Synagogue Beit Rakhel Khabad Lyubavich

The synagogue in Astana is the largest in Central Asia. The mere fact that it has opened in a region where a significant part of the population follow Islam, stands as the best proof of the policy of religious tolerance which Kazakhstan maintains.

The design and construction of the synagogue was carried out with the support of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress. The total area of the synagogue amounts to 5600 square meters, and its height to the Star of David on the roof is 25 meters. During the solemn inauguration a significant event occurred, the first time in the history of Kazakhstan’s capital that a Torah scroll was written out and entrusted to a new synagogue. This scroll, a gift from the Kazakh businessman Mikhail Zaidman, was written out in Israel specially for the Beit Rachel Chabad Lubavich synagogue, and the last letters in the scroll were written by honorary members of the Kazakh Jewish community and foreign rabbis here in Astana.