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Jews And Judaism In The Jewish Autonomous Oblast
The history of the Jews in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast ( JAO), Russia, began with the early settlements of 1928. Yiddish and Russian are the two official languages of the JAO. According to Peter Matthiessen in ''The Birds of Heaven'', p20-21, “According to local memory, thousands of Jews from Ukraine and elsewhere were transported here during the vast purges and organized famines of the mid-1930s… most of the displaced were city dwellers… a large number of Jews died…” Early settlement In May 1928 the first group of Jewish settlers from cities and villages in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia arrived in the region that became the Jewish Autonomous Oblast. These individuals settled in many different areas of the autonomous oblast, some in Birobidzhan and others in various rural settlements. In 1934, the Jewish Autonomous Oblast was formed in the Russian Far East to show that, like other national groups in the Soviet Union, Russian Jews could receive a territory in which to p ...
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Jewish Autonomous Oblast
The Jewish Autonomous Oblast (JAO) is a federal subject of Russia in the far east of the country, bordering Khabarovsk Krai and Amur Oblast in Russia and Heilongjiang province in China. Its administrative center is the town of Birobidzhan. The JAO was designated by a Soviet official decree in 1928, and officially established in 1934. At its height, in the late 1940s, the Jewish population in the region peaked around 46,000–50,000, approximately 25% of its population. Since then the share of Jews steadily declined, and according to the 2021 Russian census, there were only 837 ethnic Jews left in the JAO (0.6%). Article 65 of the Constitution of Russia provides that the JAO is Russia's only autonomous oblast. It is one of two officially Jewish jurisdictions in the world, the other being Israel. It is one of the few places in the world where Yiddish is a recognized minority language. History Background Annexation of the Amur Region by Russia Prior to 1858, the ...
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Rabbi
A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of the rabbi developed in the Pharisees, Pharisaic (167 BCE–73 CE) and Talmudic (70–640 CE) eras, when learned teachers assembled to codify Judaism's written and oral laws. The title "rabbi" was first used in the first century CE. In more recent centuries, the duties of a rabbi became increasingly influenced by the duties of the Clergy, Protestant Christian minister, hence the title "pulpit rabbis." Further, in 19th-century Germany and the United States, rabbinic activities such as sermons, pastoral counseling, and representing the community to the outside all increased in importance. Within the various Jewish denominations, there are different requirements for rabbinic ordination and differences in opinion regarding who is recognized as a ...
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Birobidzhan Synagogue
The Birobidzhan Synagogue, officially the Freyd Community and Beit Menachem Synagogue in Birobidzhan, is a Chabad Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 19 Lenina Street, in the city of Birobidzhan, in the capital of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, in Russia. According to the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS, it is "the first synagogue in Russia to be built partly with state money". The Russian government allotted US$112,000 to help build the synagogue that was completed in 2004. History 2004 opening In 2004, the Chief Rabbi of Russia, Berel Lazar, took part in the 70th-anniversary celebration of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast. Rabbi Lazar and Avraham Berkowitz, the executive director of the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS, led a delegation to Birobidzhan for the event. Mayor Alexander Vinnikov and Valery Solomonovich Gurevich also participated in the opening. Governor Nikolay Mikhaylovich Volkov stated that the Birobidzhan Synagogue is the Jewi ...
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Public School (government Funded)
A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in part by taxation and operated by the government of the state. State-funded schools are global with each country showcasing distinct structures and curricula. Government-funded education spans from primary to secondary levels, covering ages 4 to 18. Alternatives to this system include homeschooling, Private school, private schools, Charter school, charter schools, and other educational options. By region and country Africa South Africa In South Africa, a state school or government school refers to a school that is state-controlled. These are officially called public schools according to the South African Schools Act of 1996, but it is a term that is not used colloquially. The Act recognised two categories of schools: public and independent. Independent schools include all private schools and schools t ...
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Lev Toitman
Lev Grigorievich Toitman (; 1925 – September 11, 2007) was a soldier in World War II. Toitman is known for the "foundation and revival of the local Jewish community" in Birobidzhan.Far East Jewish Community Chairman Passes Away
Federation of Jewish Communities


Jewish Community leadership

Lev Toitman was the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS for Birobidzhan, the capital of the



