TALLINN (EJP)---Estonian and Jewish leaders on Wednesday opened the first synagogue in the Baltic state since World War II during a ceremony in Tallinn attended by around 300 people.

"You can burn down a building but you can’t burn down a prayer," Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres said at the inauguration of the synagogue.

"We can be proud today that this synagogue has been built to serve the needs of the Jewish community here and be for the benefit of all," he told the gathering of Estonian and Israeli officials, as well as Jewish leaders from Estonia and abroad.

Peres and Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves cut the red ribbon at the front of the synagogue, located 16 Karu Street in central Tallinn, after three Torah scrolls were brought inside by Israel's chief rabbi Yona Metzger and main donator Alexander Bronstein amid music and dancing.

Russia's chief rabbi Berel Lazar and Pierre Besnainou, president of European Jewish Congress, also attended the ceremony.  

Estonia’s chief rabbi Shmuel Kot, the country’s first rabbi since the Holocaust, said the inauguration of the Beit Bella synagogue filled a void in Estonia.

Estonia's chief rabbi Shmuel Kot: "Now we will start building a Jewish life here."   Before WWII, about 5,000 Jews lived in Estonia, mostly in Tallinn. Many fled to the Soviet Union and those that remained were murdered by the Nazis.

“Until today, Estonia was the last EU member state not to have a proper synagogue which is required for a full Jewish life," he said.

The 30-year-old Rabbi Kot, who came to Tallinn seven years ago, told European Jewish Press how much he was “happy and proud” about this major turning point in Jewish religious life in Estonia.

“During the Soviet time it was really difficult to have a Jewish life in Estonia. Jews could only practice Judaism in secret. There was no rabbi, no kosher food, no possibility to learn about Judaism."

“So what happened Wednesday is just beautiful. Now we will start building a Jewish life here ,” the rabbi added.

The synagogue, which mixes modern design and traditional architecture, was designed by Estonian architects Kaur Stoor and Tonis Kimmel.

Construction of the 1.4 million euros building, which started in 2005, was financed by donations from Alexander Bronstein and the US-based George Rohr family foundation.

View of the new Beit Bella synagogue in Tallinn. The last synagogue, built in 1883, was destroyed in the war during the Soviet bombing of the Estonian capital.

Rabbi Moshe Koltarski, from the New York Chabad Lubavitch, represented the Rohr family at the ceremony.  

Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip, made a personal donation for the project.

The synagogue’s prayer hall seats 180 people, with additional seating for up to 230 people for concerts and other public events.

In his address, Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves drew parallels between the histories of the Estonian and Jewish people.

"We both, Estonians and Jews, have lived among foreign people and under foreign power, but kept our language and culture in order to mould it into statehood," he said.

Israel's chief rabbi Yona Metzger (L), Rabbi Moshe Kotlarski (C) and main donator Alexander Bronsetin (R) mount the stairs with three new Torah scrolls during the inauguration of the Tallinn synagogue.

"In the final year of the Nazi occupation of Estonia (in 1944), a Soviet air raid set fire to the Jewish synagogue in Tallinn. The same air raid also set fire to the Estonia national theatre, a key landmark of Estonian culture."

The towering glass and concrete building, arching under old trees just off a busy street of Tallinn, houses the first kosher restaurant in post-war Estonia and the only mikvah, a ritual bathing for women.

Around 3,000 Jews live today in Estonia.