JTA runs a story about Jews in Moldova that includes information on a project by wealthy local Jewish businessmen to restore the Tirilson yeshiva/synagogue, now a ruined shell in Chisinau but listed as a cultural heritage monument. The ruin was the scene of a fire earlier this year — probably of some of the heaps of rubbish piled up inside. See the article on JHE about the fire.
The JTA story says businessmen Alexander Pinchevsky, 56, and Alexander Blinkis, 44, the co-chairmen of The Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities of Moldova are
leading a group with an ambitious plan to restore the historic yeshiva named for Yehuda Leib Tsirelson, the chief rabbi of Bessarabia, as the region was once known. The only Jewish member of parliament in Romania, he was killed when the invading Germans bombed Chisinau.
Pinchevsky and Bilinkis, along with eight other wealthy Moldovan Jews, already have donated $660,000 to buy back the derelict shell of the building. They need $3.4 million more for renovations, much of which will have to come from outside the country, Pinchevsky said.
Plans call for the renovated building to house a synagogue, yeshiva, mikvah, kosher restaurant and market. The structure is intended to be a focal point for the community and host events such as a 600-person communal Passover seder organized by the philanthropists for the first time this year.