Image by nate lavey

Approximately 4,000 Jews attended Moscow’s first “Festival of Judaism” which organizers planned as a celebration of the 50th birthday of Chief Russian Rabbi Berel Lazar.

The festival was held on June 8, two days after Lazar’s birthday, at the Jewish Museum And Tolerance Center in Moscow and featured 50 stations where staff and volunteers presented visitors with explanations about elements of the Jewish faith including teffilin, kashrut and scripture, Museum Chairman Rabbi Boruch Gorin told JTA.

“This was the first time we organized an event of this sort, which we planned as a way to celebrate rabbi Lazar’s 50th birthday, but we hope to make it an annual event,” he said. Gorin, who is a Chabad rabbi, added that Moscow has few Jewish events of the scale seen at the museum during the festival, with the exception of the Jewish Agency’s Jerusalem Day celebrations and Lag B’Omer events.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The event was advertised on Russian Jewish media, social media and news sites “and this obviously generated a large turnout and a predominantly-Jewish crowd,” Gorin said.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount