Kanisoi Kalon’s Young Minyan Draws 25 to 40 for Weekly Chavruta Study as Women Hold a Challah Evening for Rachel Imenu

This report was translated from Russian by Bukharian Jewish Post from a report in The Bukharian Times. Young congregants at Kanisoi Kalon, the main synagogue of the Bukharian Jewish community center in Forest Hills, Queens, are meeting twice a week for chavruta, the traditional method of studying classic Jewish texts in pairs or small groups, according to the synagogue’s weekly report in The Bukharian Times’ Oct. 29 edition. The report was written by Boris Babaev, who heads the synagogue’s information department. Tuesday and Saturday study Every Tuesday, 25 to 30 young members of the synagogue’s youth minyan gather on the second floor, the report said. A meal is served from 8:15 to 8:30 p.m., followed by an hour of chavruta until 9:30 p.m., with participants forming groups of two, three, five or more to study Gemara, Mishnayot and Chumash. The program is led by Rabbi Asher Vaknin, with Michael Nektalov and Aron Yusupov as its main organizers. A second chavruta session is held every Saturday from 6 to 7 p.m., organized by youth-minyan members Dr. Chaim Datiashvili and Shlomo Niyazov, and draws 30 to 40 young congregants, according to the report. Hazzan Yona Davydov and several other congregants also help run the programs. A challah evening for Rachel Imenu On Oct. 22, in observance of the yahrzeit of the matriarch Rachel, which falls on the 11th of Cheshvan, women gathered on the synagogue’s third floor for a challah-baking evening, the report said. It was sponsored by the families of Avraham and Tamara Aronbaev and Rafael and Malka Isakharov. Rabbi Vaknin spoke about Rachel’s life and the significance of the gathering, and the evening was hosted by Tami Mierova, who spoke about hafrashat challah, the separation of a portion of the dough, which she described as one of three central mitzvot traditionally performed by women. The report said participants prayed for the well-being of their families and for peace, including in Israel. A memorial study session On Oct. 20, after the morning Shacharit service and during Rabbi Baruch Babaev’s Torah class, Yakov Kataev and his sons Boris, Benjamin, Radik and David held a memorial for Kataev’s wife and the brothers’ mother, Ksenia Fazilova-Kataeva bat Dukhtar, the report said. Radik Kataev spoke about his mother’s good deeds, and Rabbi Babaev taught a Torah lesson in her memory. The synagogue lists 917-600-3422 for information. Sources: The Bukharian Times, “Spiritual Life of the Main Synagogue Kanisoi Kalon,” by Boris Babaev, Oct. 29, 2026 (in Russian).