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ISRAEL AT WAR - DAY 341

former Soviet Union

An illustration by Zoya Cherkassky-Nnadi in 'For Our Freedom,' a new Haggadah in Ukrainian, an initiative of Project Kesher, available for Passover 2023 (Courtesy Project Kesher)
April 5, 2023, 4:01 pm
Ukrainian Jews celebrate Passover with fresh start and new Haggadah
‘For Our Freedom’ includes vivid illustrations by Kyiv-born Israeli artist Zoya Cherkassky-Nnadi
By Jessica Steinberg
Yosef Mendelevitch visiting St. Petersburg Airport, November 30, 2014. (Canaan Lidor)
March 28, 2023, 10:27 pm
Judicial overhaul divides ex-Prisoners of Zion from former Soviet Union
Groups on both sides of the issue have published open letters making arguments grounded in their experiences behind the Iron Curtain
By Canaan Lidor
'How the Soviet Jew Was Made' by Sasha Senderovich. (Courtesy)
February 11, 2023, 8:56 am
‘How the Soviet Jew Was Made’: A tale of wandering, oppression, language and lore
In his award-winning book, Prof. Sasha Senderovich mixes a rich, centuries-old body of Yiddish folklore with early 20th-century events to define a notoriously nebulous Jewish group
By JP O’ Malley
A couple prepares to step on a glass, a symbol in Jewish weddings, after their Jewish ceremony in Boston, February 7, 2023. (Igor Klimov via JTA)
February 11, 2023, 1:31 am
Boston Chabad marries 3 couples who were barred from having Jewish weddings in USSR
‘It was my dream’: Ukraine-born husbands and wives, married for a collective 125 years, stand under huppah for 1st time because religious ceremonies were illegal in Soviet Union
By Penny Schwartz
Supporters for the freedom of Soviet Jewry rally in front of the Soviet consulate in San Francisco in a undated photo. (Courtesy of American Jewish Historical Society)
February 7, 2023, 4:17 pm
FBI memo: Bay Area Soviet Jewry protest leaders secretly sought Jews for Jesus’ help
Freedom of information request yields stunning revelation that leadership recruited the well-organized but widely loathed proselytizing group to help organize and bolster crowds
By Asaf Elia-Shalev
From right, MK Ze'ev Elkin, One Million Lobby CEO Alex Rif, manager of the alternative Orthodox conversion program Giyur K'Halacha Yael Belenky, Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, Afula Chief Rabbi Shmuel David and journalist Yair Sherki discuss the Law of Return at a conference in Ramat Gan on January 25, 2023. (Judah Ari Gross/Times of Israel)
January 27, 2023, 2:52 am
Even among its advocates, changing the Law of Return proves trickier than expected
Lobbying group for Russian-speaking Israelis holds fierce debate on cutting the ‘grandchild clause,’ with all sides acknowledging that it won’t happen fast
By Judah Ari Gross
Jewish immigrants fleeing from war zones in the Ukraine arrive at the immigration and absorption office, at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, on March 15, 2022. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
January 25, 2023, 8:22 pm
Israelis split on whether Diaspora Jews should weigh in on changes to Law of Return
Poll finds more people think foreign Jews should be part of debate on proposal to revoke ‘grandchild clause,’ but lots don’t know; most think such a move would cut immigration
By Judah Ari Gross
Deputy Minister Avi Maoz, right, meets with Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau, center-left, in the latter's office in Jerusalem on January 11, 2023. (Avi Maoz's Office)
January 12, 2023, 5:32 am
Maoz looks to involve Rabbinate in determining Jewishness of would-be immigrants
As head of Nativ, which checks citizenship eligibility in FSU, far-right lawmaker seems to be trying to make process harder so as to keep out those who are not halachically Jewish
By Judah Ari Gross
Books in both Hebrew and Russian sit on a bookshelf at Medzhybizh. (Jacob Judah/ JTA)
December 10, 2022, 5:23 am
Ukrainian Jews have historically spoken Russian. The war is changing that
History led Jewish communities in Ukraine to eschew the language, but disgust at Russia’s invasion brings change — and an increased perception of being part of Ukrainian society
By Jacob Judah
Head of the Noam party Avi Maoz at the Knesset in Jerusalem on July 19, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
December 1, 2022, 6:56 am
He campaigned for Soviet immigration. Now Avi Maoz is poised to fight against it
As head of the Nativ program, the far-right nationalist could make immigration from the former Soviet Union much harder for those who aren’t Jewish according to Orthodox law
By Judah Ari Gross
Russian immigrants attend an event marking the 25th anniversary of the major wave of aliya from the former Soviet Union to Israel, at the Jerusalem Convention Center, on December 24, 2015. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
November 17, 2022, 4:48 pm
Data shows most recent immigrants from former Soviet Union aren’t considered Jewish
Survey embraced as justification by opponents of Law of Return’s ‘grandchild clause’; critics allege bigotry
By Judah Ari Gross
Jewish immigrants fleeing from war zones in Ukraine arrive at the Israeli immigration and absorption office, at the Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, on March 15, 2022. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
November 11, 2022, 5:56 pm
Bid to scrap Law of Return grandchild clause likely to fail, but part of wider fight
Proposal by Netanyahu’s religious allies to limit immigration to those with a Jewish parent and converts unlikely to go ahead, though struggle over who is a Jew just heating up
By Judah Ari Gross
Undated photo of Republican candidates (left to right) Karina Lipsman, Angela Grabovsky, and Yuri Dashevsky
November 8, 2022, 2:09 pm
3 Jewish immigrants say fear of oppression drives their run as Republican candidates
Karina Lipsman in Virginia, Yuri Dashevsky in Brooklyn and Angela Grabovsky in Indianapolis are all House hopefuls and highlight the different politics of former Soviet Jews
By Ron Kampeas
Chinese censors did not allow a local company to print copies of 'The Queen of Cleveland' for American publisher Hasidic Archives. (Book cover image courtesy of Hasidic Archives/ via JTA)
October 9, 2022, 3:03 am
Chinese censors ban the printing of Hasidic woman’s memoir for a US publisher
Citing ‘anti-Communist’ content, authorities won’t let locals print ‘The Queen of Cleveland,’ Shula Kazen’s story of surviving the Iron Curtain, even though it would be sold abroad
By Asaf Elia-Shalev
Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev waves from the Red Square tribune during a Revolution Day celebration, in Moscow, Soviet Union, Nov. 7, 1989. (AP Photo/Boris Yurchenko)
August 31, 2022, 6:26 pm
In 1989 letter, Iran’s Khomeini invited Gorbachev to embrace Islam
Founder of Islamic Republic appealed to Soviet leader to ‘seriously study’ the religion in order to ‘resolve the fundamental problems of humanity’
By AFP
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