Over 70 young people from Russia and the CIS participated in a leadership training seminar in Moscow, part of of the School of Leadership program run by Yahad, FJC’s programs platform. The leadership program consists of four week-long seminars dispersed over two years and prepares graduates to successfully lead and nurture their Jewish communities upon completion. “The participants are young Jewish people from 18 to 30 who want to make a difference in their communities and take responsibility for the administrative, educational and outreach tasks,” said Miriam Mayorova, the program’s coordinator. The participants came from 45 cities in Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia and Estonia. Most cities have one young leader participating in the program, while some have two … [Read more...]
Odessa Orphanage Celebrates a New Home
The FJC’s “Mishpacha” Orphanage and Children’s home in Odessa, Ukraine celebrated the opening of its new home last week. The reconstructed 4-story building hosts a dormitory for the home’s 52 girls on the upper floor, while the other three floors are used for the Jewish elementary school of over 100 pupils, a kitchen & cafeteria complex and a gym. Prior to now the girls from Mishpacha lived in large rented apartments diffused throughout the city, and the conditions have often been lower than ideal. “The building is brand new, everything has been furnished to best serve the children’s needs, from desks to beds to pillows, to provide them with a comfortable place to learn and a real home. I think this is a very important and joyous event not only for our children and community but also for … [Read more...]
Celebrating Chanukah in Moldova
Even in Moldova, one of the poorest countries in Europe, Jewish families and communities come together each winter to celebrate Chanukah, a holiday that symbolizes the light and joy of family and Jewish traditions. In a Jewish community of about 20,000, the remnant of Bessarabia’s historical Jewish legacy, Chanukah parties and concerts, latkes and sufganiyot, and other holiday festivities are carried out with vibrancy and commitment to the Jewish future. One of the central connectors for these activities is the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), which provides holiday celebrations and the basics to needy children and families through a network of Hesed social welfare centers, Jewish Family Service support, youth and volunteer clubs, and JCC activities, making this Chanukah a … [Read more...]
New Museum focused on Jewish Ethnographic Photography opens in Zhmerinka, Ukraine
A new Jewish museum of ethnographic photography created by a group of local Jewish community volunteers, with the guidance of Yad Vashem and the support of Genesis Philanthropy Group and the Pincus Fund for Jewish Education, opened last month in the historic Ukrainian town of Zhmerinka. The museum’s collection, assembled as the result of four years of archival research, includes an estimated 200 photos of various sites and buildings representing Ukrainian Jewish cultural heritage, helping visitors understand the current conditions of former synagogues and other Jewish communal structures scattered across Ukraine. In addition, the exhibition includes archive photos and artifacts of the local Jewish community in Zhmerinka, including an Israeli flag that had been hidden in the basement of the local … [Read more...]
Close to 1,000 attend 1st Jewish Film Fest in Ekaterinburg
The second successful year of the Moscow Jewish Film Festival was followed in late November by the first Ekaterinburg Jewish Film Festival, which drew close to a thousand filmgoers. The festival, celebrated in the major Russian industrial and academic center in the heart of the Ural Mountains, featured more than 20 films with a focus on Jewish culture, heritage and identity exploration. Organized with support of Genesis Philanthropy Group, UJA Federation of New York, and the Russian Jewish Congress, the festival, held November 20-23, included opening and closing evenings at the recently opened Yeltsin Presidential Center, an interactive museum and community center dedicated to the life of Boris Yeltsin, the first president of the Russian Federation. The films selected for the festival represented … [Read more...]
It’s -13F Outside; Inside, Limmud FSU St. Petersburg Warms the Soul
A three-day Limmud FSU festival opened Friday in St Petersburg, Russia. The volunteers-driver and pluralistic event - the 5th in St Petersburg - is host to some 600 participants, the largest St. Petersburg festival ever, and runs through today. The program features lectures, workshops, and discussions, and includes a special presentation by Etgar Keret, an internationally-renowned best-selling Israeli author, who will discuss his new book “The Seven Good Years,” which was translated to Russian with the assistance of Limmud FSU. The film “Operation Wedding,” which chronicles the Soviet Jewish operation to hi-jack a plane from then-Leningrad’s airport and escape to religious freedom in Israel, will be screened. Other discussion topics focused on Russia’s economy, Arab-Jewish relations, Israel’s … [Read more...]
Zionist Youth Movements Celebrate Roots at Limmud FSU Festival Lviv
With 900 strong in attendance, this past weekend saw a sold-out 4 day Limmud FSU conference in the Western Ukraine city of Lviv. The conference - marking a decade of Limmud FSU activity in Ukraine - also welcomed senior representatives of the most important Ukrainian Zionist Youth Movements: Beitar, Bnei Akiva, Hanoar Haoved Ve Halomed and Hashomer Hatzair. Two of them, Hashomer Hatzair and Bnei Akiva have deep roots and an extensive history in Lviv. The main headquarters of Bnei Akiva, which are in the area of the Eastern Galicia, were first opened in Lviv in 1930. All the conferences of the movement were held in the city and was also the place where Hashomer Hatzair was first named. Lviv hosted the most important meetings of that movement's leadership, where its main offices were … [Read more...]
New JCC Dedicated Today in Kiev
Despite ongoing challenges in Ukraine, Jewish life is thriving and will be given new expression with the official dedication today of the Halom Jewish Community Center (JCC), a new 17,000 square foot facility located in central Kiev. … [Read more...]
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