Conference “The Future of Jewish Life in Post-Soviet Countries”, organized by the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress together with Jerusalem Post was held online on December 6.
Among the participants of this conference are Dr. Michael Mirilashvili, President of Euro-Asian Jewish Congress; Aaron G. Frenkel, Chairman of the Board of the EAJC; Aharon Barak, former president of the Supreme Court of Israel; Ronald S. Lauder, President of the World Jewish Congress; Aliyah and Integration Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata; Diaspora Affairs Minister Nachman Shai; Agriculture Minister Oded Forer; MK Simcha Rothman; Alexander Ben Zvi, Israel’s Ambassador to Russia; Michael Brodsky, Israel’s Ambassador to Ukraine; Natan Sharansky, former minister and chairman of the Jewish Agency; Dr. Haim Ben Yakov, CEO of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress; Eric Fingerhut, President and Chairman of the Jewish Federations of North America; and Malcolm Hoenlein, Vice Chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and other distinguished guests.
The conference addressed the humanitarian crisis in Post-Soviet countries, which strongly affected local Jewish communities, and the challenges faced by the State of Israel and the organized Jewish World in this regard.
The Conference also marked the 30th Anniversary of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, which in early 90’s started as a small delegation of the Soviet Jewry to the World Jewish Congress right after the dissolution of the USSR.
The Annual General Assembly of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress took place online on Wednesday, November 30th. The Assembly was attended by EAJC President Dr. Michael Mirilashvili, EAJC Board Chairman Aaron G. Frenkel, EAJC First Vice-Presidents Emmanuel Grinshpun and Boris Lozhkin, EAJC Vice-Presidents Mark Shabad, David Yakobashvili, Moshe Shvets, EAJC Director General Dr. Haim Ben Yakov, as well as leaders of Jewish communities and organizations-members of the Congress.
The reports on the activities of the Congress in 2021-22 were presented during the Assembly. The new members and the new composition of the Board were also approved. The newly elected EAJC Vice President Matvey Hutman was officially confirmed in his office. Hutman, businessman and public figure, served as EAJC treasurer from 2015-2018. Following the outbreak of war on the territory of Ukraine, he launched a charitable initiative in Austria aimed at helping refugees with housing, initial counseling, medicine and food supplies. This year, Hutman also funded a summer vacation for Ukrainian children affected by the hostilities.
In honor of the 30th anniversary of the EAJC, a special video was presented with a unique photo chronicle of the post-Soviet delegation to the World Jewish Congress in 1992.
Community leaders thanked the EAJC leadership for their well-coordinated work, support, and maximum effort in difficult times.
EAJC President Michael Mirilashvili welcomed participants of the Assembly, noting that the current difficult times have brought the Jewish community in the Euro-Asian region together “more than ever.”
“The terrible war has already brought much suffering to people and Jewish communities,” said M. Mirilashvili. – It is a serious test for all of us. It should spur us to even greater unity and mutual care. We should be concerned not only for our own lives, but also for the lives of friends, neighbors and Jews throughout the entire region. In such a difficult time, it is extremely important to care about our neighbors and try to help and support everyone we can. We need to work more together, cooperate and collaborate to save as many lives as possible. It’s time to show what we are capable of, to prove that our unity can benefit not only our people, but the entire world.”
EAJC Board Chairman Aaron G. Frenkel in a special address to the Assembly emphasized the important role of the Congress in global Jewish life. “For 30 years, the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress has become an integral part of the Jewish world. Jewish communities in 23 countries, leaders of Jewish organizations and many more people who care about Jewish life in the region – this is the Congress. This is extremely hard but very valuable work. Especially in our days, when the world is not at peace and not stable, as it was before. Today, the EAJC works with many leading organizations in the Jewish world, with whom many projects have been implemented in partnership. Coordination and unity are key to the success of our people,” he said.
First Vice President of the EAJC, Boris Lozhkin, explained the crisis situation in which the Jewish community of Ukraine finds itself against the backdrop of ongoing hostilities in the country. “I really hope for the support of the Ukrainian community, Ukrainian Jews – both those who left and those who stayed. I hope that we will prepare joint projects with the EAJC, first of all for the communities in the cities that have suffered the most. Especially this winter and the beginning of spring, which will be extremely difficult for those who are in Ukraine,” he summed up.
