Sochi boasts religious accommodation for Jewish athletes
As the 2014 winter games open, the city says it has five Jewish information centers, three synagogues and 13 rabbis.
By JTA
02/09/2014 12:10
Soft sand and turquoise beaches make Sochi a lovely holiday destination, but this coastal Russian city is less than ideal for providing religious services to large numbers of Jewish visitors.
With few native Jews and only one resident rabbi, the Black Sea resort of 400,000 residents would seem ill-equipped to handle the tens of thousands of Jewish visitors expected to arrive here for the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Nonetheless, as the 2014 winter games open, the city boasts five Jewish information centers, three synagogues and 13 rabbis.
The Jewish infrastructure in Sochi is aimed not only at serving Jewish visitors but also at advertising what the Chabad-affiliated Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia calls a Jewish revival in the former Soviet Union. Boruch Gorin, a senior Chabad rabbi in Moscow, said the Jewish presence in Sochi is meant to function something like an embassy.
http://www.jpost.com/Sports/Sochi-boasts-religious-accommodation-for-Jewish-athletes-340828
Related:
Why Sochi Has No Mosques
The Winter Olympics city has 20,000 Muslim residents. Now they just need a place to worship.
By Tim Murphy | Wed Feb. 5, 2014 3:00 AM GMT
Athletes in Sochi, at least, won't have to worry about finding a place to pray. "The Sochi 2014 Organizing committee is ensuring that prayer rooms are available for various religions during the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games," the Sochi Olympics organizing committee said in a statement. "As with previous Games, multi-faith centers will be available in the Olympic and Paralympic villages with five separate prayer rooms in each for followers of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism."
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/02/why-sochi-has-no-mosques
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