Chabad Lubavitch of Cyprus
Chabad-Lubavitch organisation serving the Jewish community in Cyprus
| Chabad Lubavitch of Cyprus
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|---|---|
| Logo | 
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| Type | Chabad-Lubavitch Jewish outreach organisation |
| Founded | 2003 |
| Founder(s) | Arie Zeev Raskin and Shaindel Raskin |
| Headquarters | Larnaca, Cyprus |
| Location | Multiple centres across Cyprus (Larnaca, Limassol, Paphos, Nicosia, Ayia Napa, Northern Cyprus) |
| Area served | Cyprus |
| Services | Jewish education, religious services, community support, outreach, kashrut |
| Key people | Arie Zeev Raskin (Chief Rabbi and director) |
| Website | chabadcyprus.com |
Chabad Lubavitch of Cyprus (Hebrew: חב"ד קפריסין) is a branch of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement that serves the Jewish community, residents, businesspeople and visitors in Cyprus. It is the primary organised Jewish communal body on the island and is directed by Arie Zeev Raskin, who has served as Chief Rabbi of Cyprus since his formal investiture in 2005.[1][2]
History
In 2003 Arie Zeev Raskin (born 1976, previously of Kiryat Malachi) and his wife Shaindel Raskin relocated from Israel to Larnaca with their children as Chabad emissaries. At the time the resident Jewish population was estimated at a few hundred families, largely of Israeli, Russian and other European origin, with little organised religious infrastructure. Cyprus had had no resident rabbi for centuries, the last significant Jewish presence having been the British detention camps that held tens of thousands of Holocaust survivors and refugees between 1946 and 1949.[1][2][3]
On 12 September 2005, at the dedication of the first permanent Chabad centre and synagogue in Larnaca (the Rohr Family Community Synagogue), Raskin was formally appointed Chief Rabbi of Cyprus. The ceremony was attended by Israel’s Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger and a representative of the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, Jonathan Sacks, along with Cypriot government officials and diplomats. The same event marked the completion of a new Torah scroll and the groundbreaking for the island’s first mikvah.[1][2]
Subsequent years saw the opening of a mikvah (Mei Menachem) in 2006, expansion of educational programmes including a kindergarten and later the Cyprus International Jewish School / King David School, and the establishment of additional centres. By the mid-2010s Chabad operated in Larnaca, Limassol (dedicated 2014), Paphos, Nicosia and Ayia Napa, with activity also in Northern Cyprus. A larger Jewish Educational Cultural Center was planned in Larnaca. In 2018 Raskin advanced plans for a Jewish Museum of Cyprus focusing on the island’s Jewish history and the wartime refugee camps.[1][4][5]
The community has grown substantially. Estimates of the resident Jewish population have risen from a few hundred families in the early 2000s to several thousand individuals (one official figure places the number around 3,000 families). Israeli tourism has also increased, with Chabad providing services to large numbers of visitors and, at times, assisting stranded travellers.[5][6]
Activities
Chabad Cyprus maintains daily minyanim, Shabbat and holiday services, educational programmes (kindergarten, Hebrew school, adult classes), kosher certification through Cyprus Kosher, mikvah facilities, and community support. It operates a cemetery fund and has assisted with marriages, tourist services and emergency aid. The organisation has hosted high-profile visitors, including a meeting between Rabbi Raskin and Pope Francis in 2021 and a 2024 visit by UK Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, who laid a cornerstone for a new school building.[7][8][9]
Centres
- Chabad – CJCC – Cyprus Jewish Community Centres / Great Synagogue of Cyprus (headquarters, Apollodorou 4, Larnaca) — directed by Arie Zeev Raskin and Shaindel Raskin; includes Mikveh Mei Menachem.
- Chabad House of Limassol / Chabad Limassol Center of Light (Porfyriou Dikaiou 5, Limassol; opened 2014) — directed by Rabbi Yair Baitch and Geula Baitch; additional mikvah inaugurated 2025.
- Chabad of Paphos (5 Othellou Street, Kato Paphos; established c. 2017) — directed by Rabbi Itzik Eisenbach and Chana Eisenbach.
- Chabad of Nicosia (Agias Elenis 16 / 10 Mystra Street, Engomi, Nicosia).
- Chabad Ayia Napa (Kavo Gkreko 11, Ayia Napa; seasonal/summer centre).
