Foreword by Dr. V. Chernin

In the early 1990s, I edited the supplement of one of Israel's Russian-language newspapers — the weekly "Jewish Tuning Fork." The publication was primarily oriented towards Ashkenazi Jews, but once I addressed readers from other sub-ethnic groups with a request to send materials dedicated to the traditional culture of their communities. Bukharian and Mountain Jews responded to my call, while Georgian Jews (who have their own Georgian-language periodicals in Israel) did not react. Several letters also came from Krymchak readers, who wondered if I was the same Chernin who had once been engaged in research on the ethnography of the Krymchaks, and if so, whether I could share anything about their sub-ethnic group.

Indeed, as a student in the 1970s — 1980s, and for some time after graduating from university, I was actively engaged in field ethnographic and archival research of the Krymchaks and other Jewish communities of Crimea, publishing a series of articles on this topic[1]. I even managed to engage some colleagues in the semi-legal Jewish Historical and Ethnographic Commission created in 1981[2], which resulted in the publication of their works on Krymchak topics as well[3].

In the post-Soviet years, several works dedicated to the Krymchaks have been published, in particular, by Igor Achkinazi,[4] Mikhail Kizilov[5], and several other researchers. In addition, a number of projects were initiated by the cultural and educational society "Krymchaklar"[6], established in Crimea in 1989. However, the living cultural tradition of the Krymchaks has practically ceased.

The Krymchaks are — a small sub-ethnic group within the Jewish people, whose maximum population (on the eve of the Second World War) was 9,000 people[7]. At that time, the Krymchaks were already a minority within the Jewish population of Crimea, and during the Holocaust, the community suffered the heaviest percentage of losses among all non-Ashkenazi groups[8]. According to the Yad Vashem Memorial Museum, 70% of the Krymchaks perished in the Shoah[9], and after the war, only 1,500 representatives of this group remained on the peninsula. The post-war years saw an accelerated process of their assimilation. This process was ambiguous — on the one hand, the Krymchaks were assimilated by the surrounding non-Jewish majority, primarily Russians and Ukrainians (the latter being heavily Russified themselves in the Crimean context). On the other hand, there was a blending of the Krymchaks with other Jewish groups, primarily Ashkenazim, who numerically predominated in Crimea. As a result, the sub-ethnic specificity of the Krymchaks has been largely lost over the recent decades.

This highlights the importance of the efforts to revive communal identity, preserve cultural traditions, and establish the institutional infrastructure of this community in Israel, where about half of the Krymchak population settled during the years of mass repatriation of post-Soviet Jewry. This is the subject of —the article by historian and Krymchak community activist Mikhail Gurdji.

Demographics and Identity

The Krymchaks are — a vanishing, small, historically Turkic-speaking, ethno-cultural Jewish community, whose main place of residence until the early 1990s was the Crimean Peninsula. According to the 1989 All-Union Census, 679 Krymchaks lived in the Crimean Oblast (there was a total of 1,448 representatives of this group in the USSR). With the beginning of mass repatriation from the USSR and post-Soviet countries, many Krymchak families moved to Israel.

The history of Krymchak Aliyah to Eretz Israel is associated with the name of the spiritual mentor of the Krymchaks, the prominent thinker, Sephardic Rabbi Chaim Hezekiah Medini (1832-1904). Author of the multi-volume encyclopedic work "Sdei Chemed," he returned from Karasubazar in Crimea to Hebron in 1899 with a small group of Krymchak followers. The Crimean Archives (GARK) contain petitions from Krymchak Jews requesting foreign passports to travel to Palestine together with their spiritual mentor, the Hakham Medini. Some petitions indicate the Krymchaks' desire to visit Eretz Israel as early as 1860-1880[10]. In documents from 1862, we find the names of Krymchaks who, at the request of the military governor of Simferopol, were issued a foreign passport to visit Jerusalem for a period of six months. Petitions for the issuance of foreign passports related to Medini's departure to Eretz Israel in 1899 have also been preserved[11].

In the early 1920s, many Krymchaks (the exact number is unknown), fleeing the new regime, devastation, and famine, and risking robbery and murder along the way, moved to Palestine (via Constantinople), settling mainly in Haifa and Tel Aviv. This was preceded by the active work of Zionist organizations in Crimea, which conducted promotional work among young Krymchaks in 1917-1922.

