TThhee SSttoorryy ooff FFoorrmmeerr SSoovviieett JJeewwrryy aanndd TThheeiirr RReebbiirrtthh Prepared By Ner Le'Elef Page 1 of 101 THE STORY OF FORMER SOVIET JEWRY & THEIR REBIRTH Prepared by Ner Le’Elef Publication date 09 January 2007 Permission is granted to reproduce in part or in whole. Profits may not be gained from any such reproductions. This book is updated with each edition and is produced several times a year Other Ner Le’Elef Booklets currently available: AMERICAN SOCIETY BOOK OF QUOTATIONS EVOLUTION HILCHOS MASHPIAH JEWISH MEDICAL ETHICS JEWISH RESOURCES LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT ORAL LAW PROOFS QUESTION & ANSWERS SCIENCE AND JUDAISM SOURCES SUFFERING THE CHOSEN PEOPLE THIS WORLD & THE NEXT WOMEN'S ISSUES (Book One) WOMEN'S ISSUES (Book Two) For information on how to order additional booklets, please contact: Ner Le’Elef P.O. Box 14503 Jewish Quarter, Old City, Jerusalem 91145 E-mail: [email protected] Fax #: 972-02-653-6229 Tel #: 972-02-651-0825 Page 2 of 101 TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION ONE: YESTERDAY & TODAY .....................6 1. INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................6 2. THE MYSTERY OF TESHUVA IN THE USSR .........................................................7 3. THE STATE OF CIS JEWRY TODAY AND TOMORROW .....................................10 The Miracle and the Lost Romance.................................................................................................10 Anti-Semitism and the General Climate..........................................................................................11 The Legacy of Atheism....................................................................................................................17 4. YESTERDAY.........................................................................................................18 Continuity.........................................................................................................................................18 Pre Communism...............................................................................................................................20 1914 – 1960: Judaism Snuffed Out .................................................................................................21 The Sixties: Judaism as Nationalism...............................................................................................23 The Seventies: The Early Teshuvah Movement..............................................................................25 The Eighties: Full Bloom.................................................................................................................29 1990 – 2005: Stabilization and Community....................................................................................32 5. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE RUSSIAN POPULATIONS IN THE CIS AND THOSE LIVING IN OTHER COUNTRIES..................................................................34 6. OVERVIEW OF ACTIVITY....................................................................................35 Age ...................................................................................................................................................35 Males & Females .............................................................................................................................36 Inter-Organizational Cooperation....................................................................................................36 Types of Activities...........................................................................................................................37 7. COMMUNITY BUILDING.............................................................................................37 Observance.......................................................................................................................................38 Marriage ...........................................................................................................................................38 Schools .............................................................................................................................................39 Schools versus Communities...........................................................................................................41 Bris Milah.........................................................................................................................................41 Orphanages.......................................................................................................................................42 SECTION TWO: TOMORROW.................................46 OVERVIEW ..................................................................................................................46 MARRIAGE & INTERMARRIAGE.......................................................................................47 THE STIGMA OF OBSERVANCE .......................................................................................48 SCHOOLS ....................................................................................................................48 COMMUNITIES & RABBINIC TRAINING ............................................................................51 LAY LEADERSHIP..........................................................................................................53 KASHRUS & RELIGIOUS INFRASTRUCTURE ......................................................................53 SHABBOS ....................................................................................................................54 MISCELLANEOUS ..........................................................................................................55 THE POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC LANDSCAPE...................................................................55 Page 3 of 101 SECTION THREE: JEWISH PROFILE OF MAJOR CIS CITIES ...................................................................61 A. BALTIC COUNTRIES (LATVIA, LITHUANIA & ESTONIA) .................................61 B. BELARUS .............................................................................................................64 Mogilev ............................................................................................................................................65 Gomel ...............................................................................................................................................66 C. OTHER COUNTRIES............................................................................................67 1. Moldova .......................................................................................................................................67 D. RUSSIA ................................................................................................................67 Birobidzhan ......................................................................................................................................69 Moscow ............................................................................................................................................70 Perm..................................................................................................................................................72 Saratov..............................................................................................................................................73 St. Petersburg ...................................................................................................................................73 Tula...................................................................................................................................................75 E. SOUTHERN (MOSLEM) COUNTRIES ..................................................................76 Armenia............................................................................................................................................76 Azerbaijan ........................................................................................................................................76 Baku..................................................................................................................................................77 Kuba .................................................................................................................................................79 Georgia .............................................................................................................................................80 Tibilisi .........................................................................................................................................80 Kazakhstan .......................................................................................................................................81 Uzbekistan........................................................................................................................................82 Tashkent.....................................................................................................................................83 Buchara ......................................................................................................................................84 F. UKRAINE..............................................................................................................85 Kiev ..................................................................................................................................................86