- Chabad-Lubavitch of North Cyprus (Hassan Jafer St. 4, Kervansaray, Karaoglanoglu); sealed by the Turkish Cypriot authorities in November 2023 (see Northern Cyprus below).
Structure and status
The organisation operates under the global Chabad-Lubavitch network. Rabbi Raskin heads the Chief Rabbinate of Cyprus, which handles kashrut certification, marriage registration, rabbinical matters and community representation. The Rabbinate’s offices are located at the Larnaca centre.[6]
Growth after COVID-19
In an interview with The Jerusalem Post published on 3 March 2023, Arie Zeev Raskin, described by the paper as the "country's chief rabbi", said the Jewish population of Cyprus had "swelled over the past three years" as Israelis able to work from home moved to the island. The paper reported his estimate of "a total of 2,000 Jewish families in Cyprus – about 6,000 Jews". It listed Chabad houses, "which also serve as the country's synagogues", in Larnaca, Ayia Napa, Paphos, Limassol and Nicosia, and reported that "Instead of two rabbis for the whole community before COVID, there are now seven."[10] These figures are Raskin's own estimates; the Chief Rabbinate's website gives "approximatley 3,000 families" (sic).[11]
Raskin also set out Chabad's view of the move from Israel to Cyprus: "Of course, as Chabad, we are not happy with that. We believe that the Jewish people should remain in Israel."[10]
Disputes with the Cypriot authorities
The same Jerusalem Post article set out two long-running disputes between the Jewish community led by Arie Zeev Raskin and the authorities of the Republic of Cyprus, drawing on the US State Department's report on international religious freedom for 2021.[10]
- Autopsies. The State Department report says: "Representatives of the Jewish community continued to report that authorities performed autopsies on deceased members of the community for deaths that were not suspicious, a practice they said violated Jewish religious beliefs and practice."[12] Raskin told the Post: "Every time we have a case of a Jewish person dying in Cyprus, we have to find creative ways to prevent an autopsy from taking place."[10]
- Ritual slaughter (shechita). Cypriot law requires animals to be stunned before slaughter, with no religious exemption. The State Department report says that officials of the Department of Veterinary Services denied exemptions "following a 2019 department decision to no longer grant exemptions for religious slaughter", and that a 2020 government bill allowing kosher and halal slaughter was withdrawn "following strong reactions by animal rights activists".[12] Raskin told the Post that the community has to import kosher meat at "a price three times higher (and in some cases even more)" than locally sourced meat.[10]
- The report also records that the authorities had not answered a request, pending since 2017, from the Chief Rabbinate of Cyprus for the right to issue marriage, death and divorce certificates.[12]
These are the community's complaints as reported by the State Department and the Post; no response from the Cypriot authorities is quoted in either source.
The 2019 "spy van" affair and the community presidency
In November 2019 the "spy van" affair led to a public dispute over who heads the Jewish community in Cyprus. The affair was a police investigation into a surveillance van linked to WiSpear Systems Ltd, whose chief executive was the former Israeli intelligence officer Tal Dilian.[13][14]
The Democratic Rally (DISY) confirmed that its leader, Averof Neophytou, had met the Israeli businessman Shahak Avraham Avni. Neophytou said he had met Avni "as an active member and head of the Jewish community". The Cyprus Mail reported that Avni had been linked to the Larnaca company CIS International Ltd, which is related to NCIS Intelligence & Security Services Ltd, and that he had been granted a firearm permit after the then justice minister, Ionas Nicolaou, overruled a police committee that had twice refused it.[13][15]
Dialogos, an outlet of Dialogos Media Group (publisher of Haravgi), whose shareholders the Euromedia Ownership Monitor describes as "mostly PEPs [politically exposed persons] affiliated with AKEL", disputed this account on 22 November 2019. It said that the leader of the Jewish community was Arie Zeev Raskin, resident since 2003, and called Avni's presidency an invention to justify the meeting.[16][17][18] The community's first statement said that its president did not own the van and held no shares or position in the companies named in the press. As Dialogos noted, that statement did not name the president.[16] A further statement, reported by Phileleftheros on 22 November, said that since 2014 the head of the association "Jewish Community of Cyprus" had been Avni, and that Raskin was its religious leader, "both of whom are highly respected by the community".[19] "Jewish Community Cyprus" is also the account name given for bank donations on Chabad Cyprus's own website.[20] In December 2019 Avni accused AKEL of "unprecedented Antisemitic persistence" in a paid advertisement.[15]
Legal outcome. In November 2021 the Attorney General stayed the prosecution of three individuals, among them Dilian; this was neither a conviction nor an acquittal. Avni was not among the defendants named by the Cyprus Mail.[21] In February 2022 the company, WiSpear Systems Ltd, pleaded guilty to 42 counts and was cleared of 49 others; the Larnaca criminal court fined it €76,000. The data protection commissioner had separately imposed an administrative fine of €925,000 in November 2021.[14]
