Valery Solomonovich Gurevich, a

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

is the vice-governor of the

Jewish Autonomous Oblast The Jewish Autonomous Oblast (JAO; russian: Евре́йская автоно́мная о́бласть, (ЕАО); yi, ייִדישע אװטאָנאָמע געגנט, ; )In standard Yiddish: , ''Yidishe Oytonome Gegnt'' is a federal subject ...

Leadership in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast

Gurevich both organized, and participated in, the 2004 70th anniversary celebrations of the

(founded in 1934). During this time Gurevich assisted in the opening of the

Birobidzhan Synagogue The Birobidzhan Synagogue was established in 2004. The synagogue is in the city of Birobidzhan, which is the capital of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, the only autonomous oblast of Russia. It is "the first synagogue in Russia to be built partly w ...

which was coordinated along with the 70th anniversary celebrations

Political history

Gurevich is the highest ranking

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

politician in the

oblast An oblast (; ; Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian and Ukrainian): , Bulgarian: ) is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the Soviet Union and the Kingdo ...

. His official title is "Vice-chairman of the Government

He is in the

line of succession An order of succession or right of succession is the line of individuals necessitated to hold a high office when it becomes vacated such as head of state or an honour such as a title of nobility.Viktor Gozhy, who follows

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Nikolay Mikhaylovich Volkov Nikolay Mikhaylovich Volkov (russian: link=no, Николай Михайлович Волков) (born 19 December 1951) is a Russian politician. Childhood and education Volkov was born in 1951 in Krasnoye village, in the Shablykinsky district ...

br>

Jewish heritage

Gurevich is the son of

settlers A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer. Settle ...

who arrived in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast in the 1930s

Gurevich is interested in developing the region's

Jewish identity Jewish identity is the objective or subjective state of perceiving oneself as a Jew and as relating to being Jewish. Under a broader definition, Jewish identity does not depend on whether a person is regarded as a Jew by others, or by an exte ...

Both his parents and grandparents spoke

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...

. Gurivich has also been described as a Jewish

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

Tongjiang-Nizhneleninskoye railway bridge

During the 2007

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

Harbin International Fair for Trade and Economic Cooperation (Harbin Fair), Valery Solomonovich Gurevich proposed a railway bridge over the

Amur River The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeastern China (Inner Manchuria). The Amur proper is long ...

. The bridge will connect Tongjiang with

Nizhneleninskoye Nizhneleninskoye (russian: Нижнеле́нинское) is a rural locality (a '' selo'') in Leninsky District of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast. Located on the Amur River, Nizhneleninskoye is the location for the Tongjiang-Nizhneleninskoye rai ...

, a village in the

.Proposed bridge to boost bilateral trade
China Daily, June 19, 2007. The Chinese portion of the bridge was finished in July 2016. In December 2016, work began on the Russian portion of the bridge.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gurevich, Valery Solomonovich Jewish Autonomous Oblast politicians Russian religious leaders Russian Jews Yiddish culture in Russia Living people Year of birth missing (living people)