Last week, Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan in Russia’s Volga region, celebrated the grand opening of a kosher restaurant. The Jerusalem Restaurant is under the supervision of the Kashrut Department of the Chief Rabbinate of Russia, signed by Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar.
The restaurant was conceived and opened by a number of businessmen from Kazan, who, in recent years have become more Jewishly observant. They have been inspired to observe mitzvoth (commandments) thanks to the guidance of Chief Rabbi of Tatarstan Yitzhak Gorelik, a Chabad-Lubavitch emissary serving in the region.
Since the time that Rabbi Gorelik first arrived in Tatarstan, the Jewish community has become revitalized – throughout the republic and especially in its capital. Local Jews have become more familiar with their Jewish heritage and many have come to lead a Jewish lifestyle. The younger generation are being offered a Jewish upbringing by studying at the Ohr Avner Chabad Day School, part of the largest Jewish educational network in the former Soviet Union under the patronage of FJC President Lev Leviev.