Police briefing note. According to a police briefing note published by ToThemaOnline, a security service of the Republic of Cyprus described Avni as the head and security officer of a "Jewish charitable sect" called "CHAPAD". ToThemaOnline reported on 20 November 2019 that the note ran to 25 pages and had been prepared by a police sub-inspector for a senior officer, dated 12 September 2016. It said it had first revealed the note's existence in February 2017. The police did not release the document. ToThemaOnline published extracts from a copy it held, and the sources consulted do not say how it obtained that copy. The passage, as ToThemaOnline published it on 20 November 2019, reads:[22]
- «είναι επικεφαλής και υπεύθυνος ασφαλείας της εβραϊκής φιλανθρωπικής αίρεσης με την ονομασία CHAPAD, η οποία δραστηριοποιείται στη Δημοκρατία …. , αριθμεί 400.000 μέλη παγκόσμια και δεν αναγνωρίζεται από το κράτος του Ισραήλ»
- ("[he] is the head and security officer of the Jewish charitable sect named CHAPAD, which is active in the Republic …. , numbers 400,000 members worldwide and is not recognised by the State of Israel"; our translation; the ellipsis is ToThemaOnline's.)
A second ToThemaOnline article, on 22 November 2019, quoted the same passage with slightly different wording.[23] The characterisation is that of the unnamed security service, as recorded in the police note. No other reporting consulted corroborates it. No charge or finding concerning Avni followed, and he was not among the defendants in the "spy van" case.[21]
Responses. No response from Avni, the Jewish Community of Cyprus or Chabad Cyprus that addresses the note itself was found. On 22 November 2019 ToThemaOnline published the community's statement in full alongside the extract. The statement did not mention the note, but said: «Τις τελευταίες μέρες έχουν ακουστεί και γραφτεί πολλές ανακρίβειες και διαδόσεις γύρω από τα ονόματα που έχουν προαναφερθεί» ("In recent days many inaccuracies and rumours have been heard and written about the names mentioned above"; our translation). It added that the community was in contact with its lawyers.[23] A ToThemaOnline headline reported that NCIS, the company the note links to Avni, threatened legal action unless ToThemaOnline took down "the police report" within five days. Only the headline could be checked.[24] Avni's December 2019 advertisement, quoted above, rejected "false information" in general terms.[15]
Northern Cyprus
A separate Chabad centre, Chabad Lubavitch of North Cyprus, has operated in the Turkish Cypriot-administered north since at least April 2008. Its emissaries are Rabbi Chaim Hillel Azimov and Devorah Leah Azimov, and Chabad's directory lists it at Hassan Jafer St. 4, Kervansaray, Karaoğlanoğlu.[25][26] A Chabad.org News report, republished by CrownHeights.info, described the couple as "newly arrived" in April 2008, when they held a Passover Seder for some 45 people in a hotel; the report was datelined Kyrenia.[25]
The Chabad-led Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States, chaired by Mendy Chitrik of Chabad in Turkey, lists "Rabbi Chaim Hilel Azimow", "Rabbi of North Cyprus", as an "Observer". It lists no rabbi for the Republic of Cyprus.[27]
The 2023 closure. On 19 October 2023 the Cyprus Mail reported that Yasemin Öztürk, a deputy of the governing National Unity Party (UBP) in the Turkish Cypriot assembly, had called for the centre, which the paper placed in Ayios Georgios near Kyrenia, to be closed, and had said she would contact the relevant authorities.[28] In November 2023 the centre's sign was covered and its building sealed on the grounds that it lacked the necessary permits. The sources differ on which authority acted. The US State Department says that Famagusta Municipality ordered the sign covered, "citing missing permits for the center's activities".[29] The Turkish daily Milli Gazete, which attributes the action to its own coverage and to Öztürk's efforts, says that the Kyrenia (Girne) district governorate asked the centre for its permits, gave it extra time to produce them, and then covered the sign and sealed the building.[30] The Cyprus Mail reported that the building was "sealed off by local authorities pressured by the same nationalist group" that later demonstrated outside it.[31]
The sources also differ on when Azimov left. Milli Gazete reported on 18 November 2023 that he had "fled" the north for the Greek Cypriot-administered south.[30] The State Department gives the date as 27 November and says that he "departed Cyprus with his family, citing increasing hostility toward the Jewish community" after the Hamas attack on Israel of 7 October, following Öztürk's calls on social media for the centre's closure and his deportation.[29] On 9 December 2023 Öztürk led a demonstration outside the centre. According to the State Department, a small group, including the local mukhtar, said the centre was working to build a "Zionist structure" through its ownership of "countless" properties, and Turkish Cypriot opposition media called the protest racist and antisemitic.[29] In October 2026 Chabad's directory still listed the Azimovs at the centre; no source was found on whether it has reopened.[26] A fuller account is on Chabad Lubavitch of North Cyprus.
