Moscow Opens Its Thirty Fifth Chabad House

Another Chabad house has opened its doors in Moscow, in the “Zil” neighborhood, along the Marc Chagall Promenade in the south of the city, joining the 34 active Chabad Houses in the Russian capital.

“ZIL” is the Russian acronym for “Zavod Imini Likhacheva”, which means “Factory named after Likhachev”, the director of the ZIL automobile factories and it was spread over a huge area in the south of Moscow. Its name was replaced by the name “ZIS” after Stalin, and after the dictator’s death  was changed in an attempt to eradicate the cult of his personality.

The name “ZIL” was associated with luxurious and powerful cars for senior Soviet officials, which were produced in very small series. But starting this week – on the eve of the special date of Chaf Menachem Av, it will be better known thanks to its new Chabad house, serving thousands of Jewish families in the many neighborhoods in the area, along the “Marc Chagall” promenade, one of the most invested and luxurious promenades in Moscow.

The Director of the Jewish communities and head of Moscow’s Chabad Houses, the Shliach Rabbi Mordechai Weisberg, affixed a mezuzah to the apartment door of the neighborhood’s new rabbi, the Shliach Rabbi Shaul Shimon Deitch. After a small farbrengen, they set out to see the vast expanses of the large neighborhoods, which are developing at a rapid pace, with large and luxurious construction projects.

Rabbi Shaul Shimon Deitch was appointed about a year ago by the Chief Rabbi of of Russia and Head Shliach , Rabbi Berel Lazar Shlita, to serve as the rabbi and director of the Lashon Hakodesh Faculty in the Yeshiva Gedola, and was now called upon to add in his Shlichus to this neighborhood, which is located near large shopping malls and many businesses.

By Hashgacha Pratis, a metro station just opened a few days ago on the banks of the river in the center of the Marc Chagall Promenade, for the convenience of thousands of residents in the area.  Located on the metro line’s boat route, this unique and one-of-a-kind line in the world connects the neighborhood to Moscow’s developed subway stations by boat, thus connecting this neighborhood to the capital’s center.

Chabad houses in the Russian capital are experiencing consistent development, and in the coming year several more Jewish points on the map are scheduled to open in additional neighborhoods in the city, each of which is home to thousands of people, including many Jewish families.

photos by Mevaser Tov Moscow