On Sunday, January 13th, thousands in Moscow protested Russia’s passing of the “anti-Magnitsky” law, which bans Americans from adopting Russian orphans. This social protest, referred to as the “March Against Jerks,” included both hardened political activists, as well as first-time protesters. Many feel that it crosses a moral line to target children to make a […]
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Masha Sergeeva: Using Art to Promote Modern Jewish Culture
JDC– Born and raised in St. Petersburg, Russia in the years after the fall of Communism, Masha Sergeeva, 21, grew up with limited understanding of—or pride in—her Jewish identity. That’s all changed now. “My uncle, my mom’s brother was a refusnik, and went to Israel in the first aliyah in the ‘80s,” explains Masha. “But my mom worked as an engineer at a […]
Bar Mitzvah Celebrated 70 Years Later in Ukrainian Town
From Israel National News– By David Lev For the first time since before World War II, the small Jewish community in the Ukrainian town of Netishin held prayer services – and celebrated the Bar-Mitzvah of the grandson of the community’s last rabbi, 70 years after it had been scheduled to take place. The religious revival […]
USCIRF January 2013 Russia Policy Brief
Read the January 2013 U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Policy Brief on Russia here.
Updated Version of “One Hour, Eighteen Minutes” Especially Poignant With Recent Passing of Magnitsky and ‘Anti-Magnitsky’ Laws
From The Moscow Times – Some things remain relevant longer than you would expect. Take the death of Sergei Magnitsky. This muck-raking attorney was allowed to die in a Moscow prison in November 2009. That story was still making news when Teatr.doc opened a show called “One Hour Eighteen” in the early summer of 2010. The show examined the actions of several people in close proximity to the prisoner when […]
Moldovan Jewish Community Denied Right to Install Hanukkah Menorah in Capital
The JC– On the wall of an inconspicuous building in a side street in Chisinau, the capital of the former Soviet Republic of Moldova, a plaque reads: “Glaziers synagogue — middle of the 19th century.” This is the only remaining working synagogue in a city which boasted 77 synagogues before 1940. Chief Rabbi Zalman Abelsky, […]
Remembering the Refusenik Movement
By Jessica Ravitz, CNN (CNN) — Driven by desperation, Marina and Lev Furman stepped out of their home in Leningrad and took a 20-minute walk into uncertainty. Trailed by KGB agents, they bundled up and set out in the weak winter light for Palace Square, site of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. They brought signs demanding freedom. And […]
Honoring Vladimir Bukovsky: A Champion of Human Rights
December 30, 2012 marked the 70th birthday of Vladimir Bukovsky – one of the most prominent pioneers of the Movement for Human Rights. Vladimir started his civil service back at school. It is difficult to overestimate the role of this man who underwent the man-made hell of special psychiatric institutions, years of prisons and concentration camps and deportation […]
Mila Kunis Targeted by Anti-Semitic Ukrainian Lawmaker
Ukrainian MP Igor Miroshnichenko stirred controversy last month by posting an anti-Semitic comment on Facebook regarding Ukrainian-born American actress Mila Kunis. Miroshnichenko stated, “She is not Ukrainian, she is a Jewess by birth,” using the term “zhydovka” which roughly translates to “dirty Jewess,” instead of the accepted word “ievreïska.” He added, “She is proud of this and […]
Limmud FSU Conference Fosters Jewish Culture
Jerusalem Post– By Daniel K. Eisenbud The Limmud FSU Conference in the western Ukrainian city of Uzhgorod may very well be the intellectual Jewish Woodstock of the former Soviet Union. Attracting over 600 Jews from all walks of life across the country, as well as from surrounding nations, it is a four-day meeting of the […]