(FJC.ru) Community members in Ulyanovsk, Russia have taken up Rabbi Yossi Marozov on his offer to affix mezuzahs to their doorposts. The response, in fact, has been overwhelming, leading the rabbi to put up more than 100 of the scriptural boxes in just a few weeks.

Marozov, co-director of Chabad-Lubavitch in Ulyanovsk – birth place of infamous Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin – is the community's first resident rabbi in nearly 80 years.

Igor Dabakarov, president of the Jewish Community of Ulyanovsk, says the dozens of calls requesting the mezuzahs are evidence that the town's Jews are still proud of their heritage.

"It is clear that local Jews are interested in maintaining the traditions of their ancestors," he explains. "Affixing a mezuzah at the entrance of their house is an important event, contributing to the sanctity of one's home."

Funding for the program was provided by the Mezuzah Bank, the Shluchim Office and Judaica Place in Brooklyn, N.Y.