In Mandatory Palestine, and later in the State of Israel, the public organization "Agudat Olei Krim" (Association of Immigrants from Crimea) operated. For some time, it was headed by Moshe Borokhov, a former resident of Kerch who arrived in Palestine in the 1920s. Fragments of a highly interesting correspondence between Borokhov in Tel Aviv and his cousin Zachariah Borokhov in Kerch have been preserved. In the late 1940s, Zachariah managed to send Krymchak testimonies about the Holocaust in Crimea to Israel — some of these documents are included in Yitzhak Ben-Zvi's book "The Exiled of Israel"[12]. Despite the small size of the community, Tel Aviv was home to the only Krymchak (Sephardic rite) synagogue in Israel until 1981.

According to unofficial data, there are 1,500 Krymchaks left in the world who have retained their identity, of whom about 700 live in Israel, approximately 400-500 — in the former USSR, and individual families have settled in the USA, Germany, and Canada. According to approximate estimates, there are slightly more than 200 representatives of this group in Crimea itself today (according to the 2014 census — 228 people, and the community has decreased since then). A certain number of descendants of Krymchaks in mixed families are also known to exist.

Despite the small size of the group, its geographically dispersed pattern of settlement largely determines significant internal differences between various segments of the sub-ethnos. For instance, Krymchaks living in Israel possess a clearly defined Jewish-Krymchak identity, while Crimean Krymchaks, alongside their Krymchak self-identification, mostly adhere to the idea of an "indigenous," "Turkic," or "Turkic-mixed" origin of their group[13].

A polemic regarding the ethnogenesis of the Krymchaks periodically arises between the Krymchaks of Israel and their kinsmen from the countries of the former USSR. The most active proponents of the aforementioned mythologies are Boris Kazachenko (Khondo)[14] and Mark Agatov (Purim)[15], who live in Crimea. Finally, Krymchaks in the US consider themselves Americans of Jewish or Crimean-Jewish descent. According to Israel Rubin (Rabino), currently living in Israel, who served as the chairman of the Association of Krymchaks of America in the 1990s — early 2000s, hundreds of descendants of Krymchak emigrants live in the US, many of whom are unfamiliar with the history and culture of their community. Currently, none of them, according to Rubin, speak the Krymchak ethnolect.

The data of an express survey conducted by the author at the organizational meeting of Krymchak Jews in Israel on July 2, 2021, in which nearly 15% of the representatives of this sub-ethnos living in Israel participated, are indicative. For the majority of those interviewed, the specific identity of the group lay in its unique language and culture (and the desire to preserve them), as well as national cuisine, clothing, etc. Many also noted a "special Krymchak character," which implies close family ties, the preservation of family traditions, and intra-community interaction. Among other parameters no less important to the respondents, "a unique prayer tradition, a shared history, and collective memory" were mentioned.

The vast majority of Krymchaks in Israel — are Russian-speaking families from Ukraine and Russia who moved to Israel during the years of the "Great Aliyah." A small portion of the Krymchaks repatriated from Sukhumi and Baku. As a rule, they are not well-versed in the religious and cultural traditions of the community due to de-Judaization and other assimilation processes characteristic of the countries of origin[16]. However, middle-aged and older respondents have a strong collective "genetic" memory, expressed in family recollections (especially of the Holocaust) and an interest in new publications on Krymchak topics.

Efforts to Preserve the Sub-ethnic Culture

The Krymchak language — an ethnolect of the Crimean Tatar language — is virtually lost. Only the so-called "semi-speakers" of the language remain alive — a few Krymchaks born in the 1930s. Israeli Krymchaks find no compelling reasons to revive the ethnolect: the middle and older generations prefer communicating in Russian, while young people, as a rule, consider Hebrew their native tongue. The youth blend more readily with the Israeli environment — intra-community marriages are extremely rare today, and only surnames of the Krymchak clan onomasticon serve as reminders of their origin.