Lozhkin also emphasized the importance of continuing joint scientific projects, such as the Center for the Study of the History of Ukrainian Jewry at Tel Aviv University.
EAJC First Vice President Emmanuel Grinshpun thanked the EAJC leadership for its assistance in evacuating 20 thousand Jewish refugees from Ukraine to Eastern European countries, saying, “The Moldovan Jewish community is also going through difficult times at the moment. In Chisinau and in Moldova in general, there are constant power outages. The Moldovan Jewish community has taken in tens of thousands of Jewish refugees from Ukraine. A large number of Ukrainian Jews have settled in Moldova, and we continue to support them.”
EAJC Director General Chaim Ben Yaakov announced a large-scale EAJC conference on The Jerusalem Post platform. The online forum will take place on Tuesday, December 6, and will bring together leading Israeli politicians, lawyers, officials and public figures on one platform. The theme of the conference will be the Jewish community of the Euro-Asian region.
“Of course, we would like to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Congress under more joyous circumstances, but this year raises difficult questions and requires us to take a serious, strategic approach. That is why we have organized a conference together with the Jerusalem Post on the situation in our region. We have invited Israeli politicians and leaders of the Jewish world to reflect on the future of Jewish life in post-Soviet countries,” said the EAJC Director General.
Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) delegation led by its President Dr. Michael Mirilashvili took part in the World Jewish Congress Executive Committee meeting that had taken place in Rome on November 21-22. The Jewish communal leaders from more than 50 countries were gathered for the first-ever formal event held by a Jewish organization at the Vatican since the founding of the Catholic Church. Its participants, including the EAJC leaders, agreed to continue the interfaith dialogue to promote humanistic values and combat the main global challenges of humanity.
WJC President Ronald S. Lauder, in his earlier address in the Vatican’s Synod Hall, claimed “Kishreinu” process launch, “[which] reinforces the common future of our two people” as a “new stage in the Catholic-Jewish bond”. “Those of us here today are eager to promote our bond with the Catholic Church,” he said.
Pope Francis in his welcome speech pointed at “the task” of “our two communities of faith”: “working to make the world more fraternal, combating forms of inequality and promoting greater justice, so that peace will not remain an otherworldly promise, but become a present reality in our world,” he added.
EAJC President Dr. Michael Mirilashvili declared the willingness of the biggest international Jewish organizations to mediate peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. According to Dr. Mirilashvili, since the war began, EAJC leaders have initiated a major effort to persuade the Russian and Ukrainian governments to achieve a ceasefire and begin the negotiating process.
“We continue to insist that almost no war has a legitimate excuse and the bloodshed must be stopped. As the biggest international Jewish organizations in the World, which do not have any political affiliation or stand, we are once again proposing our services as potential mediators in peace negotiations. We will continue to do everything we can, trying to prevent other potential tragedies of this war”, EAJC President said.
Also remarked Dr. Mirilashvili the rapidly changing attitude to Israel among the Islamic World. The number of public figures and religious authorities that resist the anti-Israel narrative and call for peace is increasing in Islamic World. As claimed by Dr. Mirilashvili, “we witness a truly New Middle East”.
“Huge delegation represents Israel at the Climate Change Conference in Egypt, Israeli journalists on a special conference explain the election results and political prospects to senior government officials in Abu Dhabi and many more examples like this. In general, we see how much the peace process and the rich scientific, cultural, and technological exchange lead us to incomparably more than senseless enmity. It doesn’t mean that we have to agree on everything, but it does mean that we are carrying on a civilized dialogue and can discuss our differences patiently and respectfully”, EAJC President said.
The leaders of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress were saddened to hear of the loss of former World Jewish Congress Secretary General Michael Schneider who passed away at the age of 83. On behalf of the EAJC, we pay our sincere condolences to his family and colleagues. We deeply mourn this loss with the Jewish Community all around the World.
Mr. Schneider was an amazing person who devoted the most active years of his life to serving the good of Jewish Community. Mr. Schneider made a special contribution to all areas of social activity, which he devoted himself to throughout his life.
Mr. Schneider will forever remain in our hearts. May his memory be a blessing.
Euro-Asian Jewish Congress is glad to introduce you the Institute for Euro-Asian Jewish Studies Academic Chairman Adjunct Associate Professor Ze’ev Khanin. This is a new and qualitatively more significant level of cooperation with him. Since the establishment of the institute back in 2018, he has chaired its academic board as a volunteer. In his new status, Prof. Ze’ev Khanin will oversee the IEAJS projects and conduct academic and applied research on the current conditions of the Jewish communities of the CIS region, Eastern Europe, Western Balkans, Central and East Asia.
