Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Russia Will Get Its First Jewish University, Modeled On Yeshiva U

(JTA) — Russia will receive its first Jewish university next month, the institution’s dean said.

Modeled after Yeshiva University in the United States, The Jewish University of Moscow is a private institution with a student body of 200 whose budget comes mostly from donors and the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia, dean Alexander Lebedev told JTA earlier this week.

The university — whose faculties include economics, law, humanities and Jewish studies – comprises two existing Jewish community colleges: Institute XXI century for men and Institute Machon CHaMeSH for women. Their reconstitution as campuses of a single, state-recognized university is a first in Russian history, according to Lebedev.

In the new institution, “students will have the possibility to observe Torah, kosher food, Jewish holidays and Shabbat,” he said. The Jewish University of Moscow “will keep this format of education, like Yeshiva University, to become the one strong recognizable brand” in its field, he added.

Most of the 200 students who will begin studying in the university when it opens are on a scholarship paid by the donors and the Chabad-affiliated federation led Rabbi Alexander Boroda and Berel Lazar, a chief rabbi of Russia. Many of the students will also live in the dormitories of the new facility, which is located in northern Moscow.

An additional 10,000 students will receive educational services by the university remotely.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.