On the last day of their stay in Russia, the member Rabbis of the RCE visited the city of Sevastopol in the Crimean peninsula, where a ceremony was held in memory of the thousands of Jews who were murdered in Crimea during the Holocaust. The Rabbanim flew directly from Moscow to Crimea on a special government flight. The ceremony was arranged under the auspices of the Russian government to honor the memory of 4,200 Jews, Hy”d, who were murdered in the Crimean peninsula.

The event began with tefillas Minchah within the bare frame of the city’s Central Synagogue, which is under construction. The shul’s rabbi is Sevastopol’s rabbi and Chabad shaliach Harav Binyamin Wolf. Afterward, the RCE Rabbanim made their way to the ceremony, which was held in the shul at the foot of a memorial monument dedicated to the Jews murdered by the Nazis, ym”s, in the city. Harav Berel Lazar was the featured speaker.

Harav Yisrael Yaakov Lichtenstein, Av Beis Din of the Federation of Synagogues in London and member of the RCE’s presidium, recited the Keil malei rachamim prayer. Harav Yirmeyahu Menachem Cohen, Av Beis Din of Paris and member of the RCE’s presidium, recited the Yizkor prayer. Then Harav Gershon Mendel Garelik, Av Beis Din of Milan, who had been born in Crimea, recited the Kaddish with great emotion, and it was broadcast by dozens of media devices covering the event.

Harav David Moshe Lieberman, Av Beis Din of Antwerp’s Shomrei Hadas community and RCE member, delivered a very special speech. Afterward, the mayor of Sevastopol spoke as well, promising the municipality’s support in completing the construction of the Jewish Community Center and the shul, which are located in the city’s center.

The city’s rabbi, Harav Binyamin Wolf, recited a perek of Tehillim, passuk by passuk. Following the speeches, five memorial candles were lit. The ceremony came to a close with an emotional singing of Ani Maamin.

After the memorial ceremony the Rabbanim, led by Rabbi Wolf, visited the local Jewish community center and remarked that they were deeply impressed by its activities.

At one point during their visit the Rabbanim were part of an emotional experience – a 102-year-old Jewish man approached and began speaking with them, expressing his excitement over their visit. In the course of the conversation it became clear that the elderly man hadn’t donned tefillin since his bar mitzvah. Harav Berel Lazar quickly produced his own tefillin and put them on this man, who wept with emotion. The Rabbanim witnessing this likewise shed tears. The impact of this very touching incident remained with the Rabbanim as they made their way back to Russia.

The participating members of the RCE’s presidium were: Harav Gershon Mendel Garelik, Av Beis Din of Milan, Italy; Harav Moshe David Lieberman, Av Beis Din of the Shomrei Hadas community in Antwerp, Belgium; Harav Yirmeyahu Menachem Cohen, Av Beis Din of Paris, France; and Harav Yisrael Yaakov Lichtenstein, Av Beis Din of the Federation of Synagogues in London, England. The participating members of the RCE’s Rabbinical Council were: Harav Baruch Oberlander, Av Beis Din of the Badatz of Kehillas Hachareidim in Budapest, Hungary; Harav Moshe Tuvia Weisberger, Av Beis Din of the Adas Yereim community in Budapest, Hungary; Harav Binyamin Jacobs, Chief Rabbi of the Inter-Provincial Chief Rabbinate of the Netherlands and director of Holland’s Vaad Harabbanim; Harav Berel Lazar, Chief Rabbi of Russia; Harav Yitzchak Niazov, Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Vienna, Austria; Harav Avraham Baruch Pevzner, assistant Av Beis Din of the Lubavitch communities in Paris, France; Harav Yaakov David Schmahl, Dayan of the Shomrei Hadas community of Antwerp, Belgium; and Harav Michael Shmerla, Av Beis Din of Strasbourg, France. The RCE’s directors, Harav Menachem Margolin and Harav Aryeh Goldberg, accompanied the group.