Embassy of Kazakhstan

Millions of television viewers in Kazakhstan turned on their televisions this week to see Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Menachem Mendel Gershovits, chief rabbi of Almaty and co-director with his wife Elka of the city's Jewish community, lead a discussion about the holidays taking up most of the Hebrew month of Tishrei and the traditions associated with them.

The program which was aired on the state television channel featured a talk between Gershovits, Ran Yishay, Israeli ambassador to Kazakhstan, and the country's Jewish Agency head, Iosef Leibovitch. It took place in the sukkah built next to the Ohr Avner Chabad Jewish Community Center in Almaty.

Leibovitch saw in the program a message highlighting the national uniqueness of the former Soviet republic's Jewish minority, an important factor in preventing any form of xenophobia or prejudice.