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Article: New Synagogue Opens in Estonia
- Article from:
- AP Online
- Article date:
- May 16, 2007
CopyrightCopyright 2007 Associated Press/AP Online. This material is published under license from the publisher through YellowBrix, Alexandria, Virginia. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to YellowBrix. (Hide copyright information)
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TALLINN, Estonia - Jewish leaders and politicians from Estonia and Israel celebrated the opening of the Baltic country's first and only synagogue Wednesday, six decades after previous houses of worship were destroyed in World War II.
Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves and Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres cut the red ribbon at the front of the $2 million, 180-seat ultramodern synagogue in Tallinn after the Torah scrolls were brought inside amid music and dancing.
"You can burn down a building, but you cannot burn down a prayer. And we are a praying people," Peres said.
Tallinn's previous synagogue, built in 1883, was destroyed in 1944 in air raids as Nazi troops fled the Red ...