Fire destroys Chabad pilgrimage centre at grave of movement’s founder in Ukraine
Synagogue, reception hall and kitchen burnt down in overnight blaze at one of Ukraine’s most important Jewish pilgrimage sites, with police investigating the cause
A major fire has devastated a Chabad pilgrimage centre in central Ukraine, destroying key buildings at the site where the founder of the Chabad movement, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, is buried.
The blaze broke out shortly after midnight on Friday night at the Rabbeinu HaGadol visitors’ complex in Hadiach, in Ukraine’s Poltava region, causing extensive damage to the synagogue, kitchen and reception hall.
No injuries were reported, and local Chabad emissary Rabbi Shneur Zalman Deitsch and his family were not inside the complex when the fire started.
The cause of the blaze has not yet been established. Local investigators are examining all possible scenarios, including the possibility of an electrical fault.
Speaking to the Haredi news outlet Haredi 10, Rabbi Deitsch described the scale of the destruction, saying: “We are in total shock. The damage is incomprehensible. This is very painful.”
Despite the loss, he said the community was determined to rebuild.
“We will find the strength, we will rehabilitate anew, it will take as much time and money as is necessary and will make it even bigger and more beautiful.”
The visitors’ complex serves thousands of Jewish pilgrims each year who travel to pray at the grave of Rabbi Shneur Zalman, known as the Ba’al HaTanya, who founded the Chabad-Lubavitch movement in the late 18th century.
The Hadiach site is regarded as one of Ukraine’s most significant Jewish pilgrimage destinations, second only to the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov in Uman. Around 10,000 visitors are believed to make the journey annually, despite the ongoing war in the country.
Rabbi Shneur Zalman died in December 1812 after fleeing the Napoleonic Wars. He was buried in Hadiach, and his grave became an important place of pilgrimage before access was restricted during the Soviet era.
In the 1990s, following instructions from the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Chabad emissaries restored the burial site, with the visitors’ complex later developed to accommodate growing numbers of worshippers.
The centre, established around two decades ago, includes accommodation for visitors, dining facilities, ritual baths and communal prayer spaces. The full cost of the damage has not yet been announced, but local reports said it is expected to run into millions of dollars.