Chabad Lubavitch of Armenia
Chabad-Lubavitch in Armenia: Rabbi Gershon Meir Burshtein's Mordechai Navi centre in Yerevan, the country's only synagogue, attacked four times in 2023–24
| Chabad Lubavitch of Armenia
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Chabad-Lubavitch emissary operation |
| Founded | 1995 (Chabad House, Yerevan) |
| Founder(s) | Gershon Meir Burshtein |
| Headquarters | Mordechai Navi Jewish Religious Center, 23 Nar-Dos Street, Yerevan |
| Area served | Armenia |
| Key people | Gershon Meir Burshtein |
| Remarks | Affiliations: Ohr Avner Foundation (support, 1999). Not listed in the Lubavitch.com directory (October 2026) |
Chabad-Lubavitch in Armenia centres on Rabbi Gershon Meir Burshtein (also spelt Bourshtein and Burstein), whom Chabad.org called "the Chabad-Lubavitch emissary to Armenia" in 1999.[1] According to Chabad.org, Chabad "has maintained a presence in Armenia throughout the 1990s, establishing a Chabad House there in 1995". At that time it was working "with the help of Chabad-Lubavitch's Ohr Avner Foundation".[1] Burshtein leads the Mordechay (Mordechai) Navi Jewish Religious Center in Yerevan, which houses Armenia's only synagogue.[2][3] OC Media calls him Chief Rabbi.[3] Between October 2023 and June 2024 the synagogue was attacked four times.[3]
Armenia does not appear in the Lubavitch.com centres directory. Burshtein's Chabad status here rests on Chabad.org (1999) and on the Forward (2020), which referred to "a Lubavitcher rabbi" in Yerevan.[1][4]
Emissaries and centre
- Chabad House, 1995. In 1999 Chabad.org described the centre's activities: "free meals", care for elderly Jews, and courses in "Hebrew, Jewish tradition and history". At Purim 1999 more than 150 people attended the evening Megillah reading, and 120 pensioners received mishloach manot.[1]
- Mordechai Navi centre. Police gave the centre's address as "23 Nar-Dos Street in Yerevan".[5]
- Population. More than 6,000 Jews left in 1992–94, according to Chabad.org (1999).[1] JTA (2024) reported that the influx after Russia's invasion of Ukraine raised the Jewish population "from fewer than a hundred to well over 1,000". Burshtein told JTA: "If it weren't for the war between Russia and Ukraine, there'd be maybe 50 or 100 Jews left here".[2]
Relations with the Jewish community
- The Jewish Community of Armenia is headed by Rimma Varzhapetyan (Rima Varzhapetyan).[5] Nathaniel (Nataniel) Trubkin heads the Jewish Home in Yerevan.[3][2]
- Burshtein holds prayers at Mama Jan, a café that has become the gathering place for Russian Jewish newcomers. Some of the newcomers now attend Shabbat services at his synagogue.[2]
Relations with the state, business and Israel
- Israel–Azerbaijan arms trade. In October 2020 Armenia recalled its ambassador from Israel over Israeli arms used by Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh. The Forward quoted an Armenian Jew who prayed in a Yerevan sukkah "next to a Lubavitcher rabbi, praying that Israeli bombs won't fall on Armenian lives".[4] In 2024 JTA reported "Armenia's unhappiness with Israeli weapons sales to archenemy Azerbaijan".[2] (Compare Chabad Lubavitch of Azerbaijan, where the Chabad emissary prayed for Azerbaijan's victory.)
- Attacks on the synagogue, 2023–24. Allegations only: no perpetrator had been convicted in the sources found.
- 15 November 2023 (arson attempt). Video showed a person pouring burning fuel on the centre's door. Police opened an investigation.[5] A Telegram channel claiming to be the youth wing of ASALA claimed responsibility. It accused the Jewish centre of "espionage in the interests of Tel Aviv and [Azerbaijani President Ilham] Aliyev's zionist junta".[3] Armenia's Investigative Committee said the attacker was neither an Armenian citizen nor a resident and had "immediately left" the country.[3]
- Varzhapetyan said: "Obviously, there are some forces that work not against us Jews, but against Armenia."[5] According to OC Media, Burshtein called the attack "non-political, staged, and demonstrative in nature, in order to falsely accuse Armenians of anti-Semitism".[3]
- Israel's non-resident ambassador, Joel Lion, called on Armenia "to condemn all forms of antisemitism, to fully investigate this crime, and bring the perpetrators to justice".[5]
- June 2024. A brick was thrown through a window in what OC Media called the fourth attack since October 2023. Arayik Harutyunyan, chief of staff to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, condemned "every case and attempt of national and religious xenophobia". The Investigative Committee instructed police to investigate.[3]
Funding and donors
In 1999 Chabad.org said the work continued "with the help of Chabad-Lubavitch's Ohr Avner Foundation" and that financial prospects were "not very good".[1] No current accounts or named donors were found.
Controversies
No controversy involving Chabad's own conduct was found. The attacks described above were directed against the centre.
Timeline
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1992–94 | More than 6,000 Jews emigrate |
| 1995 | Chabad House established in Yerevan |
| 1999 | Chabad.org names Burshtein as Chabad emissary to Armenia |
| Oct 2020 | Armenia recalls its ambassador from Israel over arms sales to Azerbaijan |
| 2022–24 | Influx of Russian and Ukrainian Jews raises the community above 1,000 |
| 15 Nov 2023 | Arson attempt on the Mordechai Navi centre |
| Jun 2024 | Fourth attack on the synagogue since October 2023 |
See also
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Armenia
- Chabad-Lubavitch in West Asia
- Chabad Lubavitch of Azerbaijan
- Chabad Lubavitch of Georgia
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Lubavitch News Service, "Armenia's Jews Anxious For Calm", Chabad.org, 19 November 1999. Chabad-side.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Larry Luxner, "Russia's invasion of Ukraine inadvertently sparks a Jewish renaissance — in Armenia", Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 22 February 2024. Press.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Arshaluys Barseghyan, "Yerevan Synagogue attacked for fourth time in a year", OC Media, June 2024. Press.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 David Ian Klein, "Amid fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan's Jews pray for victory", The Forward, 16 October 2020. Press.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 AFP and ToI Staff, "Armenia opens probe into arson attack on synagogue", The Times of Israel, 16 November 2023. Press.