Smolensk Residents Welcome Torah Scroll With Dancing

Jewish residents in the Western Russian city of Smolensk filled the streets to celebrate the arrival of a new Torah scroll. Locals described the ceremony, organized by Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries Rabbi Levi Yitzchak and Chana Mondshine, as a first for the town since Communist forces shuttered a central synagogue more than 80 years ago. Russian Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar sent his greetings, while hundreds of people took the opportunity to write a letter in the Torah scroll.