Moscow Opens Its 39th Chabad House and Jewish Community Center

Moscow’s Jewish community has expanded once again with the opening of the city’s 39th Chabad House and Jewish Community Center, providing a new home for Jewish life in the Cheryomushki neighborhood.

Chief Rabbi of Russia Rabbi Berel Lazar led the inauguration, affixing the mezuzah at the entrance to the new center on Nakhimovsky Prospekt. Community members and guests joined in cutting the ribbon, hearing the shofar and gathering for the first prayers in the new synagogue. Rabbi Lazar expressed confidence that the growing local community would soon outgrow the new space.

The center will be led by Rabbi David Chonelidze together with his wife, Mazal. Rabbi Chonelidze, a recent yeshiva graduate, represents a new generation of Jewish communal leaders raised and educated in Moscow. During the ceremony, Rabbi Lazar recalled knowing him since his school years and encouraging him to continue his Jewish studies. “This is the young generation,” Rabbi Lazar said, describing young Jews whose own connection to Jewish life inspires them to share it with others and build communities of their own.

Located near the MD GROUP clinical hospital founded by Dr. Mark Kurtser, the new center is also positioned to serve Jews visiting or receiving treatment in the area. Rabbi Lazar encouraged members of the new community to reach out to patients there, emphasizing that a Jewish center should bring practical care and support to its surroundings.

The Cheryomushki center will offer prayer services, Torah study and Chassidic learning alongside community activities for local Jewish residents. Its opening continues the steady growth of neighborhood-based Jewish infrastructure across Moscow, bringing Jewish life closer to families throughout the sprawling capital.