Amid threats of war, a Hachnasas Sefer Torah took place on Monday in Dnipro in eastern Ukraine, the country’s business hub and fourth-largest city, with about one million residents.

Hundreds of Jews participated in bringing the Torah to the shul and new Beis Chabad in the Pola neighborhood, which is near the city center and a popular neighborhood for young couples with many parks and modern schools.

About 10,000 Jews live in the area and an early childhood education center operates there with about 200 Jewish children.

Leading the event were the shul’s Rav, HaRav Levi Englesman, Chief Rabbi of Dnipro HaRav Shmuel Kaminetzky, and other Rabbanim.

Dnipro is referred to by some as the “Jewish capital of Ukraine” because among other things, it is the city with the largest number of Jewish educational institutions in the country and it also has what some say is the largest multifunctional Jewish community in Europe, and even the world – the Menorah Center.

The Center, which consists of seven marble tower buildings over an area of about 50,000 square meters, has a shul, kosher restaurants and cafes, conference halls, banquet halls, a luxury hotel, a youth hostel, classrooms, a tourist information center, museums, offices, shopping areas, a publishing house, and art galleries.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)