Work Begins on New Azerbaijani Synagogue

Foreign diplomats and local officials celebrated the laying of the cornerstone of the new synagogue for the so-called “Mountain Jews” of Azerbaijan. An estimated 150 people, including national cultural figures and members of Jewish communities from across the republic, participated in the ceremony in the historic Jewish quarter in the capital of Baku.

Among the diplomats attending the ceremony were Israeli Ambassador Michael Lavon-Lotem, Russian Ambassador Vladimir Dorokhin, Kazakhstan Ambassador Serik Primbetov and Belarus Ambassador Nikolai Paskevich.

The ceremony came on the heels of the Oct. 4 grand opening of the Chabad-Lubavitch run Chabad Ohr Avner Educational Complex in the city.

“Only in Azerbaijan within just one month could such a landmark event have occurred in the life of the Jewish community,” stated Lavon-Lotem.

Led by Jewish community chairman Semyon Ikhiilov and Chief Rabbi Shneor Segal, a Chabad-Lubavitch emissary, the Jewish community of Baku is a member of the Federation of Jewish Communities of the Former Soviet Union.

courtesy Chabad.org News