600 Russian Jews gathered this past wekend for Limmud FSU St. Petersburg, a three-day festival of Jewish learning and culture. St. Petersburg today is one of the most vibrant, flourishing Jewish communities in the former Soviet Union, with roughly 100,000 Jews, making it the second-largest Jewish community in Russia. Annual conferences, started in 2011, reflect high intellectual caliber and cultural-oriented programming. “We take pride in … [Read more...] about LImmud FSU Returns to St. Petersburg for 7th Year
Life in the FSU Countries
As Winter Weather Batters Populations Worldwide, JDC Calls for Support of Winter Aid Efforts
As extreme weather is sweeping across the U.S.and Europe, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) is urging the public to support local and global winter aid efforts aiding poor populations. JDC has provided winter aid this year to more than 9,500 poor Jews, including homebound elderly, across the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. The critically-important relief - deployed to ensure protection from dipping temperatures and … [Read more...] about As Winter Weather Batters Populations Worldwide, JDC Calls for Support of Winter Aid Efforts
Off Campus: How Hillels outside North America Reach Students of all Ages
By Shana Medel for eJewishPhilanthropy.com A college student in ripped jeans and a tank top gazes at a whiteboard scrawled with Hebrew words. A few seats away sits a middle-aged man in a crisp polo, twiddling a pencil between his fingers as he recites the Aleph-Bet. They’re among the roughly 250 people enrolled in a free, 10-week Hebrew course offered by Hillel Russia. Each Sunday, the Hebrew beginners gather in a sun-flecked pavilion … [Read more...] about Off Campus: How Hillels outside North America Reach Students of all Ages
In Rovno, A Tale of Love and Darkness
By Nathan Roie and Avital Chizhik Amos Oz, famed Israeli author, perennial Nobel Prize contender and winner of the Israel Prize for Literature, passed away from cancer on Friday at the age of 79. In 2014, Professor Fania Oz-Salzberger - one of Oz's 3 daughters - visited, for the 1st time, Rovno. Originally published on eJP, November 21, 2014. *** “We came to offer life to memory, if even just for a moment,” says Professor Fania … [Read more...] about In Rovno, A Tale of Love and Darkness
Faces of the Future: Jewish Teen Life in Former Soviet Union
Cool. Trendy. Fun. Empowering. These four words don’t often make their way into modern lexicon of Jewish life, especially as defined by teens. But imagine being born into a world where Jewish identity and activity are only a generation old. Imagine being able to build it from the ground up, on your own terms, and engaging in this miraculous effort together with your peers. And then imagine serving as a Jewish role model not just for your … [Read more...] about Faces of the Future: Jewish Teen Life in Former Soviet Union