Beit Menachem synagogue, kfar chabad, Synagogue in Kfar Chabad, Israel.
Beit Menachem is the main synagogue of Kfar Chabad, a two-storey building with a basement level. The ground floor holds the prayer hall plus two rooms used as shtiebels and study rooms; the women's gallery occupies the second floor. Twelve windows line the sides, and the eastern wall is faced with marble, centred on an ornate ark with carved marble columns.
Kfar Chabad was founded in 1949, and residents first prayed in a temporary synagogue. Beit Menachem was built in 1962; after the wave of immigration from the Soviet Union in the early 1970s it became too small, so a new building was erected on the site of the old one. Construction began in 1973, and the synagogue was inaugurated on 11 Nisan 1978 (תשל"ח).
The synagogue's name honours Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who approved it and sent corrections to the building plans; it is the only building to receive such permission. Each year it hosts central Chabad gatherings on 19 Kislev and 11 Nisan, the Rebbe's birthday, and the second Hakafot on the evening after Simchat Torah, attended by thousands, including Israeli presidents Zalman Shazar and Ephraim Katzir and, in 2019, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The building is regularly open for prayers and community events, with regular activities happening throughout the day. Visitors should check ahead about opening hours and special events, particularly during Shabbat and Jewish holidays when schedules may change.
Beit Menachem is the only building that Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson authorised to be named after him, after Zusha Rivkin obtained his consent to encourage donations for the 1973 construction. The rabbi also sent a Torah crown and 1,800 dollars in single bills to hand to everyone who signed the invitation for the 1978 inauguration.
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