Authorities Restore Synagogue to Jewish Community in Odessa
In a decision that has been repeated in many cities in the Former Soviet Union, authorities are restoring to Jewish communities synagogue buildings that were confiscated back in the prewar years. Last week, one such synagogue taken from a Jewish community in Odessa, was formally returned to this Ukrainian community. The decision was reached by […]
Bobruisk inaugurates New Torah Scroll and Celebrates Bar-Mitzvah
Hundreds of community members and guests participated lately in the festive inauguration of a renewed Torah scroll, donated to the historical grand Synagogue of Bobruisk, Belarus that had just celebrated 200 years to its establishment. The event also marked the Bar Mitzvah of Ilya Pranovich, a young and active member of the community. The last […]
How Klezmer United Jews of One Post-Soviet Russian City
By Cnaan Liphshiz | Forward.com Kazan, Russia — When the six members of the Simcha klezmer band hauled their instruments into a dilapidated rehearsal space, no one suspected they were about to hijack a government building in this large, clean city some 450 miles east of Moscow. But that’s exactly what happened in 1995 when this popular […]
“From ideas to results” – EnerJew coordinators convene in Azerbaijan
EnerJew, the FJC’s leading project for Jewish teenagers, opens 2016 with its powerful annual coordinators seminar, taking place this week in Baku, Azerbaijan. The four-day seminar, attended by over 50 coordinators from 25 cities that participate in the project, consists of a wide range of professional workshops, lectures, classes, brain storming sessions and much more. The coordinators from 5 […]
Moscow, Russia: Holocaust Remembrance Day
Vestnik Kavkaza The annual ceremony of lighting candles and the interactive discovery center “War and the Holocaust: Reflections on the Past and the Future” took place at the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center. This year, three Jewish organizations in Russia – the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia (FJC), the Russian Jewish Congress (RJC) and […]