Nevertheless, successful attempts to consolidate the community have been made in Israel since 1998. One of the main events uniting Israeli Krymchaks of different ages is the "Tykun." This is the name given to the memorial service for the Krymchaks killed by the Nazis in 1941-1942, which has been held annually on December 11-12 in Netanya for over 20 years, gathering up to 70 participants. This tradition was established by the late Anisim (Nika) Cholak and taken up by the informal head of the Krymchak community of Israel, Mikhail Izmerli. Tykun is accompanied by prayers in Hebrew, Russian, and the Krymchak language, with young people also participating in the memorial events. In 2020, at the height of the pandemic, the Tykun (without the traditional memorial meal) was held via ZOOM. The event brought together representatives of 45 Krymchak families: Purim, Kahya, Sholom, Lombroso, Achkinazi, Izmerli, Korobach (Kaya), Rabino, Galach, Dondo, Gurdji, Peisakh, Kogan (Rabino), Elyashev (Gaigo), Mangupli, Bakshi, Angelo, Tokatly, Perich, Manevich, and others living in various countries around the world[17].

The Israeli Krymchak community actively utilizes online resources, among which we note the Russian-language website "Krymchak-info" (https://krymchaks.info), created in 2014 by spouses David and Yulia Mizrahi. This one-of-a-kind resource is regularly updated with materials on the history, ethnography, and culture of the community — currently, more than 85 articles, essays, archival documents, and video clips have been uploaded. Along with professional researchers, Krymchaks from several countries participate in creating high-quality original content. Since 2020, the duties of the editor (on a voluntary basis) have been entrusted to historian Mikhail Gurdji. In the near future, to attract the younger generation of Israeli Krymchaks, it is planned to add a Hebrew version of the website.

There are also two social media communities: the group "Krymchaks, where are you?" created by Mikhail Izmerli on Odnoklassniki (about 600 members, over 2,500 published photos and videos),[18] and a dynamically developing group (over 320 members) on the Facebook platform: "Krymchaks. Youth"[19], initiated in part by Reform Rabbi Binyamin Minich. The aforementioned website and social media groups are designed to unite the community and preserve its heritage — various issues of intra-community interaction are discussed here, and photos, videos, and personal recollections are published. Some Israeli Krymchaks joined the Facebook group "Krymchaks. Our Homeland Crimea" (130 members), created in 2021 by Yevpatoria journalist Mark Agatov (Purim). Unfortunately, Mark Agatov heavily censors publications in this group, preventing even a hint of the Jewish (Semitic) origin of the Krymchaks, as if ignoring the fact that his Israeli kinsmen are consistent advocates of the Jewish-Krymchak identity.

In recent years, representatives of the Krymchak community in Israel have published several books at their own expense. Larisa Mangupli is quite well known — she is a professional journalist, author of seven books and a number of articles about the Krymchaks, who has lived in Israel since 1995. A member of the Union of Russian-Language Writers of Israel, Mangupli lived in Kerch before her repatriation, working for Crimean newspapers and radio. She is also on the editorial board of the popular science and literary almanac "Krymchakhlar," published in Simferopol. A notable phenomenon was the work of the Israeli specialist in Turkic languages of the Volga region, Transcaucasia, and Crimea, Doctor of Philology Yala Yanbay — author of numerous articles on the Krymchak language, translations of the biblical "Book of Ruth," "Nisim ve-Niflaot," "Song of Songs," as well as works by the early 20th-century poet Marcel Perich. She also compiled and published the first Krymchak-Russian-English dictionary, and in 2017, published in Jerusalem a literary translation of "The Song of Songs of King Solomon and Targum in the Krymchak Language" with a facsimile of a rare book by Nisim Levi Chakhchir (1905, Petrokov)[20]. The book received excellent reviews.

A significant event for the Krymchaks of Israel, as well as a unique contribution of the community to the preservation of collective Jewish memory, was the publication in 2021 in Jerusalem of the almanac "To Live and to Return in Memory... Krymchaks: History, Ethnography, Culture," compiled and co-authored by the author of these lines. The publication includes essays, scientific articles, and journalistic materials on the history, ethnography, and culture of the Krymchaks, covering the period from the Middle Ages to the present day. The collection contains previously unpublished works of prominent 20th-century Krymchak researchers — Isaac and Lev Kaya, articles by professional historians, Turkologists, journalists, rare archival documents, and photographs. The book also contains a number of essays dedicated to the tragedy of the Crimean Holocaust, and personal recollections of Krymchaks who survived the war. On April 30, 2021, the presentation of the book successfully took place in Ashdod, with the participation of community representatives and invited guests[21].

