by Maria Chertok The World Giving Index released by CAF in December 2011 shows that the world has become a more charitable place over the last 12 months - with a 2% increase in the global population ‘helping a stranger’ and a 1% increase in people volunteering. In the same time 1% fewer people have given money to a charity than in 2010. The report - which is compiled by CAF using Gallup polling information on the charitable behaviour of people in 153 nations - is based on three measures. These are ‘giving money’, ‘volunteering time’ and ‘helping a stranger’. The global average of the three giving behaviours in 2011 was 32.4%, compared to 31.6% in 2010. The results for Russia seem positive too: we climbed eight steps on the Index ladder - from 138th place to 130th, while the … Continue Reading
Trends in Institutional Philanthropy in Russia
by Maria Chertok This is my second post based on the recent Russian Donors Forum Report on Institutional Philanthropy in Russia. I am very encouraged by e-mails and phone calls from readers of this blog, and as the report will not be available in English at least for a while, I believe it makes sense to continue my brief notes. In the previous post I summarized the key findings of the survey of foundations, and now would like to briefly go through the key trends that were suggested by the participants of focus groups and interviews carried out by the authors of the report. The number of foundations is growing regardless of the financial crisis. It is interesting that it appears that private foundations - unlike corporate donors or other NGOs - were not impacted by the crises at all. This … Continue Reading
Boards of Trustees: a Blessing or a Curse in Modern Day Russia?
by Polina Philippova Since the beginning of its work in Russia in 1993, CAF has been promoting internationally acknowledged practices, elements and principles in philanthropy and not-for-profit: equal access to funding, competitive distribution, transparency, etc. Many of them have taken deep roots and are widely applied. Some are not doing so well. There is only one that I recommend with caution, and sometimes even reluctance. It is the creation of boards. According to Russian law, only one type of not-for-profit organization - the charitable foundation - is obliged to set up a western-type board with full authority to hire and fire executives, approve strategies and budgets, etc. The remaining legal entities can choose either to have no board, to have a board that just provides advice, or to … Continue Reading
The Shtetl: Medzhybizh Then and Now
by Nathan Roi Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer, better known as the “Baal Shem Tov,” usually abbreviated to “Besht,” was a mystic rabbi who is considered the founder of Hassidism. He was born either in 1698 or 1700 according to different sources, lived in the small Ukrainian village of Medzhybizh and died there in 1760. On the way to Medzhybizh, we pass through a small town called Tolchin: along the road are galvanized tin shacks selling a variety of smoked fish to people who come from all over Ukraine, even as far as Kiev, as the prices are evidently far less. In large basins carp are swimming. Decades ago they would have been destined to end up as gefilte fish on the Sabbath tables of the more affluent Jews in the shtetl. It could well be that the disciples of the Besht could not afford … Continue Reading
The Shtetl: Vinnitsa Then and Now
by Nathan Roi A wonderful example of cubist period art is a painting of the Russian poet Anna Akhmatova, by the avant-garde Jewish artist, Nathan Altman. When I visited Vinnitsa for the first time, few people, including the residents of Vinnitsa, knew that it was the home town of Altman before he left for Paris. From 1902 to 1907, he studied painting and sculpture at the Art College in Odessa and in 1906 had his first exhibition in the town. In 1910 he went to Paris where he studied at the Free Russian Academy, working in the studio of Vladimir Baranoff-Rossine, and was in contact with Marc Chagall, Alexander Archipenko and David Sternberg. In 1910, before the Russian revolution, he became a member of the group Soyuz Molodyozhi (Union of Youth). When speaking to some of the young people … Continue Reading
Russian Donors Forum Presents the First Report on Institutional Philanthropy in Russia
by Maria Chertok The report is the first attempt of its kind to capture a comprehensive picture of foundations in Russia. It combines statistical data, results of quantitative and qualitative research, expert opinions on the environment for foundations and some prognosis of how the foundations sector will develop in the future. The report also names the most significant results of 2010. Why this report was needed? Despite the significant growth of the foundation sector, there was very little reliable data available so it was pretty hard to comprehend the size of the sector, both in terms of number of institutions and funds involved. The Russian legislation and practice takes a very broad view on the idea of foundations when practically any charity can be named a foundation, so it is hard to … Continue Reading
Loving Your Neighbor
by Yoram Dori Va’ahavta lare’echa kamocha (“Love your neighbor as yourself” - Leviticus 19:18) is one of the golden rules in the Bible. It is also one of the basic precepts on which I and thousands of others like me were brought up from childhood. Sometimes I had the feeling that it was another brick in the wall of self-assurance that we are, indeed a chosen people - different from others - somehow better and more ethical. A recent Limmud FSU conference in Odessa taught me that there is sometimes a tangible meaning to the overworked expression. During the course of the conference I was asked to join a “home visit.” At first, I was not too clear about what was implied. What was the connection between Limmud and home visits? Were we going to visit young Odessa Jews in their homes and … Continue Reading
Ver Is Di Mezuzah?
by Yoram Dori Ver is di mezuzah? (“Where is the mezuzah?”) was the question at the heart of our tour of various Jewish sites in Ukraine, preceding the recent Limmud FSU festival in Odessa. After landing in Kiev, our first destination was Berdichev or in the language of Shalom Aleichem, Yehupetz, and we also found ourselves in Katrielevka. Our trip was in a modern mini-van, but the views from the window were of horse-drawn wagons which are still in use and which gave us the feeling that at any minute we would encounter Tuviya the milkman. A central issue in our discussions was - is there still a stetl called Anatevka? The answer, by the way, is no. This and the above, were just some of the many fictitious place names coined by the famous Jewish-Russian-Hebrew-Yiddish writer, Sholem … Continue Reading
Helping Holocaust Survivors in Odessa
by Nathan Roi The Hebrew writer, Shmuel Yosef Agnon, who won Israel’s first Nobel Prize (for literature in 1966) was born in 1888 in the small Ukrainian town of Buczacz in the province of Galicia. He visited the town again after the First World War in 1930, 22 years after he had left Buczacz via Odessa to Jaffa in 1908. His monumental novel, Oreach Nata Lalune - “A Guest for the Night” was published on April 7, 1939, five months before the outbreak of the Second World War. The chairman of the Nobel Prize Committee noted in his award speech that the book showed Agnon at the peak of his genius, and Prof. Dan Laor, head of the department of Hebrew Literature at Tel Aviv University, maintains that the book is the best creation of Hebrew literature in the 20th century. In the opinion of … Continue Reading
Limmud FSU Odessa
by Yoram Dori Every time I participate in a Limmud event for young Russian-speaking adults, it is a new experience. Although Limmud FSU in Odessa, which took place this November, was dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Ukraine and Israel, it did not mean that the entire festival was built around it. Only one session (which I had the pleasure of attending) was dedicated to this topic and the remainder, in the best tradition of Limmud, were as varied as usual. Limmud FSU is not just the usual run-of-the-mill Jewish seminar, where it would be difficult to persuade participants to listen to endless debates about the political games of different organizations. Here at Limmud, the whole event pivots around the young participants, most of them … Continue Reading
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