Schools Doors Open to Thousands of Jewish Pupils across the FSU
Today over 7,000 Jewish students across the FSU started the new learning year in FJC’s Or Avner schools and kindergartens. Even though some have already had the “First Bell” openings on Thursday, for most the festive ceremony, customary in the post-Soviet education system, took place today. And in a unique Or Avner tradition, the ringing […]
For Kids Traumatized by War, Summer Camp Salves Wounds
Refugees join 5,000 other Jewish kids at Gan Israel camps in the former Soviet Union By Sarah Leah Lawent | Chabad.org Like their counterparts in the West, most Jewish campers in the former Soviet Union receive the most extensive, joyous and impactful encounters with their heritage and traditions during the summer months. What makes some of the […]
Russian Jews will help project synagogues and opening Jewish museums in Europe
Moscow, August 26, Interfax – European rabbis borrow from Russia its experience of building community centers and Jewish museums and Russian Jews will help them in it. “The Jewish Museum and Center of Tolerance in Moscow, its technological experience, archives, historical documents, other communities (of Europe – IF) took it for axiom for setting up […]
500 rabbis gather at summit in Moscow, rabbi Lazar says situation with anti-semitism in Europe critical
Moscow, August 22, Interfax – A total of 500 rabbis from over 30 European countries arrived at the Moscow Jewish Community Center in Moscow’s Maryina Roshcha District to discuss the issues of the development of Jewish community life and fight against anti-semitism in Europe, the press service of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia […]
From NJ to Odessa, With Love
Collive.com Renata Magurdumov, originally from Odessa, Ukraine, gathered her friends in New Jersey to make a difference in the lives of orphans in her hometown. Twenty seven years ago, lives were changed forever, when at the age of nine, Renata Magurdumov and her family left their home in Odessa, Ukraine, to immigrate to the United […]
Boys From Soviet-Era Homes Run Summer Camp in Kharkov
A win-win for everyone, building Judaism and community in Ukraine Communists forbade them to study Torah; now, their children are teaching Torah to a new generation. The parents of Zalman Antomonov, Efraim Kolpak and Michoel Manochin once lived under an oppressive Soviet regime. They could never have imagined that one day, their sons would be […]
Upgrades on the Rise in FSU communities
A series of FJC community development projects are taking place throughout the summer in the FSU, among them synagogue renovations, new mikvah ritual bath constructions and more. All the communities are citing increased interest in Jewish traditions and a rise in community involvement as the reason for expansion. In July, the Jewish community of Tashkent, […]
Despite Critics, Historic Russian Translation of the Talmud Gains Steam
A monumental effort with commentaries is launched with the first three volumes Pro-Russian Jews, Not Anti-Soviet Politics The first modern attempt to translate Jewish texts into Russian was undertaken by Professor Herman Branover in the early 1970s while the renowned physicist was still living in the Soviet Union. Following his emigration in 1972, Branover, a […]
‘Jewish Capital’ of Belarus Granted Center Space for Jewish Museum
In a historical decision, the city government of Bobruisk, Belarus has granted the local Jewish community the rights to a plot of land with the remains of an old synagogue in the city center last week. Even though the land itself will remain a property of the city, the Jewish community will now be able […]
STARS Ukraine Travels to Israel and Europe
The Stars youth program, which unites young people worldwide for Jewish heritage studies, gained momentum this summer in Ukraine, with two international trips – one to Israel and one to Europe – for program participants in July. The first trip, which was attended by members of Ukraine’s ‘Stars Intensive’ (a program whose learning curriculum is […]