Jerusalem Post - 11.20.2004

Jerusalem Post

Azerbaijan's Jewish community launches Web site

By Michael Freund

Azerbaijan's small Jewish community launched its own website (www.jewish.az) last week, which aims to serve as a multi-lingual source of information and educational materials for Jews living throughout the country. 

The site currently contains material in Russian, with sections in English, Hebrew and Azerbaijani slated to be added soon. It will include a listing of community events, a history of Azerbaijani Jewry and information on Jewish tradition and culture. 

The initiative behind the site came from Azerbaijan's Chief Rabbi Meir Bruk, who also heads the Ohr Avner Chabad Day School in Baku, the country's capital. 

An estimated 18,000 Jews currently live in Azerbaijan. Some 40,000 Jews have left the country since the collapse of the Soviet Union over a decade ago.