After Years of Delays, Russian City Approves Major Jewish Center

After more than a decade of waiting, the Jewish community of Ulyanovsk, Russia, has received approval to move forward with construction of a large new community center in the heart of the city.

The new complex, planned for Karl Marx Street in the city’s Leninsky district, will span approximately 4,400 square meters over five floors, together with an underground level that will include parking.

The project was first set in motion in 5774 by the city’s previous rav and shliach, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Morozov. On Chai Elul, the Ulyanovsk municipality approved an expansion of the designated construction site, clearing a major hurdle that had held up the project for years.

The approval was secured with assistance from the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia, under the leadership of Chief Rabbi of Russia Rabbi Berel Lazar.

The new building is intended to replace the community’s current premises at 107 Lenin Street, which have become too small for the expanding activities led by the city’s rav and shliach, Rabbi Binyamin Markovitch. More than 3,000 Jews live in the surrounding region, with the existing building regularly strained during Shabbos, Yom Tov and larger community events.

At the center of the new complex will be a large shul and a new mikvah. Plans also call for guest accommodations for Shabbos and Yom Tov, a kosher cafe and a large dining area that will expand the community’s meal program for those in need.

A substantial section of the building will be devoted to education, including a kindergarten, Sunday school, classrooms and a Jewish library. The plans also include space for senior programming and a museum devoted to the Jewish history of the region.

Community chairman Igor Dabakarov and gabbai Lev Zingarenko, who have been involved in advancing the project, said the new building will give the community badly needed room to expand its programming and accommodate additional families.

With the municipal approvals now in place, the community is preparing for a cornerstone-laying and the beginning of construction. The project is being supported by the Russia 770 Fund, founded by Rabbi Yehuda Davidov.

Construction costs have risen to roughly three times the level anticipated when the project was first planned, and the community is now working to secure the funding needed to bring the building to completion.

For Rabbi Markovitch, the long-awaited approval marks a major step in expanding Jewish life in Ulyanovsk and providing the city’s Jews with a permanent home for Torah, tefilla, education and communal life.

Photos: Community Spokesperson