Moscow Times - 04.26.2002

The Moscow Times

Minsk Jewish Center

The Associated Press

MINSK, Belarus -- A Jewish community center was opened in Minsk and greeted as a major development for the country's Jews.

"In every family there is such a happy day, when they can open their door to their home with their own key. Today for us is such a day," Leonid Levin, president of the Belarussian Union of Jewish Communities, said at the dedication ceremony Wednesday.

U.S. Ambassador Michael Kozak and Turkish Ambassador Fatma Sule Soysal also attended the opening.

The center is in a former knitting factory and provides a wide range of facilities and services, including a museum of Jewish culture and athletic equipment.