Russia’s Jewish Community Aids Disaster Victims

Extreme heat, drought and forest fires in the central part of Russia has mobilized local Jewish communities to help citizens who have lost their homes and property due to the disasters.

Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar instructed Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia representatives, many of whom are Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries, to make an all-out effort to help affected residents in any way they can. Leaders of local Jewish communal charity organizations are distributing what they have collected to residents near Moscow who have been affected by the disasters.

In the Nizhny Novgorod region, one of the most fire-affected regions where entire villages have been lost, the local Jewish community and the Chesed Sarah Charity Fund have been actively helping the victims.

The Jewish community of Birobidzhan, located in the Far Easter region of Russia, has also rallied to aid the inhabitants of Russia’s central regions. A number of local Jewish businessmen responded, followed by a Chinese resident whose business caters primarily to Jewish residents. The charity organization run by the city’s Freud Jewish Community Center has played an active role in this endeavor.