Edward M. Chaprak is a leader of the Jewish community in his home town. He is the chairman of the Nizhny Novgorod Synagogue

Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...

. He is also an entrepreneur

Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...

 and philanthropist

Philanthropist

A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...

.

Life and business

He was born into a family of disabled veterans of the second world war,
graduating from the Leningrad Institute of Physical Culture. He entered the catering

Catering

Catering is the business of providing foodservice at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, public house , or other location.-Mobile catering:A mobile caterer serves food directly from a vehicle or cart that is designed for the purpose...

 business in 1973 and has been the CEO of the "Kulinar" company since 1992. The company produces up to 400 kinds of confectionery

Confectionery

Confectionery is the set of food items that are rich in sugar, any one or type of which is called a confection. Modern usage may include substances rich in artificial sweeteners as well...

 products as well as 12 kinds of alcohol-free drinks.

Charitable and community work

He is actively involved in charity work: participating in nutrition

Nutrition

Nutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....

 programs for children, the homeless and other vulnerable populations.

He never lost connection with the Jewish community and adhered to its traditions even in the darkest years of economic and social stagnation in the 1970s - 1980s. He regularly provided minyan

Minyan

A minyan in Judaism refers to the quorum of ten Jewish adults required for certain religious obligations. According to many non-Orthodox streams of Judaism adult females count in the minyan....

 for prayers in private apartments and defended the return of Torah scrolls which the KGB

KGB

The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...

 had seized as "evidence" in the investigation of criminal cases.

Since the revival of religious life, he has become actively involved in the restoration and repair of the older synagogues and other projects. He was selected as the chairman of the Jewish religious community in 1998. With his support a fundamental reconstruction of the central synagogue was begun in 2005 and a new community center is now under construction and expected to be complete by 2009.

External links

• Nizhny Novgorod Jewish Community