Fundraising and associated entities
Chabad Cyprus's donation page lists the following accounts and bodies.[20]
- "Jewish Community Cyprus" holds the euro accounts at the Bank of Cyprus and Hellenic Bank. A donations page on the Comeunity platform gives it as "Jewish Community Cyprus Company ID : 4130"; this has not been checked against the Cypriot register.[32] Avni has been president of the association since 2014 (see above).[19]
- "Chabad Lubavitch of Cyprus 770 Ltd" holds a further Bank of Cyprus account. It is a private company, HE 421760, registered on 20 May 2021. Its registered office is 10 Diogenous Street, Larnaca, and Jehoshua Raskin is its director and secretary.[33] The sources consulted do not state his relationship to Arie Zeev Raskin. Chabad Cyprus describes the company as offering "advertisement services, lectures and torah lessons, Judaica shop items and religious books".[34]
- "American Friends of JCC, INC." is described on the donation page as "(Jewish community Cyprus)", with addresses at "665 Crown Heights Brooklyn, NY 11213-5303" and 642 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn. ProPublica's copy of the IRS register lists "Friends Of Jcc", EIN 85-2040452, at 665 Crown St, Brooklyn, NY 11213-5303. It is a 501(c)(3) charity whose IRS ruling is dated September 2020. The street address and ZIP+4 code match, but the name does not, so the identification is probable rather than confirmed. ProPublica holds no returns for it.[35]
- "Friends of Chabad of Cyprus in Israel" holds an account at Discount Bank, Kiryat Malachi. It is registered in Israel as the non-profit association (amuta) ידידי חב"ד קפריסין בישראל (ע"ר) ("Friends of Chabad Cyprus in Israel (R.A.)"), number 580413144.[36]
See also
- Chabad-Lubavitch
- Arie Zeev Raskin
- Judaism in Cyprus
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Cyprus
- Chabad-Lubavitch in West Asia
- Chabad Lubavitch of Turkey
- Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States
External links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Chabad Lubavitch of Cyprus, About Us, ChabadCyprus.com.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 A Jewish Community Plants Roots in Cyprus, Lubavitch.com, 13 September 2005.
- ↑ The Founding of a Jewish Community in Cyprus, Israel National News, 7 September 2005.
- ↑ Cyprus Chabad Dedicates Fourth Location in Limassol, Lubavitch.com, 29 September 2014.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 With Larnaca synagogue and museum, small Cypriot Jewish community has big plans, The Times of Israel, 16 November 2018.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 About us, Chief Rabbinate of Cyprus.
- ↑ Chabad Lubavitch of Cyprus.
- ↑ Pope Francis meets with Chief Rabbi of Cyprus, Vatican News, 3 December 2021.
- ↑ UK’s Chief Rabbi Makes Historic Visit to Cyprus, Anash.org, 16 February 2024.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 James Martin, "Israeli Jews love Cyprus, but there is a religious equality battle", The Jerusalem Post, 3 March 2023.
- ↑ Chief Rabbinate of Cyprus, "Chief Rabbi of Cyprus", accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 US Department of State, Office of International Religious Freedom, 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom: Cyprus, 2022.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Disy boss 'ten times' as keen as anyone for truth about spy van", Cyprus Mail, 26 November 2019.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Elias Hazou, "'Spy van' affair ends with €76,000 fines", Cyprus Mail, 22 February 2022.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 George Psyllides, "Leader of Jewish community accuses Akel of anti-Semitism", Cyprus Mail, 6 December 2019.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Tasos Perdios, "Άλλος ο πρόεδρος της Εβραϊκής Κοινότητας – Άλλον παρουσίασε ο Αβέρωφ" ("The president of the Jewish Community is one man – Averof presented another"), Dialogos, 22 November 2019. In Greek.
