Israel is at war!

Please read the following statement from Combined Jewish Philanthropies and Jewish Community Relations Council.

Center Makor and Jewish Community of the Former Soviet Union stand with Israel and mourn for all the Israelis who lost their lives today. Please join the North American Jewish Federations tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. for an opportunity for get an update on Israel.

We are very grateful to our Ukrainian friends for standing with us and Israel in these terrible times.

Until further notice all donations to Center Makor will be forwarded directly to Magen David Adom.

Donate

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Dear friends,

Our hearts break as we write this critical update. As you are likely aware, CJP and JCRC typically do not communicate either on Shabbat or on many Jewish Holidays (such as today, Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah). However, we are taking the extraordinary step of being in direct communication with you today given that Israel is now at war.

Here in Boston, we awoke to terrifying scenes in Israel. The IDF has confirmed that hostages have been taken to Gaza and that, as of now, over 100 people were killed in a Hamas assault, with another 900 injured. The scale of the destruction is unfathomable (see IDF: 100 killed in huge Hamas assault, hostages taken to Gaza; PM: Israel at war | The Times of Israel for live updates). We have been in touch with our colleagues on the ground, all of whom are sharing how serious this moment is and how grateful they are to know that – as always – we stand in complete solidarity with them against terrorism and those who seek to destroy us.

CJP and JCRC are working closely together and will be sending updates soon on opportunities to gather, learn, and show our support for Israel. To that end, we want to make you aware of an opportunity tomorrow Sunday, October 8, at 12 p.m. through Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) for up-to-date- information. Register.

We will also be sharing updates on social media, making sure to acknowledge how unusual a step it is for us to post on Shabbat or this holiday.

We stand with Israel always. We are horrified at these brutal acts of terrorism, aggression, and destruction and we will work tirelessly to ensure that our friends and family in Israel know that we are with them. Please look for more communications from us soon.

Praying for peace and for the safety and security of Israel and all we love there,

CJP and JCRC

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UCCA Condemns Terror Attacks Against Israel and their State Sponsors

– A Daily Act of Terrorism in Ukraine by Russia

The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA), the nation’s largest representative body of Americans of Ukrainian descent, condemns this morning’s surprise attack by Iranian-backed terrorists against the people of Israel. In addition to the nearly 5,000 rockets fired on civilian areas, the terrorists have reportedly taken civilian and military hostages. This assault is a clear violation of worldwide norms and an affront to the Nation of Israel, a democratic and stalwart ally of both the United States and Ukraine.

In reiterating Israel’s unquestionable right to self-defense, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared, “Terror should have no place in the world, because it is always a crime, not just against a specific country or this terror’s victims, but against humanity in general and our entire world.”

In unequivocally condemning this appalling assault, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, stated, “Terrorism is never justified. Israel has a right to defend itself and its people. The United States warns against any other party hostile to Israel seeking advantage in this situation.”

In stark contrast, Russia’s Dmitry Medvedev personally welcomed the terrorists responsible for today’s attacks in Moscow earlier this year, and responded to today’s attack on Israel by calling for a civil war inside the United States.

Anyone who resorts to terror commits a crime against the world. And whoever finances terror is committing a crime against the world. For years, the world has allowed the Kremlin to support and finance terrorist regimes and terrorist organizations, including its status as the main supplier of weapons to the Assad regime in Syria, supporting terrorists across Latin America, organizing acts of international terrorism in the United Kingdom, downing a civilian Malaysian airliner with impunity, organizing mass executions, rape, child abductions, and physical abuse in the Central African Republic and Mali, and all the while arming and funding Israel’s enemies. And for the past 19 months, the Ukrainian nation has experienced the sheer brutality and terrorism at the hands of the kremlin.

On the morning of their Sabbath, Israeli residents of several kibbutzim barricaded themselves into safe rooms as armed militants stormed their civilian settlements. Similarly, Ukrainians woke up on Thursday to discover that 52 civilians were killed in a terrorist attack on the village of Hroza in eastern Ukraine: in an instant, a missile wiped out a sixth of the village’s population. As with the 20,000+ genocidal abductions of Ukrainian citizens, today Israeli grandmothers and children have been dragged across the border against their will.

A new and rejuvenated Axis of Evil has subjugated the world to terrorism. The world must stand united and in solidarity so that terror does not attempt to break or subjugate life anywhere and at any moment.

Beginning with UCCA President Stephen Shumeyko’s greeting to the people of Israel 75 years ago proclaiming “at long last the Jewish people have managed to establish their own free and independent State of Israel, and today are making valiant efforts to preserve it,” UCCA continues to stand in total solidarity with the people of Israel following this massive, unprovoked crime against the world. Israel, like Ukraine, has every right to defend itself.

The post Israel is at War appeared first on Center Makor.

