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World Jewish News
The Jews of Moscow: Crisis Leaves Communities Without Money, Chief Rabbi Leaves Communities to Study
15.03.2009
The funds of Jewish organizations in Moscow are on the brink of exhaustion. Sponsors cannot make big contributions any more, a lot of community and educational projects have been closed. And it is precisely at this time that the chief rabbi of Moscow left to study in Harvard.
Two major Jewish religious structures of Russia to different degrees are experiencing the impact of the global financial crisis. The Federation of the Jewish Communities of Russia (FJCR), associated with the Chabad movement, is trying to recover after their donor of many years Leo Levaev practically ceased to fund the network of schools "Or-Avner." Sources in the Jewish community in Moscow told the portal IzRus , that many Chabad emissaries have suffered because of this. FJCR is now actively looking for new sponsors, glancing at the Jewish oligarchs in Ukraine.
The Congress of Jewish Religious Organizations and Associations of Russia (KJROAR) is in an even worse situation. This structure, under the leadership of Rabbi Adolf Shaevich, includes more than 100 Jewish organizations in 68 cities of Russia. One of the main KJROAR sponsors was Arkady Gaidamak, but he is currently facing serious financial difficulties.
Sources of the IzRus portal in Moscow noted that "the situation in KJROAR is close to the bone." Gaidamak stopped giving money even before the global financial crisis. "In the Choral Synagogue, an ambitious project Kol Ehad was on - every Jew could get a mezuzah, a book of Torah, and many other things, after listening to a lecture. Now the project has been cut," said one of the interlocutors of the IzRus portal.
Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt
Against the backdrop of the crisis and the actual collapse of the old system of charity, the departure of Moscow Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt to study at Harvard University (USA) looks rather peculiar. At the university site, which contains information on all newcomers and guest scientists from the former Soviet Union, the topic of study is listed for each grantee. Opposite the name of Goldschmidt are merely the words "The European Rabbinate."
According to Moscow sources of the portal IzRus, Goldschmidt received a grant for half a year stay at Harvard for lecturing and writing a book. «He actually works on two fronts, without leaving the community and his position». Goldschmidt travels between the U.S. and Russia, coming back every month for one week to Moscow to his duties. In March, he arrived for the holiday of Purim, and in April he is expected to come on Pesach. "This is not connected with the crisis or the desire of Rabbi Pinchas to leave Moscow - this is a new stage in the development of his personality and career," reports IzRus portal with reference to Avraham Ariel Vitkin, who lives in Israel and until recently taught at the Moscow Jewish Center "Torah Mi-Zion," while also serving as a rabbi of the Jewish community in the north of Moscow.
Shimon Briman
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