EAJC Update -  June 2003

 

The Euro-Asian Jewish Congress




Moscow Jewish Museum
Moscow, Russia, June 10, 2003

Jewish Communal Center Opening
Karaganda, Kazakhstan, June 6, 2003

FJNCA Conference
Russia, Moscow, June 22, 2003

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Moscow Jewish Museum / EAJC Participation
Moscow, Russia, June 10, 2003

On June 10, 2003 in the Moscow Choral Synagogue there was founded Public Council for Setting-Up the Museum of Jewish History in Moscow.

Not less than 30 persons were present at the gathering representing different public and professional, Jewish and non-Jewish organizations both Russian, and foreign. Among the guests was also a UNESCO representative who supported the idea of creation of the Jewish museum.

Efim Ulitsky, an enthusiast of the Jewish museum work, presided over the assembly and let have the floor to all who wanted it. The speakers offered different approaches to the idea of the future museum both concerning its name and contents, and concerning the necessary organizational structure. Disputes were of a constructive character.

Decision was taken to ratify the list of members of the Public Council headed by the Chief Rabbi of Russia, the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) Council of Rabbis Vice-President Adolf Shaevich and to name of a long-awaited cultural institution — "Moscow Jewish Museum".

The Public Council was manned by well-known public and cultural figures of the Russian Jewish Street, including the EAJC Secretary General, the Vaad of Russia President Michael Chlenov.

In conclusion, E. Ulitsky, authorized as the Executive Director of the Moscow Jewish Museum Public Council, offered the participants to sign the Constituent Contract. He promised to give each member of the Council a draft of the Address to the Governments of the Russian Federation and the city of Moscow with a petition for granting appropriate premises to the Museum, and the new Chairman of the Public Council A. Shaevich approved the proposition to address his colleague Berl Lazar with the offer to enter the Council in the quality of Co-Chairman.


Jewish Communal Center Opening / EAJC Participation
Karaganda, Kazakhstan, June 6, 2003

On June 6, 2003 in the city of Karaganda Jewish Communal Center (JCC) "Shemesh" was opened. The presentation was attended by President of the Association of the Jewish National Organizations of the Republic of Kazakhstan "Mitsva", Euro-Asian Jewish Congress General Council member (EAJC) Alexander Baron, Director of the Republican Jewish Charitable Center Hesed "Polina" Natalia Dorman, directors of charitable centers and communal centers from Kazakhstan’s cities: Petropavlovsk, Kokshetau, Pavlodar, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Astana, Semipalatinsk.

Baron welcomed participants of the celebrations and gave them the best regards from the EAJC and its President Alexander Machkevich. The city authorities of Karaganda congratulated the community also.

More than 300 members of the Karaganda Jewish community and their guests came on that day in the Musical Comedy Theatre, where the celebrations took place. In the hall the visitors found a photo-exhibition telling about life of the city Jewish community and an exposition of children's art-works. There were also presented dishes of the Jewish Cuisine, prepared by female participants of club "Hozyayushka". 

Then the celebratory concert began. Spectators applauded to Children's Center "Perurim", Youth club "Shatil", a drama school, female and men's clubs.

A creative find of the holiday became the premiere performance of the JCC’s vocal quartet "Shemesh", which presented a program of seldom-performed songs in Yiddish.


FJNCA Conference / EAJC Support
Russia, Moscow, June 22, 2003

On June 22, 2003 in the Conference Hall of the Moscow hotel "Izamylovo" the was held a report-and election Conference of the Federal Jewish National-Cultural Autonomy (FJNCA) which rallied leaders of regional NCA’s from 11 subjects of the Russian Federation, local NCA representatives from other regions and numerous guests.

The Conference was welcomed by: Minister of the Russian Federation Vladimir Zorin, Chairman of the Committee for National Policy Valentin Nikitin, President of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) Alexander Machkevich, who acted as one of sponsors of the event.

