Chabad Lubavitch of Latvia
Chabad-Lubavitch in Latvia: the Riga mission led since 1991 by Rabbi Mordechai Glazman, its school, preschool, ritual bath, soup kitchen and kosher café, the renovated Riga synagogue, and a second Chabad house in Jūrmala
| Chabad Lubavitch of Latvia
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| Type | Jewish religious organisation (Chabad-Lubavitch) |
| Founded | 1991 |
| Headquarters | Riga (LV-1010) |
| Location | Riga; Jūrmala |
| Area served | Latvia |
| Services | Synagogue services, day school and preschool, ritual bath (mikveh), soup kitchen and welfare centre, summer camps, kosher café and catering |
| Key people | Mordechai Glazman (head emissary); Shneur Zalman Kot; Menachem Mendel Zilbershtrom (Jūrmala) |
| Website | https://www.chabad.lv |
Chabad Lubavitch of Latvia (Chabad of Latvia) is the Chabad-Lubavitch mission in Latvia, based in Riga and led by Rabbi Mordechai Glazman.[1] Lubavitch.com, the movement's headquarters site, says Glazman has served Riga's Jewish community since 1991 and calls him Latvia's chief rabbi.[2] Chabad also runs a separate Chabad house in the resort town of Jūrmala.[3]
History
In August 2009 Glazman opened a ceremony marking the end of a two-year renovation of Riga's synagogue, the only one in the area to survive Nazi destruction. According to Lubavitch.com, those attending included Latvia's president, Valdis Zatlers, members of parliament, the Jewish community leader Sucharenko and the Israeli minister Yuli Edelstein.[2] The Latvian news agency LETA reported in 2014 that, according to the Latvian Jewish community's website, the Riga synagogue on Peitavas Street was the only working synagogue in the city and Glazman was its rabbi.[4]
Activities
Chabad headquarters lists the Riga centre's departments as a day school and preschool, a soup kitchen and social welfare centre, Gan Israel summer camps, the Mikvah Mei Menachem ritual bath, the Kosher Cafe L'chaim and a women's institute, Machon Chaya Mushka. The Riga centre is also listed under the name Jewish Community of Riga. Its emissaries are Mordechai and Rivkah Glazman, Shneur Zalman and Rachel Kot, Akiva and Chaya Kramer, and Shalom Dovber and Rivka Wolff.[1]
Centres
Chabad headquarters lists two centres in Latvia:[5]
- Chabad of Latvia, Riga, postcode district LV-1010 (Mordechai Glazman and Shneur Zalman Kot).[1]
- Chabad House Jurmala, Jūrmala, postcode district LV-2015 (Menachem Mendel and Shoshana Bluma Zilbershtrom).[3]
Relations with other Jewish bodies
Latvia also has a separate Orthodox community, the Latvian Jewish Religious Community "Šamir", led by Rabbi Menachem Barkahan. In 2014 Barkahan brought a civil claim for defamation in the Riga Central District Court against the Riga Jewish Religious Community, the Council of Latvian Jewish Communities and five board members, after his prayer seat in the Riga synagogue was removed and a notice accusing him of lying was posted there.[4] In 2015 Šamir sued the Riga Jewish Religious Community over the cutting off of utilities to the former synagogue premises it used on Stabu Street, as part of a wider disagreement over restitution of Jewish property.[6]
See also
- Chabad-Lubavitch movement
- Chabad Lubavitch of Lithuania
- Chabad Lubavitch of Estonia
- Chabad Lubavitch of Belarus
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Chabad of Latvia", Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters (lubavitch.com), accessed 23 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Latvia Celebrates Newly Renovated Old Synagogue", Lubavitch.com, 30 August 2009.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Chabad House Jurmala", Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters (lubavitch.com), accessed 23 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 LETA, "Rabīns Barkahans tiesājas ar Rīgas ebreju draudzi par sava goda un cieņas aizskārumu" (Rabbi Barkahan sues the Riga Jewish community over damage to his honour and dignity), Delfi, 13 May 2014 (in Latvian).
- ↑ "Latvia", Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters (lubavitch.com) centres directory, accessed 23 October 2026.
- ↑ Māra Libeka, "Ebreju konfliktu par īpašumiem izspriedīs tiesa" (A court will decide the Jewish property dispute), Latvijas Avīze, 19 August 2015 (in Latvian).