TURKEY

550 Young Guests at Neve Shalom Synagogue

550 young men and women from Russia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Latvia, and Belarus educated on Judaism for one year, were the guests of the Neve Shalom Synagogue in Istanbul on April 24th.
550 Young Guests at Neve Shalom Synagogue

Monday afternoon, 550 young men and women from Russia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Latvia, and Belarus, educated for one year on the Jewish religion by Chabad rabbis, were the guests of Neve Shalom Synagogue in Istanbul where they arrived via a special boat. The Büyük Hendek Street where the synagogue is located, was invaded by hundreds of young people with kippah. The group, arriving at Neve Shalom Culture Center at 18:00 hrs., enjoyed the meal prepared by La Casa Catering. The culture center experienced one of its crowdest days of all time. Following the meal, the young people and the rabbis who came with them went to the Neve Shalom Synagogue.

The ceremony started as the Chief Rabbi of Turkey Rabbi Isak Haleva and the Chief Rabbi of Russia Rabbi Berel Lazar entered the synagogue together. Six candles, to honor the Jewish people who had lost their lives during the Holocaust and the terror attacks throughout history, were lit together by the guests and the hosts from the Turkish Jewish community. After the guests watched a film the two Chief Rabbis made their speeches. Following the Ashkavah prayer cited by Rabbi David Sevi in memory of the people who had lost their lives during the terror and synagogue attacks, the ceremony came to an end with the two songs sung by the guest rabbis.

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