The impetus for the publication of the almanac was the landmark publication for the Krymchaks of the ethnographic study by Dr. Velvl Chernin "From Crimean Notebooks"[22]. In Crimea, the work of publishing materials on the past and present of the community has been carried out for many years by Yuri Purim, Dora Pirkova, Natalya Sumina, and Natalya Zengina — board members of the "Krymchakhlar" society, which popularizes the cultural heritage of the Krymchaks. The community has its own Historical and Ethnographic Museum named after I.V. Achkinazi, where guided tours and presentations of new books are held. To date, nine issues of the popular science almanac "Krymchakhlar" edited by Natalya Sumina have been published, as well as a collection of articles and documents prepared by Natalya Sumina and Mikhail Kizilov [23].

Community Life

The recent revitalization of community life led to the decision to establish an officially registered public non-profit organization (amuta) of the Krymchaks of Israel. The founders were an active group of ten people, three of whom joined the board: Mikhail Izmerli, Binyamin Minich (Levi), and Mikhail Gurdji.

The founding meeting of the amuta on July 2, 2021, in Tel Aviv was attended by more than 80 of the approximately 700 Krymchaks of different generations living in Israel (about a quarter of the guests were teenagers and young people under 30, a fifth and a quarter, respectively, were people of early and advanced middle age, and another third — representatives of the older generation). The head of the Crimean "Krymchakhlar" community Dora Pirkova and public activist, lawyer Vyacheslav Lombroso (Lviv, Ukraine) joined the meeting via video link.

The Krymchaks of Israel approved the "Declaration on the Revival of the Krymchak Community of Israel":

"In the name of the Lord, the Eternal God" (Genesis 21:33)

We, the sons and daughters of the ancient Jewish families of Crimea, the communities of Kaffa and Karasubazar, living in the Land of Israel, to which the eyes of our ancestors were raised, with pride and great joy have come to the decision to establish the "Association of Krymchaks of Israel." We take this difficult task upon ourselves after a century that not all Krymchaks survived. Today, there are none in the world who preserve the traditions and heritage of our people to the fullest extent, nor any who speak the Krymchak language. Out of a sense of responsibility for preserving the past, and looking boldly into the future, we have gathered today, Friday, the 22nd day of the month of Tammuz 5781 according to the Jewish calendar — July 2, 2021, according to the Gregorian calendar, in the city of Tel Aviv — Yafo, to proclaim the founding of the "Association of Krymchaks of Israel," a community organization of Krymchaks in the State of Israel.

And on this festive day for us, we sign this Declaration. And may the Lord grant us success in this important endeavor!"

Just two days later, the new public organization of the Krymchaks, under the official name "Agudat Yehudim Krymchakim be-Israel — אגודת יהודים קרימצ’אקים בישראל — Association of Krymchak Jews of Israel," was officially registered[24]. This historic event marked the beginning of a new stage in the development of the community.

The founders of the amuta set the following goals: preserving the heritage of the Krymchak Jews, establishing ties with Krymchak communities outside Israel, organizing memorial and festive events, and strengthening intra-community relations in Israel. The active members of the "Association" plan to hold various events in Hebrew, designed to attract the attention of the younger generation to the cultural heritage of the community. How realistic is this mission?

The results of the aforementioned survey of the participants of the founding meeting could serve as an answer to this question[25]. Respondents outlined their attitude towards Krymchak self-identification, the preservation of memory, the specifics of community life, and their readiness to participate in the activities of the amuta. All respondents concluded that an organized community is necessary, arguing this by the "need to preserve the Krymchak identity," to unite them and establish their place "in the diverse mosaic of Israeli society," achieving recognition as a distinct "edah." (In Israel, this term denotes community-cultural groups within the Jewish collective that enjoy certain state support). Many also noted the importance of "preserving the continuity of the historical chain of memory of generations." According to respondents, this could be facilitated by regular communication, studying the history of the community, the activity of amuta members in Russian-language and Hebrew media, and the publication of books about the Krymchaks.

Immediate plans — include holding a "Krymchak Cuisine Day" (September 2021) and the traditional memorial event — the Tykun (December 11-13, 2021). The founders plan to publish books on Krymchak topics and commemorative photo albums. Mikhail Gurdji, together with Crimean researchers Mikhail Kizilov and Vyacheslav Elyashevich, are working on a new collection of essays and articles covering a wide range of the history, ethnography, and linguistics of the Krymchaks and Karaites. The publication of the book under the working title "Bnei Israel ve-Bnei Mikra ba-Chatzi ha-I Kaim" — בני ישראל ובני מקרא בחצי האי קרים— Krymchaks and Karaites of the Crimean Peninsula" is scheduled for September 2021. The source of funding is — private contributions and donations from amuta members.

