The De Gruyter publishing house is releasing a series dedicated to post-Soviet Jewry

The prestigious German academic publisher De Gruyter has announced the launch of a new series titled “Post-Soviet Jewry in Transition,” developed in collaboration with the Institute for Euro-Asian Jewish Studies (IEAJS).

The forthcoming first volume, scheduled for release in several weeks, is based on an extensive study of Jewish identity in the former Soviet Union. The volume aims to analyze the evolution of Jewish identity, trends in community development, integration mechanisms for individuals of non-Jewish and mixed descent into the Jewish collective, migration dynamics, and the socio-economic status of various Jewish cohorts. The research also examines the attitudes of Jewish populations toward Israel, highlighting the place and significance of the Jewish state within their cultural, value, and behavioral systems.

Dr. Mikhael Mirilashvili, President of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, commented on the upcoming publication:

"At the end of the Cold War, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, over two million Jews departed their homes, the vast majority permanently. They resettled not only in the United States and Israel, but also across Central Europe, Canada, Australia, and other global regions. Concurrently, approximately 900,000 Jews and their family members still reside in the post-Soviet states, notwithstanding diverse demographic trends. It is our duty to identify and analyze contemporary challenges, actively contributing to their resolution."

Dr. Haim Ben Yakov, Director General of the EAJC, noted that "Russian-speaking Jews worldwide preserve distinct customs, worldviews, and social networks, continuously shaping their own cultural and communal reality." "They constitute a new, transnational sub-ethnic group within the Jewish people—a modern Russian-speaking diaspora whose collective identity is being forged as older Soviet-Jewish identities progressively phase out. The majority of Russian-speaking Jews utilize their own networks and infrastructure within local communities, reflecting a shifting balance of identity between their country of residence and the broader transnational Russian-speaking Jewish diaspora. The 'Post-Soviet Jewry in Transition' series provides valuable insights into post-Soviet Jewry globally, exploring this novel type of contemporary Jewish diaspora in transition," he added.

The Institute for Euro-Asian Jewish Studies (IEAJS), an initiative of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC), serves as a think-tank and professional forum for leading experts on Jewish communities in the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, the Baltics, and Western, Central, and Eastern Asia. Established in 2018, the Institute is scheduled to release the first volume of the “Post-Soviet Jewry in Transition” series in September 2023. Professor Ze'ev Khanin, Academic Director of the IEAJS, serves as one of the two primary co-editors and project originators.