Jews in Syktyvkar, the capital city of the northwestern Russian republic of Komi, have a dream: They wish to build and worship in the northernmost synagogue in the world.
The 1,500 Jews of Syktyvkar already have a Sunday school and other features of a lively Jewish community - but they now feel it is time to have a synagogue as well.
The Jews of Syktyvkar, as well as another 1,000 Jews scattered in other parts of Komi, are products of a tragic chapter in Jewish history. In the 1930's, Russian dictator and mass-murderer Josef Stalin ordered the construction of dozens of prison camps in Komi, which became one of the biggest and deadliest branches of Gulag (the branch of the Soviet Union State Security that operated the penal system of forced labor camps and prisons - mostly for political prisoners, petty thieves, loafers, and others). Among millions of others, tens of thousands of Jews were imprisoned there - and most did not survive.
Among those who did were many who remained in Komi, starting families and building up the country.
Leonid Zilberg, Chairman of the Jewish community of Syktyvkar, which is a member of Lev Levayev's Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia, says, "Our community includes people of different generations, from former Gulag prisoners to their grand- and great-grandchildren. The community has grown into an active and respected organization."
It will be the sign of the tragic destiny of Jewish people scattered all over the world, and of their stamina and courage.
The Komi Jewish community has a Sunday school and young people’s club, publishes books of true stories about Jewish prisoners of Stalin camps, helps its poor and elderly, organizes sport competitions, and convenese at their Jewish Center to study Torah, celebrate Jewish holidays and members’ birthdays, and to discuss political and cultural events.
"Most of the observant members of the community are orthodox Jews," Zilberg says, "but unfortunately, we don’t have a rabbi. But we believe we can solve this problem, too."
The community's immediate dream, however, is to build a synagogue - and architectural plans have already been been made, a contractor has been hired, and a favorable bank loan is all but secured. The 1,000-square meter P-shaped building is to have several wings, each of which will be fashioned differently and at a different height.
Some financial assistance is expected to come from domestic sources, but help from foreign sponsors, especially from Jewish communities in the USA, Canada and Western Europe, will also be sought out. Construction is scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2009, with completion expected in 2012.
Zilberg says the project has the backing of the Governor the Komi Republic, Vladimir Torlopov, who has allocated choice downtown land for the building. "If we succeed in our plans," Zilberg says, "it will be the most northern synagogue in the world. We think it is symbolic. It will be the sign of the tragic destiny of Jewish people scattered all over the world, of their stamina and courage, which helped to survive even the hardest ordeals, as well as of their kindness, good hearts, and willingness to share their secular and spiritual knowledge with people around them."
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