event.The celebration came as Russian Jews are faced with increasing anti-Semitism and the community listened attentively as Mayor Luzhkov spoke passionately of his commitment to fighting anti-Semitism and xenophobia and his pride of assisting the community to rebuild its main synagogue. But the long years of struggle behind the Iron Curtain were brought back as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert recalled the words of his predecessor Golda Meir in a moving speech in the US in 1963 where Meyer said that the two most important moments in her life were the signing of the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel in 1948 and the conclusion of Yom Kippur services in this Moscow synagogue in 1958 when she heard thousands of Jews saying "Next year in Jerusalem".
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