New Russian Prison Includes Synagogue

More than two centuries after the release of Chasidic leader Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi from a S. Petersburg prison, corrections officers in the Russian metropolis joined Jewish community officials in dedicating a synagogue in the city’s newly-opened Yablonevka Prison.

Known as the Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Schneur Zalman authored the foundational work known as the Tanya in 1798. He was released 213 years ago on the 19th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev after being acquitted by a Russian commission of trumped up charges rooted in his support of Jewish communities in the Holy Land.

The Dec. 12 ceremony included morning services presided over by Russian Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar, S. Petersburg Chief Rabbi Mendel Pewzner, and Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia military and law enforcement liaison Rabbi Aaron Gurevich, all Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries. Federal Penitentiary Service regional director I.V. Potapenko and the agency’s deputy in charge of social, psychological and educational programs, Vladimir A. Zatonsky, participated in the ribbon-cutting and dedication.

“There are no people lost to society,” declared Lazar. “When a person, even if he is in an institution, realizes that he can continue to evolve and to grow spiritually, that is a special moment. Hence, he is able to correct his previous mistakes.”

The new synagogue will host prayer services and Torah classes twice a month under the leadership of Rabbi Ifrah Abramov.