President of Israel Visits Jewish Museum in Moscow
On Thursday, the president of Israel, Reuven Rivlin, visited the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center during his official state visit to Russia. In Moscow, Rivlin met with President Putin and other officials, laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and visited both the Jewish Museum and the Russian State Library. At the Jewish Museum Alexander Boroda, general director of the museum and president of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia, showed […]
Two New Mikvahs Open in Moscow
Ritual baths will serve a large and growing Jewish community in Russia’s capital Noting that “in the Hebrew month of Adar, we increase in joy,” Hundreds of guests and community leaders gathered last week in Moscow for the opening of two new mikvahs. The ritual baths were inaugurated by Rabbi Berel Lazar, the chief rabbi of Russia, who affixed the mezuzahs at the […]
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 […]
Zhitomir: Last standing Synagogue nearly rebuilt
More than 40 synagogues served the 30,000 Jewish population in the famous “Shtetl” of Zhitomir, West Ukraine, before the days of the horrific holocaust. Only one of them survived, located in the center of town. A glorious building that wasn’t destroyed, but was closed and shut down. Throughout the age of Communism the historic synagogue, now dating 120 […]
Jews welcome in Russia, Putin tells Europe’s Jewish leaders
Russian president Vladimir Putin has met with European Jewish leaders to discuss their concerns over rising anti-Semitism on the continent. During the meeting, Putin pointed out that many Jews emigrated from Moscow when it was part of the former Soviet Union. He said now they can come back. The president of the European Jewish Congress, Moshe Kantor […]
New stunning ‘Or Avner’ Kindergarten opens in Orel
As the winter break comes to an end in Russia, the Jewish community of Orel announces the opening of a new Jewish kindergarten to serve the Jewish families of the city and surrounding region. The new educational institute, part of the FJC’s ‘Or Avner’ vast Jewish educational network across the former Soviet Union, opened with a special […]