The Jewish community of Perm is against the use of the synagogue for commercial purposes

An open appeal to Russian Jews was published by three dozen Perm businessmen, lawyers, doctors, scientists and cultural figures. The appeal was caused by the intention of the leadership of the local community to lease the synagogue to commercial organizations.

In 1997, the leadership of the community entered into an agreement with a branch of "SDM-bank" to lease part of the synagogue's premises for 20 years. Now SDM-bank is vacating the premises and does not want to renew the lease. Then such a step was dictated by the need to seek funds for the Jewish community, which was in a difficult financial situation. This measure did not help: the synagogue building was never repaired.

The parishioners want to do it on their own, but the management wants to find a new tenant. "We do not want to repeat the mistake of 1997 and are ready to take responsibility for the maintenance of the synagogue," the appeal says. The authors of the document hope that the attention of the Jewish community in Russia will not allow the leadership of the Perm community to make a decision without taking into account the opinion of the parishioners.

Sources

• An open letter to the Jewish community of Perm // FEOR website. 2006. June 5.