With words of approval and support representatives of foreign Jewish organizations spoke: Ehud Baltsar from the Embassy of Israel, Shmuel Kesler from AJJDC, Robert Meth from the National Conference for Soviet Jewry (NCSJ) and Michael Jadovitsky from JAFI.


Presiding at the Conference Michael Chlenov, President of the Vaad of Russia, EAJC Secretary General and Co-Chairman of the FJNCA of the expired cadence, noted the significance of the date of convocation of the Conference and called to honor by a minute of silence the memory of heroes of the World War II and victims of the Holocaust.

The audience listened to the basic report on prospects of the FJNCA, which the chairman of the assembly offered, and a number of supporting reports on problems of the Jewish culture (Alexander Levenbuk), on problems of the Jewish education (Eugeny Lvova), problems of teaching the Jewish language (Eugeny Maryanchik).

?. Chlenov emphasized, that in the development of the NCA, stipulated by the appropriate federal law, interested are not only numerous national minorities and ethnic diasporas, but also the Russian authorities.

The developed discussion showed much interest of those gathered in subtleties of the Russian legislation and desire to see exactly in the FJNCA a structure of communal unity of Jews of the Russian Federation.

In the course of discussing the Charter of the FJNCA, the delegates agreed with Roman Spektor's offer to consider the institute of co-chairmanship as having exhausted its organizational resource and they unanimously voted for M. Chlenov as President of the FJNCA.

Before going on the slated banquet, the Conference selected a new Council of the FJNCA of 9 persons, including the President who should generate the executive bodies and ratify vice-presidents for basic directions of the FJNCA activities.

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Structure of the Council of the Federal Jewish National-Cultural Autonomy of the Russian Federation:

1. Michael Chlenov – President of the FJNCA (Moscow)

2. Leonid Zilberg (Syktyvkar)

3. Alexander Levenbuk (Moscow)

4. Evgeniya Lvova (Saint Petersburg)

5. Evgeny Maryanchik (Moscow)

6. Alexander Osovtsov (Moscow)

7. Michael Oshtrakh (Ekaterinburg)

8. Naum Rashkovsky (Krasnoyarsk)

9. Roman Spektor (Moscow)

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GREETING of the EAJC PRESIDENT A.A. MACHKEVICH to the FJNCA CONFERENCE

Dear Colleagues, shalom!

On behalf of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) I welcome the Conference of the Federal Jewish National-Cultural Autonomy (FJNCA), which, no doubt, will become a significant event in the post-Soviet Jewish life.

The fact of convocation of the Conference means, that the ideas Jewish autonomism today are again taking roots in Russia, having passed an uneasy historical way and having obtained brilliant precedents in the persons of Russian ideologists led by Shimon Dubnov.

Today more favorable conditions for the development Jewish autonomism have been created because that is helped by the adopted laws: the Concept of the State National Policy and the Federal law "On National-Cultural Autonomy - NCA".

I am definitely in the know, that the Russian authorities endow the institute of NKA a priority role in the integration of national minorities and ethnic diasporas into the public life of the country, and we, representatives of other subjects of the post-Soviet space, will have to study this experience properly. If not the letter of the law about NCA, then, anyway, its spirit should be tested in our countries as well.

The Russian legislation regulating law relationships of national minorities with government bodies, do not contradict at all those ideas, which are incorporated in the Program basics of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress in which it is unambiguously seen, that we stand up for preservation of all forms of the Jewish life, which have become usual over the last stormy decade. I am convinced, that today's Conference will not set up insuperable borders for different directions of the Jewish thought and Jewish construction in Russia.

Unity of the Jewish people today is determined by partnership of all organizational-legal forms of cultivating the Jewish life and by a competent dialog with government bodies.

I wish productivity in your todays and further work. To the Conference delegates and guests I wish health and patience.

I am sure, that the FJNCA will become an optimum tool for the Jewish consolidation and will simplify our mutual relations with Israel and the global Jewish community.

Sincerely yours, Alexander Machkevich, President of the EAJC.


- Roman Spektor, Head of the EAJC Public Relations and Media Department