RUSSIA [FJC] — During some minor reconstruction work in the Kostrama synagogue, Chief Rabbi of Kostroma Nison Ruppo found a deep hole in the synagogue’s kitchen. After examining the pit, which had been filled in with concrete and covered over, it became apparent that the hole had served as the mikvah for the Kostoma community in the years predating the October Revolution. Later on, during the Soviet regime, this mikvah had been filled and then sealed off.
Old Mikvah Uncovered in Kostroma Shul Kitchen
RUSSIA [FJC] — During some minor reconstruction work in the Kostrama synagogue, Chief Rabbi of Kostroma Nison Ruppo found a deep hole in the synagogue’s kitchen. After examining the pit, which had been filled in with concrete and covered over, it became apparent that the hole had served as the mikvah for the Kostoma community in the years predating the October Revolution. Later on, during the Soviet regime, this mikvah had been filled and then sealed off.
It is worth noting that, during his exile to Kostroma in 1927, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, immersed in this mikvah. Learning this information made the find even more significant for the Kostrama Jewish community and more determined to “re-open” the mikvah.
Rabbi Ruppo, who is also a Chabad-Lubavitch emissary serving in the region, has begun to raise the necessary funds to build the new mikvah. The mikvah will be beautiful and modern, and will meet the strictest requirements of Jewish law. The synagogue’s kitchen will be relocated to a different area of the building in order to enable the mikvah to be built in it’s original location.
The Jewish community of Kostroma is a member of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia.