It will include the publication (in cooperation with one of the leading European-American academic publishers De Gruyter – Berlin and Boston), of his book named “Post-Soviet Jewry in Transition”. The first volume of this series is a monograph prepared on the basis of a large-scale Jewish communities of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova and Kazakhstan study, conducted as the initiative of the EAJC in 2019-2020. It is scheduled for publication at the end of 2022.
EAJC Director General Dr. Haim Ben Yaakov:
“We are extremely pleased with the fact that the cooperation between the EAJC and Prof. Ze’ev Khanin is reaching a new level. Since we have launched the IEAJS, we have managed to implement a number of significant projects – such as conferences, researches and, of course, release of the EAJC Yearbook consists of articles by leading experts in Jewish Diaspora, Jewish studies, history, culture and diplomacy. The great part in this work was played by Prof. Khanin. Our Institute is already has a recognition and we intend to expand and strengthen our presence in the academic community. Now we are living in the moment of another global geopolitical crises. That is why extremely important to pay attention to objective research that can become the basis for making complex decisions.”
Biography:
Dr. Vladimir (Ze’ev) Khanin is one of the leading Israeli experts on Israel-FSU relations and politics and the Russian-speaking Jewish community in Israel and the diaspora. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Moscow Institute for African Studies, the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1989, and in 1991 completed post-Doctoral studies in the Institute for Russian and Soviet Studies at the University of Oxford, U.K. He currently serves as Academic Chairman of the Institute for Euro-Asian Jewish Studies in Herzliya, Israel. He is also an Associate Professor with the Department of Political Studies at Bar Ilan University and Senior Researcher at Ariel University. He gave visiting courses and public lectures for the Israeli and FSU Government as well as gave visiting courses and lectures on Israeli and the FSU Politics and Society in a few universities in Great Britain, the USA, Germany, and the FSU (including London, Boston, Oxford, Potsdam, Moscow, Kiev, Lvov, Kharkov, Riga, Minsk, and Baku). He also serves as a political commentator for the Israeli Channel Nine TV, The Voice of Israel Radio, and the First Radio, Israel. He is the author and editor and co-author of 9 academic books; his interviews and articles often appear within various Israeli, American, European, as well as Russian and other FSU printed and electronic media.
About the IEAJS:
The Institute for Euro-Asian Jewish Studies (IEAJS), founded by the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, is envisioned as an academic think-tank and platform for academic and professional exchange among leading experts that study Jewish communities of the Former Soviet Union, Balkan and Asian countries, as well as “transnational Jewish diasporas”—communities that are detached from their countries of origin.
The Institute will facilitate academic and applied studies that examine the current affairs and needs of Euro-Asian Jewish communities, their social and political standing in their host countries, as well as their relations with the State of Israel and other global and regional powers. It will also investigate Jewish migration processes and the historical, cultural and political heritage of these communities.
ОThe Institute will support original academic and applied research; facilitate conferences, seminars, presentations and other academic and public events; and provide a platform for academic publications.
On October 26, the Russian edition ‘Argumenty i Fakty’ published an article by Lieutenant General Alexei Pavlov, Assistant Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation. The author of the article under the heading “What is cooked in the “witch’s cauldron”” calls the supporters of Lubavitcher Hasidism (Chabad) a “cult” and calls for the “desatanization” of Ukraine. According to Pavlov, “the main life principle of the Lubavitcher Hasidim is the superiority of the supporters of the sect over all nations and peoples.” Such formulations caused a storm of indignation in the Jewish community of Russia and the Israeli media.
The Euro-Asian Jewish Congress considers these assessments absolutely unacceptable. Such views, expressed in the pages of one of the most popular printed publications in Russia, can have dangerous consequences and lead to a surge in anti-Semitism. Especially given the position of the article’s author. We are convinced that a person related to the national security issues of any state has no right to express such provocative ideas. We urge the Russian authorities to pay attention to this problem.
Commenting on the publication, EAJC President Dr. Michael Mirilashvili noted: “The ideas, that the author of the article allowed himself to express, in the last century led to the most terrible crimes against the Jewish people, the consequences of which we still feel. People who hold such views should not be allowed to spread them freely in the media.”