Federation Of Jewish Communities Of The CIS
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.Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS, Inc.
''Division of Corporations''. New York State Department of State. Accessed December 17, 2015.
Current heads of the organization are: * Lev Leviev, President of FJC of the CIS *Rabbi
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Synagogue
A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs, choir performances, and children's plays. They often also have rooms for study, social halls, administrative and charitable offices, classrooms for religious and Hebrew studies, and many places to sit and congregate. They often display commemorative, historic, or modern artwork alongside items of Jewish historical significance or history about the synagogue itself. Synagogues are buildings used for Jewish prayer, study, assembly, and reading of the Torah. The Torah (Pentateuch or Five Books of Moses) is traditionally read in its entirety over a period of a year in weekly portions during services, or in some synagogues on a triennial cycle. However, the edifice of a synagogue as such is not essential for hol ...
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Yiddishkeit (TV Show)
''Yiddishkeit'' () is a Russian documentary television show concerning the subject of Yiddishkeit. Since 2005, when the show had begun taking its current format, it is edited by Tatyana Kadinskaya, directed by Natalya Kaper and filmed by Oleg Veksler. The former Chief Rabbi of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Mordechai Scheiner, and his wife, Esther Scheiner, were often guests who hosted parts of the show. Before 2005, various programs related to Yiddish and Jewish subjects were regularly broadcast by the local television without a specific name. ''Yiddishkeit'' is viewed in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast and the Russian Far East. The television show is broadcast each Friday out of Birobidzhan Birobidzhan ( rus, Биробиджан, p=bʲɪrəbʲɪˈdʐan; , ), also spelt Birobijan ( ), is a town and the administrative centre of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Russia, located on the Trans-Siberian Railway, near the China–Russia bord ... and often contains both Russian and Yiddish ...
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Rabbi
A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of the rabbi developed in the Pharisees, Pharisaic (167 BCE–73 CE) and Talmudic (70–640 CE) eras, when learned teachers assembled to codify Judaism's written and oral laws. The title "rabbi" was first used in the first century CE. In more recent centuries, the duties of a rabbi became increasingly influenced by the duties of the Clergy, Protestant Christian minister, hence the title "pulpit rabbis." Further, in 19th-century Germany and the United States, rabbinic activities such as sermons, pastoral counseling, and representing the community to the outside all increased in importance. Within the various Jewish denominations, there are different requirements for rabbinic ordination and differences in opinion regarding who is recognized as a ...
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Jewish Day School
A Jewish day school is a modern Jewish educational institution that is designed to provide children of Jews, Jewish parents with both a Jewish and a secular education in one school on a full-time basis. The term "day school" is used to differentiate schools attended during the day from Hebrew school, part time weekend schools as well as secular or religious "boarding school" equivalents where the students live full-time as well as study. The substance of the "Jewish" component varies from school to school, community to community, and usually depends on the Jewish denominations of the schools' founders. While some schools may stress Judaism and Torah study others may focus more on Jewish history, Hebrew language, Yiddish language, Jewish culture, and Zionism. Types Not all Jewish day schools are the same. While they may all teach Jewish studies or various parts of Torah and Tanakh, these studies may be taught from various points of view depending on each school's educational policies ...
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Antisemitism
Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemitic tendencies may be motivated primarily by negative sentiment towards Jewish peoplehood, Jews as a people or negative sentiment towards Jews with regard to Judaism. In the former case, usually known as racial antisemitism, a person's hostility is driven by the belief that Jews constitute a distinct race with inherent traits or characteristics that are repulsive or inferior to the preferred traits or characteristics within that person's society. In the latter case, known as religious antisemitism, a person's hostility is driven by their religion's perception of Jews and Judaism, typically encompassing doctrines of supersession that expect or demand Jews to turn away from Judaism and submit to the religion presenting itself as Judaism's suc ...
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Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium CE. They traditionally speak Yiddish, a language that originated in the 9th century, and largely migrated towards northern and eastern Europe during the late Middle Ages due to persecution. Hebrew was primarily used as a literary and sacred language until its 20th-century revival as a common language in Israel. Ashkenazim adapted their traditions to Europe and underwent a transformation in their interpretation of Judaism. In the late 18th and 19th centuries, Jews who remained in or returned to historical German lands experienced a cultural reorientation. Under the influence of the Haskalah and the struggle for emancipation, as well as the intellectual and cultural ferment in urban centres, some gradually abandoned Yiddish in favor of German and developed new forms of Jewish relig ...
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