By COLlive reporter
Flying out of New York on Thursday is a group of Chassidic Jewish men headed to Russia to mark a historic occasion: 25 years since the fall of the Iron Curtain.
Members of the Shira Choir will be singing at one of the largest Jewish celebrations in recent history to be held this Sunday in Moscow.
19 Kislev, celebrated as the “Rosh Hashanah of Chassidism,” is the day the first Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (1745–1812), was freed from his imprisonment in czarist Russia.
Organizers said the celebration will also highlight the victory of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement which was oppressed under Communist rule and has now led to the revival of Russian Jewry.
It will be held in a symbolic location: The Volynskoe Congress-Park Hotel, known as a favorite location spot the for highest echelons of power and located just across the Kremlin on the Setun River.
Leading the festivities will be Russia’s Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar, back in the country from celebrating his son’s engagement in New York. Lazar leads the Federation of Jewish Communities in Russia, the largest Jewish group on the continent.
Addressing the event will also be Natan Sharansky, one of the most famous former Soviet refusniks and head of the Jewish Agency for Israel; Rabbi Cantor Berel Zaltzman of New Jersey; and Russian playwright and activist Alexander Gelman who will share his encounter with the Rebbe.
The Shira Choir will be harmoniously singing Chassidic melodies and classic Jewish songs accompanied by the Ruvi Banet Orchestra. Archival video footage from Jewish life in Soviet times will be screened throughout the event.
“We are very excited to be flying to Moscow for the Chag Hageula and to sing for the Jews of Russia,” choir member Hershy Weinberger told COLlive.com. He is traveling with Yossi Orgel, Eli Sprei and Yankie Ungar.
A publicity campaign for the celebration has been up for the last month in Moscow, inviting all Jews to celebrate the renewal of the Jewish community after years of oppression and persecution.
And so, thousands are expected to openly celebrate their Jewish faith not far from the dacha (second home) used by the infamous Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.
He will bring the crowd to tears of joy!!!!!!
Will be a big kidush hashem!
he will be a big hit at this event iyh.