“Attempts to distort ideas about Judaism in the public consciousness are absolutely unacceptable and have no place in the modern world. As we remember from history, it was the spread of such ideas that led to the most terrible events of the past. People spouting hateful ideas, usually are not particularly interested in historical truth. They do not think about the consequences of their words, because their main driver is cheap popularity among radical groups. Such manipulations are unacceptable, since their destructive side effect is the incitement of anti-Semitic sentiments in society,” said EAJC President Michael Mirilashvili.
On October 25, the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Jerusalem hosted a reception on the occasion of the Albanian Prime Minister’s Edi Ram visit to Israel. The event was organized by the Honorary President of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) Alexander Mashkevich. As part of a special ceremony, Alexander Mashkevich, together with EAJC President Michael Mirilashvili, presented the head of the Albanian government with an award for special merits in maintaining Israeli-Albanian relations and supporting the local Jewish community.
At the ceremony, the close historical ties between the Albanian and Jewish peoples were especially noted: during the 2nd World War, many Albanias were saving Jews, often risking their own lives. In this regard, the Jewish people and the State of Israel express their gratitude to the people of Albania.
In addition, an important episode in the partnership between the Albanian authorities and the EAJC was the joint evacuation of refugees from Afghanistan to Albania and then to Canada. Emergency assistance was provided to 40 men and women by several organizations and individuals, including EAJС Honorary President Alexander Mashkevich and EAJC Chairman of the Board Aharon G. Frenkel.
Students of Hillel Minsk – the branch of the international student Jewish organization – are continuing a ‘MEGA’ project aimed to restore Jewish cemeteries in Belarus. The Euro-Asian Jewish Congress supported the initiative since its beginning more than seven years ago. Hillel’s students and volunteers call this project a “global cultural and educational tradition” whose goal is to connect young Jews to the history of their community, introduce them to culture and traditions, and help restore valuable historical sites – Jewish cemeteries. Eventually, the objects of restoration become full-fledged sights of the state level.
Project name is an abbreviation. It stands for “Memory. Education. Generation. Action”.
“During the World War II and even after it, many ancient Jewish cemeteries were destroyed. The tombstones were used for various domestic purposes. For example, as a building material for houses or road. Most of these cemeteries today remain hidden under forests or fields,” says Elena Kulevnich, Executive Director of Hillel Minsk.
According to her, the descendants of Jews living in Belarus often cannot find any traces of their ancestors. “They have nowhere to bring the memorial stone. They cannot find traces of their family, although they know for sure that their family roots are in Belarus, a country once full of Jewish communities, while Yiddish was the second most common language here.”
As part of the MEGA project, Hillel volunteers and students find cemeteries underground, explore the scope of reconstruction and restoration work. The preparation process includes the necessary calculations, drawing up a program and route, finding resources and experts. Then the organizers announce the recruitment of volunteers: Jewish young leaders aged 18 to 30.
Among the achievements of the project, the organizers note several restored cemeteries across the country at once – in Dyatlovo, Shatsk, Zembin, Mir, Motol, Kopyl and Vishnevo. In Brest, according to Minsk Hillel, about 1,000 tombstones have been preserved and restored.
More information about the Hillel Minsk MEGA project can be found in the article by the head of the organization – on the Jewish Heritage Europe website.
One of the priorities of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress is the preservation and restoration of the Jewish heritage of the countries of the Euro-Asian region. Throughout its history, the EAJC has supported numerous projects in this area.
On September 29, the opening ceremony of the monument, deidacated to the memory of thousands of Jews killed during the Holocaust, took place in the Kosaut forest near the town of Soroca in Moldova. The memorial was erected on the site were 6,300 Jews were executed back in 1941. The installation of the monument was initiated by a native of Soroca, President of the Moscow Jewish Religious Community (MERO), Grigory Roitberg, whose relatives are buried in this place. The Jewish community of Moldova and its head, vice-president of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress Alexander Bilinkis took an active part in the project.
The ceremony was attended by members of the Jewish community of Moldova, descendants of those killed during World War II, President of the Russian Jewish Congress (RJC) Yuri Kanner, officials from Israel and Moldova, diplomats from several countries.
Speaking at the ceremony, Grigory Roitberg noted that the symbolic meaning of the memorial correlates with the well-known expression from Jewish scriptures: “Any untimely deceased person is a Torah page torn out.”