Join American Jewish Committee (AJC) in standing with the people of Ukraine by calling on your Senators and Representatives to designate the Russian paramilitary organization the Wagner Group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

Urge Congress to Designate the Wagner Group a Terror Organization.

The Wagner Group, a band of tens of thousands of Russian Neo-Nazi mercenaries, commits atrocities against innocent civilians in Ukraine and throughout African countries.

They’ve tortured and killed thousands of people around the world.

They spread neo-Nazi, antisemitic, white supremacist ideology wherever they go.

Implicated in rape, pillage, torture, and murder in Ukraine and countries throughout Africa and the Middle East, they brutalize civilians to advance Moscow’s global agenda and fund its aggressive war.

And yet, this despicable group has largely escaped accountability.

This groups’ heinous activities must be stopped.

We have the power to change that.

Join American Jewish Committee (AJC) in standing with the people of Ukraine by calling on your Senators and Representatives to designate the Wagner Group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

Take Action

It is essential that we stand in solidarity with Ukraine and take action against this paramilitary group.

Since the earliest days of Russian’s unprovoked and unjust invasion of Ukraine that began nearly a year ago, the “Wagner Group” has reportedly played a key role in several heinous attacks, including the murder of hundreds of Ukrainian civilians in Bucha and the placement of explosives at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which threatened the lives of millions in and beyond Ukraine.

Urge your Senators and Representatives to support the bipartisan Holding Accountable Russian Mercenaries (HARM) Act, S.416/H.R.506, to require the Secretary of State to designate the Russian-based Wagner Group as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO).

Take Action

The post Urge Congress to Designate the Wagner Group a Terror Organization appeared first on Center Makor.

Обращение от Янины Кисслер / A letter from Yanina Kissler

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Я начала проект по сбору историй людей, принявших решение эмигрировать до распада СССР. Я хочу запечатлеть, какой была жизнь евреев в то время, и что заставило их решить оставить свою часто комфортную и стабильную жизнь, чтобы отправиться в неизвестность в Израиль или США. Я надеюсь опубликовать книгу об их опыте.

Мои родители и я иммигрировали в США из СССР в 1978 году. Мне было 14 лет когда мы уехали, у меня есть воспоминания о моей жизни там, но мы никогда толком не говорили о том, какой была их жизнь и почему они решили уехать. Сейчас они оба ушли, и я уже не могу их спросить.

Я уже говoрила примерно с 30 людьми, эмигрировавшими из СССР в 1970-х и 1980-х годах. Кто-то был отказником, у кого-то была комфортная жизнь, большинство пережило антисемитизм. Их истории интересны и заслуживают сохранения для следующих поколений, внуков и правнуков, которые часто мало знают об истории своей семьи в СССР и о том, что им потребовалось, чтобы уехать и начать все сначала на новой земле.

Если вы были тем человеком, который принял решение покинуть СССР, я бы хотела с вами поговорить. Если это решение приняли ваши родители, я хотела бы поговорить с вашими родителями или с вами, если вы знаете их истории или у вас есть свои собственные. Пожалуйста, позвоните или напишите мне. Я отвечу на ваши вопросы, и мы решим, как дальше общаться.

Вся информация будет анонимной, без имен или идентифицирующей информации.

Спасибо за ваше внимание.

Янина Кислер
781-315-1645 cell
yanina.kisler@comcast.net

I have started a project to collect stories from people who made the decision to emigrate before the USSR came apart. I want to capture what life was like for Jews there at that time, and what made them decide to leave their often comfortable and stable life to go to an unknown life in Israel or USA. I hope to publish a book about their experiences.

My parents and I immigrated to the United States from the Soviet Union in 1978. I was 14 when we left, I have memories of what it was like living there, but we never talked about what life was like for them and why they decided to leave. They are both gone now and I cannot ask them.

So far I have talked to about 30 people who emigrated from the USSR in the 1970s and 1980s. Some were refusniks, some had a comfortable life there, and most experienced anti-Semitism. Their stories are interesting and worth preserving for the next generations, grandchildren and great grandchildren who often do not know much about the history of their own family in the USSR and what it took them to leave and to start over in a new land.

If you were the person who made the decision to leave the USSR, I would like to talk to you. If it was your parent who made that decision, I would like to talk to your parent or to you if you know their stories or have your own. Please call me or email me. I can then answer any questions you might have, and we can decide how to connect further. 

Please note that all information will be anonymous, and no names or identifying information will be mentioned that could link the stories with individual people.

Thank you for considering this.

Yanina Kisler
781-315-1645 cell
yanina.kisler@comcast.net

The post Looking for Stories of People Who Made the Decision to Emigrate from the USSR appeared first on Center Makor.

