First Brit Milah in Russian City

This week, the Jewish community of Dzerzhinsk, under the leadership of  Rabbi Pinchas Klimash, celebrated the first Brit Mila to take place in this formerly-closed industrial center. Originally founded during the Soviet period, this city did not have a religious Jewish community to speak of, making the idea of ritual circumcision just about impossible.

With Communisit Russia a bygone era, Sasha Lelekov, who attends the Ohr Avner Chabad Kindergarten in Dzerzhinsk, made the momentous decision to have a Brit Milah, and took on a Jewish name, reported FJC.