- ↑ "Με ψέμα πάνω στο ψέμα ο ΔΗΣΥ – 'Βάφτισαν' τον Avni 'πρόεδρο' για τη συνάντηση" ("DISY piles lie upon lie – they 'christened' Avni 'president' for the meeting"), Dialogos, 22 November 2019. In Greek.
- ↑ Euromedia Ownership Monitor, "Cyprus" country report, 2025 edition. It describes Astra and Haravgi as "closely associated" with AKEL and says the shareholders of Dialogos Media Services are "mostly PEPs affiliated with AKEL".
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 "Owners of 'spy van' in Cyprus say they are victims of witch hunt", Phileleftheros (en.philenews.com), 22 November 2019.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Chabad Lubavitch of Cyprus, "Celebrating 20 years of Chabad Cyprus!", ChabadCyprus.com, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 "Akel cries foul as AG remains tight lipped over dropping spy van charges", Cyprus Mail, 16 November 2021.
- ↑ Fanis Makridis, "Πελάτης του Avni ο ΔΗΣΥ από το 2016 –Αστυνομία: 'Επικεφαλής αίρεσης που δεν αναγνωρίζεται από Ισραήλ' –ΕΓΓΡΑΦΑ" ("DISY a client of Avni since 2016 – Police: 'Head of a sect not recognised by Israel' – DOCUMENTS"), ToThemaOnline, 20 November 2019. Cypriot news website; it publishes extracts from a police document it holds, which the police did not release; in Greek.
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 "Διευκρινίσεις από Εβραϊκή Κοινότητα Κύπρου για Avni - 'Επικεφαλής αίρεσης' τον είχε χαρακτηρίσει υπηρεσία ασφάλειας της Δημοκρατίας" ("Clarifications from the Jewish Community of Cyprus on Avni – a security service of the Republic had called him 'head of a sect'"), ToThemaOnline, 22 November 2019. Cypriot news website; includes the community's statement in full; in Greek.
- ↑ "H NCIS απειλεί με νομικά μέτρα το ThemaOnline αν δεν 'κατεβάσει' την έκθεση της Αστυνομίας σε 5 ημέρες" ("NCIS threatens ThemaOnline with legal action if it does not 'take down' the police report within 5 days"), ToThemaOnline, article 204564, November 2019. Headline only, as listed in ToThemaOnline's linked coverage of 20 November 2019; the article itself could not be retrieved; in Greek.
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 Tamar Runyan, "New Chabad House Brings Passover to Northern Cyprus", CrownHeights.info (from Chabad.org News), 23 April 2008.
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters, "Chabad-Lubavitch of North Cyprus", Lubavitch.com centre directory, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States, "ARIS Rabbis", accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Tom Cleaver, "Turkish Cypriot 'MP' calls for closure of north's Jewish Centre", Cyprus Mail, 19 October 2023.
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 US Department of State, Office of International Religious Freedom, 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom: Cyprus, section on the area administered by Turkish Cypriots, 2024.
- ↑ 30.0 30.1 Bekir Şirin, "CHABAD'ın lideri KKTC'den kaçtı" ("Chabad's leader fled the TRNC"), Milli Gazete, 18 November 2023. In Turkish.
- ↑ Esra Aygin, "Property-owning Jews in north increasingly targeted", Cyprus Mail, 17 December 2023.
- ↑ "Donate to Chabad of Cyprus • Jewish Community Cyprus", Comeunity donations page, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Cyprus Department of Registrar of Companies and Intellectual Property, open-data record for CHABAD LUBAVITCH OF CYPRUS 770 LTD, HE 421760, as republished at companydata.com.cy (Registrar export of 29 September 2026), accessed 20 October 2026. Official register data via a third-party site.
- ↑ Chabad Lubavitch of Cyprus, "Chabad Lubavitch of Cyprus 770", ChabadCyprus.com, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ "Friends Of Jcc", EIN 85-2040452, ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer (IRS Business Master File data), accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ ידידי חב"ד קפריסין בישראל (ע"ר) (Friends of Chabad Cyprus in Israel (R.A.)), no. 580413144, GuideStar Israel (Ministry of Justice corporations site), accessed 20 October 2026.