Jews of Southern Russia treat youth outflow as main threat for communities

Small Jewish communities in Southern of Russia are dying out due to the outflow of young people, while larger communities try to cope with it through initiatives for children and teens. Members of the Jewish communities, who are now celebrating the Hanukkah, told the "Caucasian Knot" about it.

Almost 30 Jewish communities are present now in the territories of the Southern and North-Caucasian Federal Districts (SFD and NCFD), said Borukh Gorin, the head of the PR department of the Russian Federation of Jewish Communities.

In Northern Caucasus, there are over 10,000 Mountain Jews, said David Mordekhai, the Deputy Director of the STMEGI – the International Charity Fund of Mountain Jews, adding that all the major Jewish communities of Southern Russia are actively implementing programmes, helping to maintain the integrity of communities. In particular, synagogues and rabbis work there.

Programmes for Jewish children and adolescents are actively developing, Yael Joffe, the Chair of the Board of the Volgograd Jewish Community Centre, has added; thus, in 2015, a programme for teenagers "EnerJew" appeared.

Despite some successes, Jewish communities of Southern Russia are facing serious difficulties, financial ones, in particular, said Ms Joffe.

Most Jewish communities of the region are under threat of final extinction, Mr Gorin fears.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.