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Bukharian Community Comes Home
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he Bukharian Jewish community of Norcross held a triple celebration Sunday, Oct. 18, simultaneously inaugurating the new building for Congregation Beit Yitzchak; the lavish Mikvah USA-sponsored mikvah in the basement of that former home at 6030 Goodwood Blvd.; and the launch of Kollel Beit Yitzchak, a spinoff of Toco Hills’ Kollel Ner Hamizrach. The roughly 100 families who are members of Beit Yitzchak were reinforced for the celebration by scholars from Toco Hills, as well as the chief rabbi of the Bukharian communities of the United States and Canada, Itzhak Yehoshua. After a dinner at the shul that was packed with speeches, recognition for donors and other supporters, and a bit of dancing, the celebration moved a little more than a mile to the congregation’s former home, the King David Community Center on Singleton Road, to welcome more of the community into the festivities. (For more about the celebration, see the Editor’s Notebook, Page 10.)
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OCTOBER 23 ▪ 2015
Photos by Michael Jacobs unless otherwise noted A. Photo by Rabbi David Kapenstein
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Ner Hamizrach Rabbi Shmuel Khoshkerman addresses the Beit Yitzchak community, which he has nurtured for more than 20 years. B. Simon Barayev serves as the emcee for the Beit Yitzchak dedication dinner. C. Bukharian Chief Rabbi Itzhak Yehoshua welcomes the guests to dinner at the new shul. D. Mikvah Duvid Areyeh is open for use, thanks to the help of Mikvah USA. E. Esteemed rabbis, including Toco Hills leaders Shmuel Khoshkerman (far left) of Congregation Ner Hamizrach and Ilan Feldman (third from left) of Congregation Beth Jacob, gather around Bukharian Chief Rabbi Itzhak Yehoshua. F. The celebration includes many Bukharian generations. G. Photo by Rabbi David Kapenstein At the center of the post-dinner dancing are (from left) Rabbi Israel Zelman, Simon Barayev and Rabbi Sroy Levitansky. H. Rabbi Eliezer Cohen, the rosh kollel of Kollel Ner Hamizrach, tells Beit Yitzchak members that they have no excuse not to devote themselves to Torah study now that they have their own kollel one night a week. I. On the outside, Congregation Beit Yitzchak blends into its residential Norcross neighborhood.
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O J. Congregation members enjoy a festive meal. K. This depiction of the planned all-wood ark hangs in the new shul’s sanctuary. The actual ark, designed by Mordchai Greenwald and being crafted in Malaysia, should be in place before Passover. L. Rabbi Nathan Phuzayloff tells how he came to become the spiritual leader of Beit Yitzchak. M. All the rabbis and a few nonrabbis gather for a group photograph after dinner at the shul. N. Chief Rabbi Itzhak Yehoshua translates from Russian to English for Beit Yitzchak’s president, Anatoliy Iskhakov. O. Rabbi Yitzchok Bistritzky (right), the founder of Mikvah USA, presents an award recognizing one of the donors behind the Beit Yitzchak’s new mikvah.