In Judaism, a ba'al teshuvah is a Jew who adopts some form of traditional religious observance after having previously followed a secular lifestyle or a less frum form of Judaism.
Menachem Mendel Schneerson, known to adherents of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement as the Lubavitcher Rebbe or simply the Rebbe, was a Russian-American Orthodox rabbi and the most recent Rebbe of the Lubavitch Hasidic dynasty. He is considered one of the most influential Jewish leaders of the 20th century.
Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch, is a branch of Orthodox Judaism, originating from Eastern Europe and one of the largest Hasidic dynasties. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements. It is one of the largest Hasidic groups as well as one of the largest Jewish religious organizations in the world. Unlike most Haredi groups, which are self-segregating, Chabad mainly operates in the wider world and it caters to secularized Jews.
Mountain Jews are the Mizrahi Jewish subgroup of the eastern and northern Caucasus, mainly Azerbaijan, and various republics in the Russian Federation: Chechnya, Ingushetia, Dagestan, Karachay-Cherkessia, and Kabardino-Balkaria, and are a branch of Persian Jewry. Mountain Jews took shape as a community after Qajar Iran ceded the areas in which they lived to the Russian Empire as part of the Treaty of Gulistan of 1813.
Ohr Avner Chabad Day School is a Jewish day school in Volgograd, Russia, and supported by the Ohr Avner Foundation. It opened in 2000 with 55 students, occupying premises on the second floor of a municipal school. In 2004 it moved to a new building leased from the city administration, and in 2005 it has some 155 students.
Islam is the majority religion in Azerbaijan, but the country is considered to be the most secular in the Muslim world. Estimates include 97.3% and 99.2% of the population identifying as Muslim. Of these, a majority belong to the Shia branch (60%-65%), while a significant minority (35%-40%) are Sunni. Traditionally, the differences between these two branches of Islam have not been sharply defined in Azerbaijan.
Ohr Avner Chabad Day School refers to a network of Jewish day schools founded and supported by Israeli businessman Lev Leviev, under the auspices of the Chabad Lubavitch movement, located in the areas of the former Soviet Union.
Ohr Avner Foundation is a philanthropic foundation that was established in 1992 by the Israeli billionaire and émigré from the former Soviet Union, Lev Leviev and is managed by its Director Rabbi David Mondshine. The foundation was named in memory of Lev Leviev's father Rabbi Avner Leviev. It supports a large network of Jewish educational institutions in the former Soviet Union, such as Jewish day schools, kindergartens and youth camps, a resource center and a teachers training institute.
The history of the Jews in Azerbaijan dates back many centuries. Today, Jews in Azerbaijan mainly consist of three distinct groups: Mountain Jews, the most sizable and most ancient group; Ashkenazi Jews, who settled in the area during the late 19th-early 20th centuries, and during World War II; and Georgian Jews who settled mainly in Baku during the early part of the 20th century.
The history of the Jews in Kazakhstan connects back to the history of Bukharan and Juhuro Mountain Jews. Kazakh Jews have a long history. At present, there are several thousand Jews in Kazakhstan.
Jews of Azerbaijan is a new Jewish cultural organization which was registered at Azerbaijan State Committee for Religious Affairs on May 17, 2002. One of the main goals of the organization has been developing ties with all Jewish communities of Azerbaijan, improvement of and raising awareness of local Jews on religious and secular studies.
Azerbaijan and Israel began diplomatic relations in 1992 following Azerbaijan's independence from the Soviet Union. Azerbaijan is one of the majority Muslim countries, alongside Turkey, Egypt, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Kosovo, Morocco, Albania, and the other former Soviet republics to develop bilateral, strategic and economic relations with Israel.
Slomó Köves is a leading Orthodox rabbi and chief rabbi of EMIH an affiliate of Chabad-Lubavitch in Hungary which is led by rabbi Báruch Oberlander.
Gavriel Noach Holtzberg (Hebrew: גבריאל נח הולצברג; June 9, 1979 – November 26, 2008 was an Israeli American Orthodox rabbi and the Chabad emissary to Mumbai, India, where he and his wife Rivka ran the Mumbai Chabad House. He was also a religious leader and community builder for the local Jewish Indian community, and led the Friday-night Shabbat services at the Knesset Eliyahoo synagogue. Holtzberg and his wife were murdered during the 2008 Mumbai attacks perpetrated by the Islamic militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Heydar Mosque is an Azerbaijani mosque named after Heydar Aliyev, in the Binəqədi raion of Baku. It officially opened on 26 December 2014.
There are ten synagogues in Azerbaijan, that proved places of worship for the three main Jewish communities. These communities comprise groups of mountain, Ashkenazi and Georgian Jewish peoples. The total number of Jews in Azerbaijan is 16,000. Of these, 11,000 are mountain Jews, about 6,000 live in Baku, 4,000 live in Guba and thousands in other cities. Ashkenazi Jews comprise 4,300 people; most of whom live in Baku and Sumgayit. Georgian Jews number approximately 700 people.
Jonathan Benyamin Markovitch is the chief Rabbi of Kyiv, official representative of Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson and the official Rabbi of the country's prisons.
Kosher Love is a 2017 Canadian documentary film of love as understood by Orthodox and Hasidic Jews. The documentary was directed by filmmaker Evan Beloff and aired on the CBC-TV television channel. The film was also entered into Jewish Film Festivals in Canada, the United States, and in Poland.
The Avner Cohen Casa Chabad is a Jewish community centre situated in Cascais in the Lisbon District of Portugal. It includes a library that places special emphasis on works about the Torah, either those written by Portuguese Jewish scholars or printed in Portugal in the late 15th century.
