FJC: The restored Chasidic Synagogue has been opened yesterday in Mukachevo, Zakarpatye region, Ukraine. The Mukacher Rebbe Moishe-Leyb Rabinovich and his congregation were present at the inauguration ceremony.For the Jewish community of Mukachevo which counts one thousand Jews this is a great event. This turned out to be a double festivity when the great Tzadik,Rabbi Rabinovich, who was born in this very house in 1940, arrived to share the joy of the occasion. Just as in 1940, there was a crowd of people around the Synagogue while inside the renewed Synagogue were Chassidim gathering for the Shacharit Prayer for the first time in 65 years.

The inauguration began after the Morning Prayer as the worshippers prayed for peace in Eretz-Israel, while Rabbi Menachem Mendel Taichman of Uzhgorod recited the 20th psalm. The Mukacher Rebbe Moishe Leyb Rabinovich affixed a mezuzah to the Synagogue door. For him, he said, it was a real wonder to open a synagogue in his own town and in the house he was born.

Chief Rabbi of West Ukraine Shlomo Wilhelm addressed his words to hundreds of Chassidim and members of Jewish communities of Uzhgorod, Beregovoy, Vinogradov and other settlements of the region. He emphasized the symbolism of this event occurring on the Rosh Chodesh of the month Av, which demonstrated the resurrection of the Jewish community in Ukraine.

Officials representing the City Administration of Mukachevo extended congratulations to the Jewish community, while the Ukrainian Department for the Affairs of Religions sent a congratulatory message which said: �This significant event is an evident proof of the progress and preserving of spiritual achievements, the establishment of high ideals within the society, which assist the building of a free democratic society. The Ukrainian state is home for all nationalities and religions, among which Judaism takes a place of honor, as the Jewish Community synthesizes incredible spiritual and cultural achievements.�

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