Magnicifent Event Celebrates 25 Years of Marina Roscha Center

A grand event in Moscow, celebrating the Chag Hageulah of the Alter Rebbe and 25 years of the Marina Roscha shul, was attended by a large crowd and enriched by the Neshama choir from Eretz Yisroel. The Rebbe’s Chalukas Hashas card and a dollar were awarded at the event.

How fitting it is for the capital of “that country,” where the harsh imprisonment occurred and from where the great liberation came, to hold a grand event in honor of Yud-Tes Kislev.

The event was attended by Mr. Yevgeny Yeromin, head of religious affairs in the Russian President’s office, who began his speech with the following words:

“I would like to celebrate this holiday with you by dancing joyfully, but I’m not a Chossid and don’t know how to dance so well… My dear friends! I wish you blessings for the holiday of Yud-Tes Kislev, the day of the Alter Rebbe’s liberation, the Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus. Today we are also celebrating another occasion—25 years of this religious, spiritual, and cultural center. On this occasion, I also wish you blessings for the approaching holiday of Chanukah, the festival of good light.”

In honor of 25 years since the establishment of the grand central center and shul, Marina Roscha, the community leadership decided to host the event within the building’s walls, utilizing all seven floors to showcase the revolution in Jewish and Chassidic life in Russia. The event also highlighted the growth of Jewish institutions across Russia, especially in Moscow, under the leadership of Russia’s Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Berel Lazar.

Thousands from all walks of Moscow’s Jewish community streamed into the building, filled with great joy, to celebrate Yud-Tes Kislev, the day of the Alter Rebbe’s miraculous liberation. The Alter Rebbe promised: “Whoever rejoices in my joy, I will take them from constraint to expansiveness.” Combined with the yahrzeit of his Rebbe, the Mezritcher Maggid, the grand event quickly turned into a special Chassidishe farbrengen that continued until the early hours of Friday morning.

After the keynote address by the Chief Rabbi, speeches were delivered by the brother of the shliach R’ Tzvi Kogan Hy”d, who was murdered in Abu Dhabi a month ago, and by the Chassidic philanthropist, President of the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS, R’ Lev Leviev, who lost a grandson in a car accident two months ago. After reciting Tehillim with the crowd, they both spoke about the need to increase light to combat darkness, emphasizing the expansion of Jewish activities for every Jew. They shared various initiatives aimed at spreading Torah and Chassidus on an even larger scale.

The program featured songs by the famous “Neshama” choir, led by R’ Yitzchak Filmer, along with baal menagen R’ Aharon Samet and a Chassidic orchestra. Together, they uplifted the massive crowd with heartfelt singing and praise, inspiring a sense of elevation as they reflected on the miracles of our times, similar to those of yesteryear.

As a token of appreciation, Rabbi Alexander Boroda, President of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Russia, received a historic memento—a card from the Rebbe’s Siyum HaShas in 5734, bearing the Rebbe’s handwritten notation of the tractate Sanhedrin he committed to studying, along with his signature.

The event organizer, Rabbi Mordechai Weisberg, director of Moscow’s Jewish community, invited philanthropist Mr. Isai Zakharov to hold a raffle for a dollar distributed by the Rebbe on Yud-Tes Kislev in 5745—40 years ago. The winner was Rabbi Chaim Dovid Feir, a new shliach recently sent to the city of Naberezhnye Chelny in the Republic of Tatarstan and who arrived especially to participate in the event.

Well past midnight, the crowd dispersed into the freezing Moscow night. But their hearts were ablaze with Chassidic warmth, uplifted by the good hachlatos many participants took upon themselves. Among these were three bris milahs, increased Torah learning, and stronger commitment to mitzvah observance.

Photos: Levi Nazarov

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Keynote Address by Chief Rabbi of Russia, Rabbi Berel Lazar, in honor of Yud-Tes Kislev

“In Those Days, at This Time”

Gut Yom Tov, Gut Yom Tov! Today is the Chag HaChagim, the Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus. This year, we also celebrate 25 years of Moscow’s Jewish Community Center and the Marina Roscha shul.

Let us remember that the Marina Roscha shul existed for nearly 100 years. Even in the most difficult times, it remained active and served as the heart of hidden Jewish life. As I arrived here, this was the center of Chassidus in the Soviet Union. To understand what was then, we can look at the documents recently found in the archives, which shed light on what took place here on Yud-Tes Kislev exactly 80 years ago. One report describes how the chossid Reb Berel Levertov, weeks before Yud-Tes Kislev, collected money—even borrowing from the shul’s administrator, known as an informant—to organize a farbrengen. He purchased mashke and farbeisen, risking everything to celebrate Yud-Tes Kislev.

Thirty-one years ago, in the middle of the night, I received a call: “The shul is burning! Marina Roscha is on fire!” I rushed to the scene and stood helplessly as the wooden building was engulfed in flames. By morning, there was almost nothing left of the beloved shul.

We stood there crying. Was this the famous Marina Roscha shul, which sustained Moscow’s Yiddishkeit for a century? Why did this happen? But in Chabad, we say: “Nit kain farvos”—we don’t ask why. An elder Chossid, R’ Yechiel Fried, declared: “A shul’s wood and stones can burn, but what it represents in our neshamos can never be destroyed! Tears are not appropriate here!” His words taught me how a Chossid must respond to tragedy.

We promised the community: “Don’t despair. With Hashem’s help, we’ll build a new shul—not from wood, but from stone. Not two stories, but four.” And indeed, we built not just a four-story Jewish center, but a seven-story campus. Schools, museums, and institutions arose—all when many believed Russian Jewry was finished. Just as Chassidus thrived after the Alter Rebbe’s imprisonment, so too did we thrive after the fire. And so too, am Yisroel will grow and be strong against the terror we recently witnessed, until we merit the geulah soon. L’chaim!

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