Bukharan Shul to Celebrate New Home
Congregation Beit Yitzhak is ready for a homecoming party in Norcross, and the whole Jewish community is invited.
The Orthodox congregation serving a Bukharan population — Jews from Central Asia who lived under Soviet rule — has spent about two years renovating a building it purchased in 2009 to serve as its synagogue at 6030 Goodwood Blvd. in Norcross.
The work has included an expansion of about 1,000 square feet and the installation of a mikvah, said Simon Barayev, who handles communications for Beit Yitzhak.
The congregation also has erected an eruv around 2,000 houses; brought in a new spiritual leader, Rabbi Nathan Phuzayloff; and established a night kollel in association with Kollel Ner Hamizrach in Toco Hills.
Rabbi Israel Zelman, who has led the congregation, remains a spiritual leader for Russian Jews throughout metro Atlanta and becomes a teacher at the Beit Yitzhak kollel.
“Our new home allows people to live next to shul rather than walking two miles every Shabbat or holiday” to the King David Community Center at 5054 Singleton Road, where the congregation has held services, Barayev said. “We can invest this time in learning Torah and to actually enjoy the holy day with the family.”
The addition of the mikvah means that women can immerse themselves just before Shabbat and walk home. Previously, the 30-minute drive to and from a mikvah forced them to wait until after Shabbat.
Beit Yitzhak is dedicating the new facilities and inaugurating the kollel with a two-part Chanukat HaBayit celebration Sunday, Oct. 18. A dinner at the shul at 5 p.m. is for invited guests only, including Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson. But the event at the King David Community Center at 7 p.m. is for everyone.
Beit Yitzhak’s virtual presence hasn’t kept up with its real advances, but a website is under construction. In the meantime, you can learn more at www.facebook.com/BeitItzkhak.
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