City Gets Rabbi Plus Chazzan

By COLlive reporter

The ever-growing number of Chabad Shluchim serving in the former Soviet Union will soon be joined by a young and dynamic couple: Rabbi Shmuli and Sara Stiefel.

Russia’s Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar recently appointed Rabbi Stiefel as the new Chief Rabbi of the Jewish community in Lipetsk, located on the banks of the Voronezh River in the Don basin, southeast of Moscow.

There are an estimated 4,000 Jewish people living in the city and Rabbi Stiefel will be serving them from the Jewish Community Center and Synagogue which was built a few years ago.

“I’ve worked in Russia in numerous summer camps and Jewish communities,” the Montreal native says, noting that he is “really excited to return there.”

The Stiefels will soon be moving from Crown Heights – where Sara (nee Dinerman) is from – with their children Meirke, Freidy, and 3 week-old Mushka.

“There is an existing community infrastructure there,” he told COLlive. “We plan to cater to all aspects of Jewish life. This may include educational facilities for children, adult education, holiday programs, family and teen activities.”

What that Lipetsk community is also getting with Stiefel’s arrival is a gifted chazzan who is well-versed in traditional Yiddish song and chassidic melodies.

“From my Bar Mitzvah, I have always enjoyed singing and have been called upon by Shluchim to daven and to entertain children, supporters and residents of senior homes in Yiddish, English, Hebrew and Russian,” he says.

In fact, when he auditioned in 2010 for “A Jewish Star” singing competition, Shmuli stated that he was “looking to move on Shlichus and use my talent to attract people to Yiddishkeit. The Rebbe always emphasized that we should use all our talents in Avoidas Hashem.”

“We are confident that with the Rebbe’s brachos we will succeed in advancing Yiddishkeit where Judaism was once banned,” he says.

To support Stiefels’ new Shlichus – click here