“We often treat the death toll as a statistic – 6 million people is a huge number, yet still a number. But when it comes to the death of one person, who is close to us – it is no longer a statistic, it is a tragedy. Here is a place where 6,300 of such tragedies lie. Most of them were children,” Roitberg added, “Today I really want us not to forget about it. We really need this if only for those who lie here.”
During the ceremony, EAJC Vice-President Alexandru Bilinkis pointed out that for the Jewish community of Moldova it is the fourth opened Holocaust memorial over the past two years.
“For 30 years now, preservation of the Holocaust victims memory, as well as cultural heritage and the fight against anti-Semitism have remained our main mission. Unfortunately, the tragedy of war remains a part of modernity. We do not learn to compromise, we do not learn from our own history,” he said.
The memorial to the Jews shot near the city of Soroka is a composition of twenty marble steles, symbolizing chopped tree trunks. On the first row are the names of thousands of executed Jews, whose identity has been identified to date.
As researchers of the history of the Holocaust note, many events that took place during the 2nd World War on the territory of Moldova have not yet been studied by historians, since they were hushed up for many years. From the first days of the war, the territory of the country was occupied by Romania and included in the so-called Transnistria – the territory between the rivers Dniester and Bug, in the southern part of Ukraine. Before the war, over 300,000 Jews lived there. Transnistria was established in August 1941 and lasted until the second half of March 1944. It is noted that, unlike the Germans, the Romanian genocide of the Jewish population was unsystematic and chaotic.
All decisions to exterminate the Jewish population were left to the discretion of the local leaders, who were not accountable. In the winter of 1941-1942 alone, about 250,000 Jews were killed on the territory of Transnistria. In total, more than 300 thousand Jews died in concentration camps during the years of the Romanian occupation.
The Jewish National Fund (JNF-KKL) has completed a project to build ten protective structures in Israeli communities located on the border with the Gaza Strip. In addition to bomb shelters, the program also included the construction of a so-called “Safety Road” in Kibbutz Nir Am. On September 22, a solemn ceremony of its opening took place. The event was attended by public organizations, officials, and politicians. The project was financially supported by the President of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress Dr. Michael Mirilashvili, EAJC Vice-Presidents David Yakobashvili, Victor Naishuller, and Boris Spektor.
Speaking at the ceremony, the head of the EAJC recalled the massive rocket attack on the south of Israel during the anti-terrorist operation “Dawn” in Gaza in early August.
“In our holy writings, the Almighty expresses to us words of approval, words of support. It is said: “Your enemies will seek support from you. The kings will worship you. You will not borrow, but you will lend,” Dr. Mirilashvili said.
“If you think about the deep meaning of these words, you can see their embodiment around us. Literally, the whole world is watching us, the State of Israel. Our former enemies are now looking at us with hope and faith. They understand that we can support them, and help them. Until recently, this seemed impossible, but such times have come – thanks to the ‘Abraham Accords’ between Israel and the Arab countries. These agreements just two years ago made possible what seemed impossible for decades. Thus began a new chapter in the history of the Middle East. And today we are its active participants.
In this regard, if our former enemies rely on us today, then we must show our strength in defending our own cities and settlements so that those around us will believe in us even more. If only we, the Jewish people, would believe in ourselves as other nations believe in us. Our prosperity can only be reached by unity, which we clearly lack today. On the eve of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, I wish our people unity, peace, and prosperity,” summed up the President of the Congress.
10 days after the end of the anti-terrorist operation of the Israel Defense Force’s “Guardian of the Walls” in the Gaza Strip at the end of May 2021, the Jewish National Fund launched a project to build several dozen mobile protective structures in southern Israeli settlements, close to the border with the Gaza Strip. The project was implemented in close coordination with local settlement councils and the Israeli Ministry of Defense. Particular attention was paid to the border farmland area to ensure the protection of farmers during potential shelling from the Strip.
The military operation “Guardian of the Walls” (May 2021) began in response to a massive rocket attack on Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip by terrorist organizations Hamas and Islamic Jihad. During the escalation of the conflict, about 4,360 rockets were fired from the enclave toward Israel, most of them toward the southern cities of the country. As a result of the shelling, 8 Israelis (including a 5-year-old child) and three citizens of foreign states were killed. More than 350 citizens of the Jewish state were injured of varying severity.
