Keynote Address by Chief Rabbi of Russia, Rabbi Berel Lazar, in honor of Yud-Tes Kislev

“In Those Days, at This Time”

Gut Yom Tov, Gut Yom Tov! Today is the Chag HaChagim, the Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus. This year, we also celebrate 25 years of Moscow’s Jewish Community Center and the Marina Roscha shul.

Let us remember that the Marina Roscha shul existed for nearly 100 years. Even in the most difficult times, it remained active and served as the heart of hidden Jewish life. As I arrived here, this was the center of Chassidus in the Soviet Union. To understand what was then, we can look at the documents recently found in the archives, which shed light on what took place here on Yud-Tes Kislev exactly 80 years ago. One report describes how the chossid Reb Berel Levertov, weeks before Yud-Tes Kislev, collected money—even borrowing from the shul’s administrator, known as an informant—to organize a farbrengen. He purchased mashke and farbeisen, risking everything to celebrate Yud-Tes Kislev.

Thirty-one years ago, in the middle of the night, I received a call: “The shul is burning! Marina Roscha is on fire!” I rushed to the scene and stood helplessly as the wooden building was engulfed in flames. By morning, there was almost nothing left of the beloved shul.

We stood there crying. Was this the famous Marina Roscha shul, which sustained Moscow’s Yiddishkeit for a century? Why did this happen? But in Chabad, we say: “Nit kain farvos”—we don’t ask why. An elder Chossid, R’ Yechiel Fried, declared: “A shul’s wood and stones can burn, but what it represents in our neshamos can never be destroyed! Tears are not appropriate here!” His words taught me how a Chossid must respond to tragedy.

We promised the community: “Don’t despair. With Hashem’s help, we’ll build a new shul—not from wood, but from stone. Not two stories, but four.” And indeed, we built not just a four-story Jewish center, but a seven-story campus. Schools, museums, and institutions arose—all when many believed Russian Jewry was finished. Just as Chassidus thrived after the Alter Rebbe’s imprisonment, so too did we thrive after the fire. And so too, am Yisroel will grow and be strong against the terror we recently witnessed, until we merit the geulah soon. L’chaim!