New JCC to Open in Ukraine

DNEPRODZERZHINSK, Ukraine – For Jewish residents of Dneprodzerzhinsk, a long-awaited event is soon to occur – the opening of the city’s very own community center.
The new building will offer a combination of the necessary ingredients for a growing Jewish community, covering its activities in the cultural, humanitarian, social, and educational spheres, in addition to hosting a Synagogue.

The Jewish community of Dneprodzerzhinsk will hold the inauguration ceremony on September 18th. The ‘Beit Baruch’ Jewish Community Center is named for the father of Gennadiy Bogolyubov, the major sponsor of this project and Chairman of the Jewish community of Dnepropetrovsk. Likewise, the ‘Beit Reuven’ Synagogue is named for the father of Chief Rabbi of Dnepropetrovsk Shmuel Kaminetsky.

A very distinguishing feature of this particular structure is that it is an exact copy of the 770 Synagogue in Brooklyn, New York, which is where the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson of righteous memory, used to pray and is today the headquarters of the International Lubavitch Movement.

It was two years ago that the foundation stones were laid for this Synagogue. These stones carry great symbolism, since they were carefully extracted from the remaining wall of the Synagogue that previously stood on this site. The local community also recently celebrated the opening of its Mikvah, which along with the new JCC, received support from the Rohr Family Foundation, headed by Messrs. George and Sami Rohr of NY and Miami respectively.
This is the second largest city in the Dnepropetrovsk Region of Eastern Ukraine, with moderate estimates pegging the Jewish population at over 4,000 persons. The Jewish community of Dneprodzerzhinsk – a member of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine – is headed by Rabbi Levi Stambler and Chairman Dmitry Tarnopolsky.