Jewish Legacy Preserved in Southern Ukraine
FJC’s Jewish community of Kherson, southern Ukraine celebrated last week the opening of a memorial complex at the burial site of Rabbi Hillel from Parich, one of the region’s most prominent rabbis in the 19th century. Besides being a spiritual respite for Jews from all over the world, the site also represents an important historical […]
Russia’s Jews will get their etrog fruits from Italy despite sanctions, says rabbi
(JTA) — The Italian government said that the export of Italy-grown etrog fruits to Russia will not be affected by sanctions imposed by the European Union against Moscow, Russia’s chief rabbi said. The agreement to exempt the export of the citrus fruit, which Jewish communities use as a religious artifact during the weeklong holiday of Sukkot, […]
EnerJew Celebrates End of Season, Keeps Up Summer Activities
School is out for summer in the countries of the former Soviet Union, and teenagers from 34 EnerJew clubs across the region also took a break from weekly meetings and activities. However, a large part of them enrolled as staff in the region’s FJC Jewish Summer camps, connecting to younger campers and bringing to them […]
Israeli Teens Welcomed at Kharkov’s Jewish Community
The Jewish community of Kharkov, Ukraine welcomed unusual guests for Shabbat last week in what turned out to be a unifying and moving experience. A group of young Israeli soccer players from Bnei Eilat soccer club attended a sports camp in Kharkov for ten days, and on Friday night they came to the city’s synagogue […]
History in the Making: Birobidzhan builds its first ever Mikvah
For the first time ever in history, a Mikvah is now being built in the famous Yiddish speaking city of Birobidzhan, known as the Jewish Autonomy in Russia’s Far East. The magnificent and first ritual bath is being built in anticipation of the 20th anniversary of the renewal and revival of the Jewish community in […]
Jews from Ukraine’s War-Torn City Get a Summer Getaway Break
FJC’s Jewish community of Mariupol, a city on the forefront of the armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine, went on a much-needed break last week to a family camp in a forest-and-lakes Svyatogorsk in Donetsk region. The camp, which concluded today, lasted a week and provided 70 community members and their families, including the community’s rabbi […]
FJC Called to Help in Russia’s Far-East Car-Accident Tragedy
The body of the 12-year old Israeli girl Nicole Surkin, killed in a driving accident in Khabarovsk, Far-East of Russia yesterday will be flown to its final resting place in Israel tomorrow morning. FJC rabbis and community leaders of Khabarovsk and Birobidjan were called upon for help speed up the process of recovering the body […]
Jewish Ukrainian Youth Visits France: Learns, Explores and Bonds
About 90 young Jewish adults from Ukraine were rewarded for their hard work of studying Jewish tradition throughout the year with a week-long trip to France last week. The youngsters, part of Ukraine’s STARS intensive program, studied with community rabbis and mentors three to four times a week for the entire school year and had […]
Darkeinu Draws Year-End Results, Prepares for New Season
As Jewish kindergartens and schools across the FSU take their summer vacation break, FJC’s Darkeinu Jewish heritage learning program uses the time to review year-end results and develop new initiatives for the upcoming September. In 2016-2017, the program’s eighth year of operations, Darkeinu educational curriculum was used by 130 schools and, for the first time, […]
A Visit to Auschwitz, With a Pit Stop in Monaco: Russian Jews Find Love
About 1,000 young Russians who attend Jewish studies in Chabad clubs were rewarded with a week-long European tour. As well as visiting tourist sites and learning more about Judaism, several even came back engaged By Liza Rozovsky | Haaretz A very unusual Kabbalat Shabbat (Friday evening prayer) took place at a nice hotel in Milan […]