The Krymchaks of Israel maintain constant contact with the Crimean "Krymchakhlar" community and with some families living in Germany, Canada, and the USA. In these communities, there is a steady interest in the activities of their Israeli kinsmen. The founders of the amuta received many congratulations and welcoming messages from Krymchaks of different countries in connection with the official registration of their Association. For the exchange of current information and the publication of short announcements and links by Russian-speaking Krymchaks from different countries, a "Krymchakhlar" WhatsApp group has been created.

In conclusion, I would like to express a cautious hope that the connection between generations will not be broken: young Krymchaks will remember their roots and be proud of them. We are obliged to make maximum efforts to transmit the collective memory of the ethno-cultural heritage of the community of indigenous Crimean Jews to our children and grandchildren. This is a difficult but achievable task that history itself has set before the Krymchaks.

1 |  "On the Emergence of the Ethnonym 'Krymchak' and the Concept of the 'Krymchak Language'," Geography and Culture of Ethnographic Groups of Tatars in the USSR. — Moscow, 1983, pp. 94-104; "Krymchak Pronunciation of Hebrew," Synchrony and Diachrony in Linguistic Research, Part II. — Moscow, 1988, pp. 166-174; "On Some Pejorative Ethnonyms among the Krymchaks," Abstracts of the Conference of Postgraduate Students and Young Researchers. Linguistics. — Moscow, 1988, pp. 135-139; (with Polinskaya M.) "Kinship Terminology among the Krymchaks," Soviet Turkology, 1988, No. 3, pp. 15-23

2 |  For more details on the Jewish Historical and Ethnographic Commission, see: Krupnik I., "How We Studied History and Ethnography. On the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Jewish Historical and Ethnographic Commission 1981-1990," Soviet Judaica: People and Fates, Moscow, 2017, pp. 237-311. It was also intended to dedicate the first issue of the periodic collection "Materials of the Jewish Historical and Ethnographic Commission" to this topic, but the project was never realized (see Krupnik, p. 4)

3 |  Kupovetsky M., "Dynamics of the Population and Settlement of the Karaites and Krymchaks over the Last 200 Years," Geography and Culture of Ethnographic Groups of Tatars in the USSR. — Moscow, 1983, pp. 75-93; Kotler I., "Surnames of the Krymchaks as a Source of Their Ethnic History," Small and Dispersed Ethnic Groups in the European Part of the USSR. — Moscow, 1985, pp. 83-94; Polinskaya M., "Expression of Incentive in the Krymchak Dialect of the Crimean Tatar Language," Abstracts of the Conference of Postgraduate Students and Young Researchers of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences. — Moscow, 1988, pp. 106-108; Polinskaya M., "On the Interpretation of the Ethnonym 'Krymchak'," Abstracts of the Conference of Postgraduate Students and Young Researchers of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences. — Moscow, 1988, pp. 108-109; Kupovetsky M., "On the Ethnic History of the Krymchaks," Ethno-Contact Zones in the European Zone of the USSR (Geography, Dynamics, Methods of Study). — Moscow, 1989, pp. 53-69

4 |  His final work was an extensive essay "Krymchaks," containing, in particular, an extensive bibliography. See: Turkic Peoples of Crimea. Karaites. Crimean Tatars. Krymchaks (editors-in-chief S.Ya. Kozlov, L.V. Chizhova), Moscow "Nauka," 2003, pp. 357-419

5 |  M. Kizilov, The Crimean Judea. — Simferopol, 2011, p. 289

6 |  After the annexation of Crimea by Russia, the cultural and educational society "Krymchaklar" was re-registered as the "National-Cultural Autonomy of the Krymchaks 'Krymchakhlar'." See: "Government Portal of the Republic of Crimea": http://rk.gov.ru/rel_maps/object7.htm

7 |  According to the data of the "Krymchakhlar" society. See: http://turkology.tk/library/51

8 |  For more details on the Holocaust of the Krymchaks, see: Spector Sh., "Shoat ha-Yehudim ha-Krymchakim bi-Tkufat ha-Kibush ha-Nazi" ("The Holocaust of the Krymchak Jews during the Nazi Occupation," — in Hebrew), Pe'amim, No. 27, 1986, pp. 18-125

9 |  See: http://www.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%201508.pdf (in Hebrew).

