2005 Press Releases
Consul General John Stepanchuk visited the new Yekaterinburg synagogue and was given a tour of the city’s Jewish school
October 14, 2005
Consul General John Stepanchuk and staff visited the new Yekaterinburg synagogue and were given a tour of the city’s Jewish school on October 12. Rabbi Ashkenazi showed us not only the impressive prayer hall and the Holocaust memorial room, but also a kosher restaurant that provides free meals for the needy, a high-tech computer class, a music studio, a fitness center and a gym, a mikva and many other facilities. The synagogue was opened last April on the spot where the old, wooden Yekaterinburg synagogue had stood until 1962. The construction work took only two years and was financed by U.S., Israeli and local sponsors. Rabbi Ashkenazi said he was grateful to Sverdlovsk oblast Governor Eduard E. Rossel and Yekaterinburg’ Mayor Arkadiy M. Chernetskiy for their help in implementing the project. The Or-Avner Jewish school, which also has a kindergarten, offers, in addition to a regular Russian secondary school program, courses in Hebrew, Jewish history and culture. About 300 children aged from 1.5 to 18 years attend the school free of charge. The school is sponsored by an Israeli businessman and boasts excellent facilities as well as a particularly welcoming and homey atmosphere.
