The Krymchaks are a Turkic-speaking, ethno-cultural Jewish community whose primary territory of residence until the early 1990s was the Crimean Peninsula. Today, this community is extremely small, numbering no more than 1,500 individuals. However, due to its geographically dispersed nature, it exhibits significant internal variations in identity across its different segments. Following the onset of mass repatriation from the USSR and the post-Soviet space, the largest group of Krymchaks settled in Israel. Currently, active members of this group are working diligently to preserve, develop, and transmit the cultural heritage of this sub-ethnic group, as well as to establish community institutions for indigenous Crimean Jews.

The Krymchaks are an endangered, minor, formerly Turkic-speaking ethno-cultural Jewish community. Until the early 1990s, their primary territory of residence was the Crimean Peninsula. According to the 1989 Soviet census, 679 Krymchaks resided in the Crimean Oblast, with a total of 1,448 across the entire USSR. Since the beginning of mass repatriation from the USSR and post-Soviet states, a significant number of families with Krymchak roots have relocated to Israel.

According to unofficial data, there are currently barely more than 1,500 individuals worldwide who identify as members of the Krymchak Jewish community. Of these, approximately 700 reside in Israel, about 400 to 500 remain in the former USSR, and isolated families live in the United States, Germany, and Canada. Approximate estimates indicate that just over 200 Krymchaks live in Crimea today (the 2014 Crimean census recorded 228 individuals, and the community has since decreased further). There is also a certain number of Krymchak descendants within families of mixed origin.

The geographically dispersed nature of this group largely accounts for the substantial internal differences in self-identification among various segments of the Krymchak population, despite its small size. Krymchaks residing in Israel possess a pronounced Judeo-Krymchak self-identity. In contrast, most Krymchaks in Crimea, alongside their Krymchak identity, subscribe to theories of an "indigenous," "Turkic," or "mixed Turkic" origin. Consequently, debates regarding Krymchak ethnogenesis periodically arise in social networks between Israeli Krymchaks and their counterparts in the post-Soviet space. The most active proponents of the aforementioned theories are Boris Kazachenko (Khondo) and Mark Agatov (Purim), both residing in Crimea.

Finally, Krymchaks in the United States tend to identify as Americans of Jewish or Crimean-Jewish descent. According to Israel Rubin (Rabino), a current resident of Israel and former chairman of the Krymchak Association of America in the 1990s and early 2000s, hundreds of descendants of Krymchak emigrants reside in the US, many of whom are unfamiliar with their community's history and culture. Currently, according to Rubin, none of them are fluent in the Krymchak ethnolect.

The vast majority of Krymchaks in Israel are recent repatriates from Ukraine and Russia. As a rule, they lack knowledge of the community's religious and cultural traditions due to de-Judaization and other assimilation processes that took place in their countries of origin over the past several decades. However, a collective "genetic" memory persists among the middle and older generations, manifested in the preservation of family memoirs (particularly regarding the Holocaust in Crimea), rare photographs, and an interest in new publications on Krymchak topics. The Krymchak language—an ethnolect of Crimean Tatar—is virtually extinct. Only a few elderly individuals born in the late 1920s and 1930s remain as semi-speakers.

Israeli Krymchaks see no compelling reason to attempt a revival of the ethnolect: the middle and older generations prefer to communicate in Russian, while the vast majority of the youth consider Hebrew to be their native tongue. Krymchak youth largely prefer to integrate into broader Israeli society. Intra-community marriages are highly uncommon today, and the community's origin is primarily reflected only in traditional Krymchak surnames.

Nevertheless, successful efforts to unify the community in Israel have been underway since 1998. One of the central events bringing together Israeli Krymchaks of all ages is the "Tykun." The Tykun is a memorial service for the Krymchaks massacred by the Nazis in 1941–1942. It has been held annually on December 11–12 in Netanya for over 20 years, gathering up to 70 participants. The late Anisim (Nika) Chulak was the original organizer of the Tykun. In subsequent years, the tradition was maintained by Mikhail Izmerli, the informal leader of the Israeli Krymchak community. In 2020, due to the pandemic, the Israeli Krymchaks successfully conducted the Tykun via Zoom (without the traditional memorial meal). The event was attended by approximately 45 representatives of various Krymchak families residing worldwide, including the Purim, Kagya, Sholom, Lambrozo, Achkinazi, Izmerli, Korobach (Kaya), Rabino, Galach, Dondo, Gurdji, Peisakh, Kogan (Rabino), Elyashev (Gaigo), Mangupli, Bakshi, Angelo, Tokatly, Perich, and Manevich families.

The Israeli Krymchak community actively utilizes several internet resources, most notably the Russian-language website "Krymchak-info" (krymchaks.info). The website was established in 2014 by David and Yulia Mizrakhi. As the only resource of its kind, it is continuously updated with diverse materials on Krymchak history, ethnography, and culture. To date, more than 85 articles, essays, archival materials, and video reports have been published, with several materials prepared specifically for the site. Alongside professional researchers, Krymchaks from several countries contribute to the site's content. Since 2020, historian Mikhail Gurdji has served as the voluntary editor of the website. A Hebrew version of the site is planned for the near future. Given that the website publishes materials on niche Krymchak topics, it enjoys a respectable readership.