Russian text below

Call for Participants

The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies (CHGS) is conducting an oral history project focused on the history of the Russian-speaking community in the North Shore and the Greater Boston area. We are looking to record and preserve interviews with community members regarding their lives in the Soviet Union, their decisions to emigrate, and their experiences living in the United States.

We will use excerpts from the interviews, alongside family photographs, portraits, and relevant artifacts, in a bilingual exhibit focused on the history of refuseniks and the Russian-speaking Jewish community. The exhibit is designed to introduce the public to the experiences of Jews and members of other ethnic groups under the Soviet regime, and document the challenges and successes of those who made the Greater Boston area their home. The full interviews will be transcribed and deposited in the Archives and Special Collections at the Frederick E. Berry Library at Salem State University for future access by scholars and members of the public.

Interviews will be conducted in either Russian or English.

If you want to learn more about the project or would like to share your story, please email Regina Kazyulina at ctr_rkazyulina@salemstate.edu or chgsoralhistory@gmail.com

This project is made possible by funding from the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston (CJP).

Русскоговорящая еврейская община в Норт-Шоре и в районе Большого Бостона: устно-исторический проект

Обращение к участникам

Центр исследований Холокоста и геноцида (The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies) реализует устно-исторический проект об истории русскоговорящей общины региона Норт-Шор и Большого Бостона. В рамках проекта мы хотели бы записать и сохранить интервью с представителями этой диаспоры об их жизни в Советском Союзе, решении об эмиграции и опыте проживания в Соединенных Штатах.

Фрагменты интервью, а также семейные фотографии, портреты и представляющие интерес вещи будут использоваться для организации двуязычной выставки об истории отказников и русскоговорящей общины. Цель проведения выставки — рассказать общественности о жизни евреев и представителей других этнических групп при советском режиме и задокументировать трудности и успехи тех, для кого районБольшого Бостона стал домом. Полные версии интервью будут расшифрованы и размещены в Архиве и специальном хранилище Библиотеки им. Фредерика Э. Берри в Государственном университете Сейлем, где с ними смогут ознакомиться исследователи и представители общественности.

Интервью будут проводиться на русском или английском языке.

Если вы хотите узнать больше о проекте или рассказать свою историю, пожалуйста, напишите Регине Казюлиной по электронной почте: ctr_rkazyulina@salemstate.edu или chgsoralhistory@gmail.com. Проект осуществляется при финансовой поддержке Общества евреев-филантропов Большого Бостона (Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, CJP).

The post The Russian-Speaking Jewish Community in the North Shore and Greater Boston: An Oral History Project appeared first on Center Makor.

New England Friends March of the Living is thrilled to share the attached registration information for our 2022 trip.

We truly appreciate your help in recruiting students and referring them to us.

The New England Friends will provide a $2000 scholarship for Massachusetts  students. Updated travel procedures will be provided as they are received. Student applications are on our website.  For any questions please be in touch.

Aaron L Kischel
Student Director
New England Friends MOTL
kischel7241@gmail.com
781-799-4765

Registration Information

2022 MOTL Points of Information (As of Oct. 20, 2021):

Prices from JFK Airport April 24:

Teens & Staff $5,695 and Adults $5,895 (double occupancy). 

fees reflect teen increase of $320 from 2020 and $270 for Adults. 

MOTL requiring International Travel Health Insurance. 

Strongly recommend Travel Cancellation Insurance.

Participants are responsible for cost associated with pre-trip COVID testing, a minimal 72 hour test. Those results must be scanned and text/e-mail Joel, no later than Sunday, 9am, remember Chag is Friday and Saturday. 

The International March of the Living will cover the cost and arrange for the necessary Covid-19 tests required by Poland and Israel for entry and exit. 

Application & Payment Timetable:

Application by Thanksgiving with a $500 deposit
60% payments by December 26
Balance by Feb. 15.

Individual Cancellation Policy

January 1, 2022 – January 31 2022 – 80% returned
February 1, 2022 – February 28, 2022 – 60% returned
March 1, 2022 – March 20, 2022 – 40% returned
After March 20, 2022 – NO return

IMOTL will send out a group cancellation policy within the next week, which will highlight the financial responsibility should government or quarantine restrictions make it impossible for a group to travel.

The post 2022 March of the Living appeared first on Center Makor.

Have a happy, healthy, and kosher Pesach! Listen to the Haggadah, sing along the songs, and enjoy the food. We hope this post will help you celebrate Chag Pesach this year!

In this post:

• For Your Seder
• Vladimir Foygelman is reading the Haggadah (in Russian)
• Songs
• Food and Wine
• Crafts

Vladimir Foygelman is reading the Haggadah (in Russian)

Pesach Songs (courtesy of JewishBoston.com)

Food and Wine

Crafts

The Red Sea Sensory Bottle: Miriam’s Edition

The post Pesach 5781 appeared first on Center Makor.