10 |  "Case regarding the issuance of foreign passports to Jews traveling on pilgrimage to Jerusalem." Crimean Regional State Archives (now GARK), F. 169 ("Karasubazar Town Duma"), inv. 1, d. 239. l. 5, 19, 37, 41

11 |  Materials on the Krymchaks in the press of the late 19th century. Departure of Hakham Ch.Ch. Medini to Eretz Israel in 1899 — Krymchaks (krymchaks.info). See also M. Kizilov. "Krymchaks: Current State of the Community." Euro-Asian Jewish Yearbook — 5786. Moscow, 2008, p. 64, 79

12 |  Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, The Exiled of Israel. — Tel Aviv, 1956, pp. 90-97

13 |  Achkinazi B., "Note on the Krymchaks." Multi-ethnic Crimea. Issue 1. Simferopol, 1988, pp. 33-34; Achkinazi I., "Krymchaks (Heirs of the Khazars: Mythologeme or Reality?)". Materials of the 7th International Conference on Jewish Studies. Abstracts. — Moscow, 2000, pp. 21-23; Rebi D., "What the 'Jonks' Revealed (New on the Krymchaks)." Krymchakhlar. Issue 1. Simferopol, 2005, pp. 24-26; Malgin A., "New Elements in the Identity of the Karaites and Krymchaks in Modern Crimea." Ethnography of Crimea of the 19th–20th Centuries and Modern Ethno-cultural Processes. Materials and Research. Simferopol, 2002, p. 93

14 |  Kazachenko B., "Genetic Passport of the Krymchak." Literary Heritage of the Krymchaks. Vol. 3. Simferopol, 2011. pp. 144-164; Kazachenko B., Bakshi N. Achkinadze A., "Musical and Poetic Heritage of the Krymchaks." Issues of Crimean Tatar Philology, History, and Culture, No. 2, 196, pp. 142-154

15 | See the FB group "Krymchaks. Our Homeland CRIMEA," https://www.facebook.com/groups/849286572320826 and Mark Agatov's website "Crimean Analyst" http://www.agatov.com/content/view/2082/49/. See also: Rebi D., "On the Religion of the Krymchaks." Krymchakhlar. Issue 4. Simferopol, 2009, pp. 26-33; Agatov M., Internet Encyclopedia Krymchaks. Male Portrait. Photo Album. http://www.agatov.com/content/view/982/49/

16 | These issues were covered in an article by the Crimean historian M. Kizilov. See for details: "Krymchaks: Current State of the Community." Euro-Asian Jewish Yearbook — 5786. — Moscow, 2008, pp. 58-82

17 |  L. Mangupli, "An Unbroken Chain of Memory: Tykun in Zoom 11.12.2020." https://krymchaks.info/crimchak-blog

18 |   https://ok.ru/group/51707369554022

19 |  https://www.facebook.com/groups/krymchaks

20 |  The Song of Songs of King Solomon and Targum in the Krymchak Language. Translation, transcription, foreword, and notes by Yala Yanbay. Jerusalem, 2017

21 |  L. Mangupli. "Drawing from the Source. Journalist's Notes on the Presentation of the New Collection 'To Live and to Return in Memory... Krymchaks: History, Ethnography, Culture'." https://krymchaks.info/novosti

22 |  Chernin V., From Crimean Notebooks. — Herzliya: EAJC Institute for Euro-Asian Jewish Studies and the Diaspora Research Center of Tel Aviv University, 2019

23 |  Collection of Articles and Documents on the Krymchaks (16th-21st Centuries) Issue 1, eds. N. Sumina and M. Kizilov. — Simferopol: "Media Center named after I. Gasprinsky," 2020

24 |  Registration by the Ministry of Justice of Israel on July 4, 2021, No. 580724565

25 |  25 questionnaires were collected and processed from participants of the meeting aged 25 to 87. Respondents were given the opportunity to answer in Russian and/or Hebrew; 24 respondents chose the former option, and only 1 participant preferred Hebrew.