The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest population of Jews in the world. Within these territories, the primarily Ashkenazi Jewish communities of many different areas flourished and developed many of modern Judaism's most distinctive theological and cultural traditions, while also facing periods of antisemitic discriminatory policies and persecution, including violent pogroms. Some have described a "renaissance" in the Jewish community inside Russia since the beginning of the 21st century; however, the Russian Jewish population has experienced precipitous decline since the dissolution of the USSR which continues to this day, although it is still among the largest in Europe.
The Jewish Agency for Israel, formerly known as the Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. It was established in 1929 as the operative branch of the World Zionist Organization (WZO).
Netanya is a city in the Northern Central District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is 30 km (18.6 mi) north of Tel Aviv, and 56 km (34.8 mi) south of Haifa, between Poleg stream and Wingate Institute in the south and the Avihayil stream in the north. Netanya was named in honor of Nathan Straus, a prominent Jewish American merchant and philanthropist in the early 20th century who was the co-owner of Macy's department store.
Soviet anti-Zionism is an Anti Zionist and pro-Arab doctrine promulgated in the Soviet Union during the Cold War. While the Soviet Union initially pursued a pro-Zionist policy after World War II due to its perception that the Jewish state would be socialist and pro-Soviet, its outlook on the Arab–Israeli conflict changed as Israel began to develop a close relationship with the United States and aligned itself with the Western Bloc. Anti-Israel Soviet propaganda intensified after Israel's sweeping victory in the 1967 Arab–Israeli War, and it was officially sponsored by the agitation and propaganda media of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union as well as by the KGB. Among other charges, it alleged that Zionism was a form of racism. The Soviets framed their anti-Zionist propaganda in the guise of a study of modern Zionism, dubbed Zionology. The Soviet anti-Israel policy included the regulated denial of permission for Jews in the Soviet Union to emigrate, primarily to Israel, but also to any other country.
Rivne is a city in western Ukraine. The city is the administrative center of Rivne Oblast (province), as well as the surrounding Rivne Raion within the oblast. Administratively, Rivne is incorporated as a city of oblast significance and does not belong to the raion. It has a population of 243,873.
Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS (FJC) is a Jewish organisation dedicated to restoring Jewish life, culture and religion in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the former Soviet Union. The FJC was founded on August 1, 1997, with sponsorship of Ohr Avner Foundation.
Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union (UCSJ) is a non-governmental organization that reports on the human rights conditions in countries throughout Eastern Europe and Central Asia, exposing hate crimes and assisting communities in need. UCSJ uses grassroots-based monitoring and advocacy, as well as humanitarian aid, to protect the political and physical safety of Jewish people and other minorities in the region. UCSJ is based in Washington, D.C., and is linked to other organizations such as the Moscow Helsinki Group. It has offices in Russia and Ukraine and has a collegial relationship with human rights groups that were founded by the UCSJ in the countries of the former Soviet Union.
Shlomo Dov Pinchas Lazar, better known as Berel Lazar, is an Orthodox, Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic rabbi. He began his service in Russia in 1990. Known for his friendship with Vladimir Putin, since 2000, he has been a Chief Rabbi of Russia, and chairman of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia and Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS. In September 2005 Lazar became a member of the Public Chamber of Russia. Because of his connections to Russian President Vladimir Putin he is sometimes called "Putin's rabbi."
The history of the Jews in Ukraine dates back over a thousand years; Jewish communities have existed in the modern territory of Ukraine from the time of the Kievan Rus'. Important Jewish religious and cultural movements, from Hasidism to Zionism, arose there. According to the World Jewish Congress, the Jewish community in Ukraine constitutes Europe's third-largest and the world's fifth-largest.
The history of the Jews in Moldova reaches back to the 1st century BCE, when Roman Jews lived in the cities of the province of Lower Moesia. Bessarabian Jews have been living in the area for some time. Between the 4th-7th centuries CE, Moldova was part of an important trading route between Asia and Europe, and bordered the Khazar Khaganate, where Judaism was the state religion. Prior to the Second World War, violent antisemitic movements across the Bessarabian region badly affected the region's Jewish population. In the 1930s and '40s, under the Romanian governments of Octavian Goga and Ion Antonescu, government-directed pogroms and mass deportations led to the concentration and extermination of Jewish citizens followed, leading to the extermination of between 45,000-60,000 Jews across Bessarabia. The total number of Romanian and Ukrainian Jews who perished in territories under Romanian administration is between 280,000 and 380,000.
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.
Adolf Solomonovich Shayevich is a Soviet and Russian Orthodox rabbi who has been the rabbi of the Moscow Choral Synagogue since 1983, which is traditionally regarded as Moscow's main Jewish house of prayer.
As an organized nationalist movement, Zionism is generally considered to have been founded by Theodor Herzl in 1897. However, the history of Zionism began earlier and is intertwined with Jewish history and Judaism. The organizations of Hovevei Zion, held as the forerunners of modern Zionist ideals, were responsible for the creation of 20 Jewish towns in Palestine between 1870 and 1897.
The history of the Jews in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast (JAO), Russia, began with the early settlements of 1928.
Viatcheslav Moshe Kantor, businessman and philanthropist, is said to be the 630th richest person in the world. The Sunday Times Rich List estimated his wealth at £3.488 billion in 2020.
The Victory Monument in Netanya is a memorial marking the Red Army's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. The monument was erected by a decision of the Government of Israel with the consent of the Russian government. It was unveiled in a 2012 ceremony at the site attended by Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu, after having been first proposed by Prime Minister Netanyahu on a trip to Moscow in February 2010. The monument is believed to be the first memorial dedicated to the Red Army’s victory over German forces during the second world war, outside of former Soviet Union states. It is one of the most prominent features in the city of Netanya.
The Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center opened in Moscow in November 2012. Construction of the museum is estimated to have cost $50 million.
World Forum Of Russian-Speaking Jewry — is an international, nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that brings together dozens of diaspora communities and structures of Russian-speaking Jews living in Israel, Canada, the U.S., the European Union and the former USSR.
