RJC Monitor - 01.17.2003

 

The Russian Jewish Congress




Information Bulletin # 1 

ISRAELI ACADEMIA TO FURTHER ENHANCE JEWISH EDUCATION IN RUSSIA

The international Board of Regents of the Center for the University Teaching of Jewish Civilization, at the Hebrew University, held a session in Jerusalem January 5. 

The Center, established under the auspices of the Israeli President in 1981, has since then been working hard to live up to its commitment to enhance Jewish studies at institutions of higher learning in the Diaspora. In the early '90s, it focused its efforts on Russia and other countries of the Former Soviet Union. In recent years, it has also been paying a lot of attention to Latin American nations. 

Traditionally, the presidency at the Center is shared by two U.S. nationals; representatives of France and the United Kingdom are appointed as co-Vice Presidents. A third vice-presidential position was introduced in 2000, especially for a Russian appointee. This post is presently held by Yevgeny Satanovsky. 

Mr. Satanovsky presided over the latest Regents Board session. Which was hardly surprising, given the fact that Russian-oriented programs dominated the agenda. Only one of the keynote speeches highlighted programs operating in the post-crisis Argentina. All the rest dealt with the FSU, where the Center implements academic projects through its Moscow affiliate, Sefer. 

In its efforts to promote Jewish university-level studies around the globe, Israel now sees Russia as a priority target area. One more fact attesting to the Israeli academia's increasingly close attention to this country is that two key posts in the European Association for Jewish Studies (EAJS)—those of the President and the Treasurer—have, since late last year, been occupied by the Russian professors Rashid Kaplanov and Arkady Kovelman. 

Speaking at the session, Mr. Satanovsky urged the Israeli academic community to further step up cooperation with Russia, arguing that this may become an additional stability factor for the Jewish State in the face of global geopolitical changes. He said he wanted Israel to cooperate with Russia as extensively as it did with the United States. 

The Russian representative brought up this same topic at sideline meetings with Hebrew University Rector Haim Rabinowitch, HU President Menachem Magidor, and HU Vice President Moshe Arad.


JUDAISM AND SOCIETY

The Congress of Jewish Religious Communities and Organizations of Russia (commonly known by its Russian acronym, KEROOR) has released a voluminous document setting forth the guiding principles behind its cooperation strategies with non-Jewish congregations, secular organizations, and the government. 

In this same document, the KEROOR makes an attempt to explain Jewish positions on some of the major problems facing modern-day society. It explores, from Judaism's perspective, such topics as politics, education, property, bio-ethics, matrimony, and the status of women.

In the preamble to the document, Chief Rabbi Adolph Schaewitz of Russia says he is hopeful that Jewish organizations, yeshivas, schools, congregations, and unaffiliated Jews will be following these principles in their daily life. This will help each of us to become a better person and build better relationships with other people, Rabbi Schaewitz believes.


BUILDING JEWISH COMMUNITY IN MONGOLIA

A Jewish umbrella organization has been set up in Mongolia to coordinate and further the activities of groups and individuals that try to get local Jews involved in community life, helping them rediscover their roots and learn more about their heritage. 

Alexander Mashkevich, President of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC), views the fact as further evidence that Jewish life is reviving all across Asia, even in countries with a tiny percentage of Jews, like Mongolia. He has pledged to help the new organization with the community building and suggested that, to start with, it create its own web site within the framework of the EAJC's Internet program. 


GLIMPSE OF HOLY CITY IN MOSCOW EXHIBIT

Works by painter Mikhail Khazin and photo artist Shaike Altuvia, both from Israel, were showcased January 2 through 12 at Moscow's Novy Manezh gallery. The exhibit, entitled Jerusalem, was the result of Novy Manezh's collaboration with the Zeitlin Russian Art Museum, based in Ramat Gan. The two galleries' collaborative effort was supported by the Israeli Embassy to Russia, the Culture Committee of the Moscow city government, and the Ramat Gan Municipality. The Russian Jewish Congress and the Moscow Office of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) covered the staging costs. 

Dan Orian, Culture Attaché at the Israeli Embassy, and Sergei Gitman, Executive Vice President of the RJC, spoke at the Jan. 2 opening ceremony, which had some prominent members of Moscow's artistic community among its attendees. 


REMEMBERING VICTIMS OF STALINIST REPRESSION

Community activists, as well as Israeli Embassy and Russian Jewish Congress officials, gathered in Moscow on January 13, for a memorial event to commemorate Soviet-era repression victims, specifically the Jewish medical doctors falsely charged with conspiracy to kill Joseph Stalin and associates. January 2003 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the arrests in the case, which went down in history as the "Doctors' Plot."

Now, fifty years on, Yakov Etinger and Alexander Trachtenberg shared personal memories about their parents, who had been among those wrongly convicted doctors. 


YAROSLAVL TOWN HALL REACHES OUT TO JEWISH KIDS

Municipal officials in Yaroslavl, a Golden Ring town northeast of Moscow, visited a local Jewish Sunday school ahead of New Year's, bringing a sackful of seasonal treats to its students. The visit was part of Town Hall's effort to extend its community outreach.