Photos: Levi Nazarov
About 1,000 people ate the festive Yom Tov meals in the large and impressive Sukkah in the courtyard of the Marina Roscha Synagogue in central Moscow, headed by the Chief Rabbi of Russia, Rabbi Berel Lazar.
The meals are served by a team of dozens of waiters, who serve the hot and generous food, free of charge for all the holiday meals, Shabbat Chol HaMoed and Shemini Atzeret.
Despite the rains on the second day of the holiday, the meals were held in the Sukkah and joyous dancing went on every night, continued on into the next street. Moscow police were on hand to arrange the event and let the Chassidim dance for a long time.
The adjacent street between the Marina Roscha Shul, the Shaare Zedek Jewish charity center and the Jewish Museum is currently undergoing extensive renovation with a very large financial investment by the municipality of Moscow, which was planned to finish by the holidays, but was not able to meet the dates because of the large scope of work. Nevertheless, during the entire renovation period, the municipality and the police are taking care of the safety of the hundreds and thousands of Jews who visit the area, especially during these days of the Jewish holidays.
