Almaty: New Wing Inaugurated at Chabad’s Guesthouse Complex
A new wing at the spacious Guesthouse Complex of the Central Chabad House in the heart of Almaty, Kazakhstan, was inaugurated last Thursday, on Chof Av – the Tahrtzeit of the Kabbalist Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson ZT”L, – The Rebbe’s father.
The new wing, which occupies an entire floor atop the building dedicated two years ago, expands the complex’s capacity with dozens of comfortable guest rooms. With this addition, the Guesthouse can now host up to 300 visitors at once.
According to the country’s Chief Rabbi and head shliach, Rabbi Yeshaya Cohen, the expansion is designed to welcome more Jewish families from Almaty and other Kazakh cities seeking to experience Shabbos, as well as the ever-growing number of international visitors who come to pray by Rabbi Levi Yitzchak — revered as a site of blessing and salvation.
“Rabbi Levi Yitzchak was known for his boundless hospitality, both in Yekaterinoslav where he served as Chief Rabbi, and here in Kazakhstan during his exile despite dire poverty,” Rabbi Cohen noted. “It is therefore most fitting that this new wing of the Guesthouse is inaugurated on his yahrzeit.”
At the same time, a new building for the Chevra Kadisha was also inaugurated at the Jewish cemetery near the Chabad House, where Rabbi Levi Yitzchak is buried. The facility includes a eulogy hall and a taharah room, and its dedication was marked by the opening of a Yeshivas Kayitz for dozens of Lubavitch students from Moscow and Or Yehuda. “We inaugurated this place with Torah study,” Rabbi Cohen explained, “so that it becomes a source of holiness — and may we merit never to need its use.”
This past Shabbos, more than 200 shluchim and chassidim gathered at the central Chabad campus for the yahrzeit. As previously reported, over 1,000 Jews — many from Israel, the U.S., and Europe — traveled to Kazakhstan for the occasion, arriving on special charter flights.
This marks the 81st yahrzeit of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak, who passed away and was laid to rest in Kazakhstan after being exiled there by the Communists for the “crime” of spreading Torah and Chassidus throughout the Soviet Union. In recent years, his resting place has drawn an increasing stream of visitors from around the world, seeking blessings and salvation at his holy site.
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