A synagogue was returned to a Ukrainian Jewish community decades after being closed by the Communist Party.
The Chernovtzy City Council voted Oct. 25 to transfer the historic synagogue building to the Chernovtzy Jewish community.
Josef Zissels, a human rights activist and leader of the Vaad of Ukraine, wrote a letter to Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko asking him to return the synagogue building to the community. The return had the support of the city’s mayor and a deputy of city council.
Some 500 of the city’s 800 Jews are affiliated with the local Chabad community.
