SOFIA, Bulgaria — Three milestones of Jewish revival in Bulgaria were feted in grand style by dignitaries, the Chief Rabbi of Israel and hundreds of well wishers at the Rohr Chabad Jewish Community Center in Sofia this week.
Jewish Identity, Jewish Life, Grows Vibrant in Bulgaria
SOFIA, Bulgaria — Three milestones of Jewish revival in Bulgaria were feted in grand style by dignitaries, the Chief Rabbi of Israel and hundreds of well wishers at the Rohr Chabad Jewish Community Center in Sofia this week.
With the opening of a modern mikvah, a kosher restaurant and a new Torah, Bulgaria’s Jewish community, dating back to the reign of Roman Emperor Caligula, now possesses the seeds for a renaissance.
“We are working and growing to bring Jewish life closer to Jewish people here,” Rabbi Yossi Salamon, Chabad’s representative in Bulgaria with his wife Tamar Salamon since 2000, told Lubavitch.com.
Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, Vice Chairman of Merkos Linyonei Chinuch, Chabad’s educational division, delivered yet more good news at the event when he announced that a second Chabad couple, Rabbi Yossi and Racheli Halperin will be moving from Israel to Bulgaria to expand Chabad activities in the country.
The new Jewish infrastructure complements the amenities already available at the Rohr Chabad Jewish Community Center: a kindergarten, synagogue, classrooms, Jewish library and kosher butcher and grocer. With ongoing support of philanthropist Lev Leviev, Rabbi Salamon is looking to expand the 25-student kindergarten into an elementary school.
Community members toured the sparkling, luxurious mikvah pool. Built with support of the Bistritsky and Raitport families, the mikvah is expected to make the observance of mitzvah more accessible, more widespread.
