Ukraine plans museum to commemorate Babi Yar
By Julie Masis | The JC.com A museum will be built in Ukraine next year to mark the 75th anniversary of one of the biggest single Holocaust massacres, the mayor of the Ukrainian capital announced last week. “Since we understand that the world is very fragile, we must transfer to future generations the memory of […]
EnerJew opens a new branch in Briansk, Russia
EnerJew, FJC’s Jewish youth movement across the FSU, announces the opening of a new branch in the city of Briansk, Russia. The youth movement, now already active in 25 cities in five different countries, Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Georgian and Azerbaijan, is excited by the opportunity to expand its activity to one of the most prominent Jewish communities in the […]
Kherson: Jewish youth volunteer to clean cemetery
Youngsters and students from the Jewish community of Kherson, Ukraine, set out last week to show their respect for the deceased members of the community by cleaning up and renovating the local Jewish cemetery where they are buried. The volunteers encountered dry vegetation, dirt and garbage that had to be removed. They also discovered that many of the paths and […]
How a Jewish reporter celebrated Hanukkah at the Kremlin
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK | By Cnaan Liphshiz | JTA MOSCOW (JTA) — Like many tourists in Red Square, I have often wondered what lies beyond the tall walls that separate this Moscow attraction from the Kremlin, the official residence of Russia’s president and the nerve center of the state. As a journalist long obsessed with Russia, I’ve wanted […]
Governor of Stalinist ‘Jewish Homeland’ Gets a Bar Mitzvah
New Birobidzhan leader promises to build the city’s first mikvah By Chabad.org Staff Alexander Levinthal, the newly appointed governor of Birobidzhan —the storied “Jewish” oblast close to the Chinese border in the Russian Far East — took part in an unexpected celebration last week at a meeting with Jewish leaders in Moscow after he […]
The ‘Darkeinu’ Olympic Jewish heritage quiz: thousands enter the first stage
Thousands of Jewish pupils across the former Soviet Union, pupils at the FJC’s ‘Or Avner’ network of Jewish schools, participated last week in the first stage of the 3rd annual ‘Darkeinu’ Olympic Jewish heritage quiz for 2015. Jewish ethics, festivals and traditions, the uniqueness of the Shabbat and our nation’s heroes from the Tanach are the chosen topics […]
Near China Border, Russian Prime Minister Joins Dedication of Jewish Center
By Chabad.org Staff This past Friday saw the grand dedication of a brand new Jewish Center in the far-eastern Russian city of Vladivostok, a major Pacific port city on the Sea of Japan, close to the China and North Korea borders. The classically-designed structure houses a beautiful synagogue, a Jewish school, rooms for Torah study, […]
200 plants in Russia make Kosher products compared to three of them existing ten years ago
Moscow, December 16, Interfax – There are 200 plants in Russia, which have a certificate of Kosherity, the Federation of the Jewish Communities of Russia told Interfax-Religion on Wednesday. These enterprises produce not only food, but also household chemical goods. The certification is confirmed every year. There were only three plants with a certification of […]
Russian PM congratulates Jews on reopening far-east synagogue
(JTA) — Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev visited the synagogue of Vladivostok in Russia’s far east shortly after its reopening. Built in 1916, the synagogue, which is located 350 miles west of Russia’s maritime border with Japan and 9o miles from Russia’s land border with North Korea, was confiscated by communist authorities in 1932 and turned […]
Jewish Community Center opens in Rublyovka
By Vestnik Kavkaza This year Hanukkah is celebrated from December 6th to December 14th. Yesterday Vladimir Putin met Alexander Boroda, the president of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia, and Berel Lazar, Chief Rabbi of Russia, and wished all Jews happy Hanukkah. A few days earlier in the Moscow Region the new Jewish community center ‘Zhukovka’ […]