A Russian-born Israeli woman who was 2 days old when World War II broke out was crowned Miss Holocaust Survivor. Anna Grinis, 75, was crowned Sunday at the fifth annual pageant in Haifa for women who survived the Holocaust and the war. Fourteen finalists competed for the crown, according to reports; some 300 women had…
As a Jewish immigrant from the Former Soviet Union whose family came to the United States in 1980, I’ve been dismayed to see so many liberals looking down their noses at Russian Jews who support Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Writing in the Forward, Margarita Gokun Silver recently asked, “How Can Russian Jews Be So…
“She is bad,” said a four-year old girl, pointing at the TV where a broadcast showed Hillary Clinton speaking to her supporters. “We don’t like her,” she continued and proceeded to dip her sushka, a Russian pretzel, into the tea my mother had made for her. The little girl is my mother’s friend. She is…
At a senior center in South Brooklyn, the old Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet bloc can’t wait to vote for Donald Trump. “I like his honesty, that he’s against Muslims, that he’s against refugees,” said Valentina Albert, a former refugee from Moldova whose husband was Jewish. “I think that our lives, the lives of…
Tens of thousands of Russian dual nationals are being effectively stripped of their Russian citizenship via a quiet policy of Russian consulates worldwide refusing to renew their passports. Under new regulations the consulates are enforcing, anyone seeking to renew a passport who was not registered as living in Russia on February 6, 1992, will be…
On a bright, sunny day in 2007, Alina and Jeff Bliumis stood on the Brighton Beach boardwalk, asking strangers to choose an identity. Volunteers could pick from three options — “Jewish,” “American” and “Russian” — and then pose in front of the sign or signs bearing that designation. By the end of the day, 52…
In the wake of the Pew Research Center’s findings on American Jews, the Forward’s headlines told a disheartening story: “Boundaries Are Blurring,” “New Study Finds Jews Fleeing Faith Traditions” and “Can You Be Jewish and Believe in Jesus?” But for Jews in Russia and Ukraine, none of this was news. With two Russian colleagues, in…
Germany’s largest Jewish communal organization, the Berlin Juedische Gemeinde, is nearly dysfunctional. “We are at the edge of chaos,” said Rabbi Josh Spinner, executive vice president and CEO in Berlin of the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation. “All the world’s Jews should care about this.” Claudia Keller, writing in the respected newspaper Der Tagesspiegel, observed that…
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