Additionally, there are two active groups on social networks: "Krymchaks, where are you?" on the Odnoklassniki network, created by Mikhail Izmerli (with approximately 600 members and over 2,500 published photos and videos), and a rapidly growing group on Facebook, "Krymchaks. Youth" (with over 300 members), co-founded by Reform Rabbi Binyamin Minich. These platforms aim to preserve the community's heritage and foster unity, a goal they successfully achieve. Members use these networks to discuss community interaction, share photos and videos, and post personal recollections.

In recent years, several books have been published by members of the Krymchak community in Israel, driven by private initiative and personal funding. Larisa Mangupli, a professional journalist residing in Israel since 1995, is an active writer who has authored seven books and numerous articles on the Krymchaks. Before her repatriation, she lived in Kerch and worked for Crimean newspapers and radio stations. She is a member of the Union of Russian-Language Writers of Israel and serves on the editorial board of the Simferopol-based literary and scientific almanac "Krymchaklar." Another prominent figure is Jerusalem resident Dr. Yala Yanbay, a specialist in the Turkic languages of the Volga region, Transcaucasia, and Crimea. Dr. Yanbay has authored numerous articles on the Krymchak language, including research and translations of the Biblical Book of Ruth, Nisim ve-Niflaot, the Song of Songs, and poems by the early 20th-century poet Marcel Perich. She also compiled and published the first Krymchak-Russian-English dictionary. In 2017, she published a literary translation of "The Song of Songs of King Solomon and Targum in the Krymchak Language" in Jerusalem, featuring a facsimile of a rare 1905 book by Nisim Levi Chakhchir. The work was highly received by the Israeli Krymchak community.

A milestone event for the community was the 2021 publication in Jerusalem of the almanac "To Live and Return in Memory... Krymchaks: History, Ethnography, Culture," compiled and co-authored by the writer of these lines. This volume includes essays, academic papers, and journalistic materials on Krymchak history, ethnography, and culture from the Middle Ages to the present day. It features previously unpublished works by prominent 20th-century Krymchak scholars Isaak and Lev Kaya, contributions from professional historians, Turkologists, and journalists, as well as rare archival documents and photographs. The volume also contains essays on the Holocaust in Crimea, featuring first-hand accounts from elderly survivors. The book's presentation successfully took place in Ashdod on April 30, 2021, attended by 45 representatives of the Israeli Krymchak community and invited guests.

The impetus for this collection was another landmark publication for the Krymchaks: the ethnographic study "From Crimean Notebooks" by Dr. Velvl Chernin, published by the Institute for Euro-Asian Jewish Studies. The gathering and publication of materials on the community's past and present continue in both Crimea and Israel. In Crimea, this work has been carried out for many years by Yuri Purim, Dora Pirkova, Natalya Sumina, and Natalya Zengina—board members of the "Krymchaklar" society, which actively promotes Krymchak cultural heritage. The community operates its own I.V. Achkinazi Historical and Ethnographic Museum and hosts exhibitions and book presentations. To date, the society has published nine volumes of the scientific and popular almanac "Krymchaklar" to promote their heritage, alongside a collection of articles and documents edited by Natalya Sumina and Mikhail Kizilov.

The recent revitalization of Krymchak community life in Israel led to the decision to establish an officially registered non-profit organization (amuta) for Israeli Krymchaks. Initial funds required for registration have been raised. The organization's founding group consists of 10 active Krymchak members, with Mikhail Izmerli, Binyamin Minich, and Mikhail Gurdji elected to the board. A general organizational meeting is scheduled for July 2, 2021, in Jaffa. The proposed name of the organization is "Agudat ehudim krymchakim be Israel – Association of Krymchak Jews in Israel." The founders have set several key objectives: preserving the heritage of Krymchak Jews, fostering ties with Krymchak communities outside Israel, organizing memorial and festive events, and strengthening internal community networks within Israel. Israeli Krymchaks maintain regular contact with the Crimean "Krymchaklar" society and families in Germany, Canada, and the US, where there is sustained interest in Israeli initiatives. To facilitate communication, exchange information, and share announcements, Russian-speaking Krymchaks worldwide have established the "Krymchaklar" group on WhatsApp.

The newly formed association plans to organize various events in Hebrew to engage the younger generation with their cultural heritage. Currently, these activities are being finalized by the organization's active members. The association also plans to publish books on Krymchak history and commemorative photo albums. Mikhail Gurdji, in collaboration with Crimean researchers Dr. Mikhail Kizilov and Vyacheslav Elyashevich, is preparing a new collection of essays and articles covering Krymchak and Karaite history, ethnography, and linguistics. Funding is sourced from private contributions and donations from the association's members.

In conclusion, one may express a cautious hope that the link between generations will remain intact, and that the youth of our community will remember and take pride in their roots. We must make every effort to pass the collective memory and cultural heritage of the indigenous Crimean Jewish community to our children and grandchildren. This is a challenging yet achievable task that history itself has set before us.