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Moscow Gets a Kosher Nightclub

The Shachar Club will serve kosher food and close for Shabbat

by
Lily Wilf
April 02, 2014
A man lights a candle during Hanukkah in a nightclub in Moscow on December 13, 2009. (ANDREY SMIRNOV/AFP/Getty Images)
A man lights a candle during Hanukkah in a nightclub in Moscow on December 13, 2009. (ANDREY SMIRNOV/AFP/Getty Images)

After Shabbat ends this Saturday, a new kosher nightclub is set to open its doors in the center of Moscow. The Shahar Club, JTA reports, will serve only kosher food and drink and will not be open on Shabbat.

A Russian Jewish group called Shachar, which organizes a variety of Jewish community activities for the Jewish community, is opening the new establishment in hopes of exposing Muscovites to a slice of Tel Aviv nightlife.

Ilya Lipetsker, one of the club’s co-founder’s, said, “Jewish youth in Moscow should have somewhere with an easy, relaxed atmosphere to hang out, discuss their identity, or just have fun.” He hopes that the nightclub will unite some of Moscow’s 100,000 Jews from diverse backgrounds.

Lily Wilf is an editorial intern at Tablet.