Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation

0 Holocaust History

Liel Leibovitz in Tablet · 17 Jun

Emil Bezverkhny's memoir, "The Penny Is Gone," chronicles the life of a Jewish physicist enduring antisemitism in the Soviet Union, drawing compelling parallels between past and present ideological distortions.

0 Politics Antisemitism

Some Jewish Republicans say Tucker Carlson is a diminished threat. Others worry he’ll run for president.

Joseph Strauss in JTA · 5 Jun

At the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) gala, the discussion shifted from warning against right-wing antisemitic figures like Tucker Carlson to celebrating efforts to marginalize such voices within the Republican Party.

0 Literature Jewish Law

Isaac Babel’s Easter—or Is It Passover?

Val Vinokur in Tablet · 31 Mar

Isaac Babel's use of the word "Paskha," which can denote both Passover and Easter, in his Odessan stories often leads to translation challenges.

0 Leadership Jewish Law

Berlin rabbi makes history as first European to head Conservative rabbis’ association

Toby Axelrod in JTA · 18 Mar

Rabbi Gesa Shira Ederberg has become the first European and the first Jew by choice to lead the Rabbinical Assembly, representing Conservative/Masorti rabbis globally.

0 Art Culture

In the work of 21 artists, 49 different ways to be Jewish

Simi Horwitz in Forward · 11 Mar

The exhibition "Envisioning the Sacred" at the Derfner Judaica Museum showcases 49 diverse art pieces by 21 artists, exploring the intersection of modernist expression and Jewish identity.

0 Culture History

A Yiddish circus in a suitcase

Luise Fakler in Forward · 10 Nov 2025

Tsirk Dobranotch, Germany's first Yiddish circus company, blends klezmer music and circus artistry to revive the rich, if nearly forgotten, heritage of Jewish circus traditions in Europe.

0 Politics History

If Hitler had TikTok, the Nazis might have won.

Lucy in Future of Jewish · 8 Oct 2025

The essay reflects on the potential impact of modern social media tools like TikTok and Instagram on World War II, positing that if such platforms existed then, Nazi propaganda could have shaped global opinion against the Allies by showcasing German civilian suffering, thus altering the war's outcome.

0 History Jewish Law

From Port Arthur to Portsmouth

Cindy Scarr in Mishpacha · 19 Aug 2025

The Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, a conflict ignited by imperial aspirations, dramatically impacted the Russian Jewish community.

0 History Communities

The Black Book

David Rozenson in Tablet · 15 Aug 2025

David Rozenson narrates his family's harrowing experience as Jewish refuseniks in Soviet Leningrad during 1976, a period marked by severe repression under Leonid Brezhnev.

0 Torah History

Kamtza and Bar Kamtza Revisited

Rabbi Yochanan Zweig and Joseph Rackman in Jewish Action · 24 Jul 2025

The story of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza, traditionally studied during the month of Av, is examined for its deeper lessons on human behavior and societal failure.

0 Politics History

There’s a Jewish judge at the center of Trump’s Harvard showdown. Her grandfather escaped pogroms.

Benyamin Cohen in Forward · 22 Jul 2025

Judge Allison D. Burroughs is presiding over a case involving the Trump administration's threat to cut off billions in research funding to Harvard as a measure against alleged antisemitism on campus.

0 Antisemitism History

This 115-year-old Zionist essay is more relevant than ever.

Uri Kurlianchik in Future of Jewish · 11 Jul 2025

Zeev Jabotinsky's 1911 essay remains strikingly relevant in its analysis of antisemitism, particularly in the way false accusations such as blood libel persist and affect Jewish-Gentile interactions.

0 Culture History

Persecuted by the KGB, a Jewish master soared to new heights in the West

Benjamin Ivry in Forward · 5 Jun 2025

Valery Panov, a renowned Russian Jewish dancer who passed away at 87, epitomized resilience in the face of Soviet-era antisemitism.

0 Sports Culture

In a first, Israeli rookie Robert Shwartzman wins pole position at Indy 500

Ben Sales in JTA · 19 May 2025

Robert Shwartzman, a 25-year-old Russian-Israeli race car driver, has secured pole position for the upcoming Indy 500, becoming the first rookie to do so in over four decades.

0 History Politics

Refusenik Lessons for Today

Sapir · 14 May 2025

The term "refusenik" refers to Soviet Jews whose emigration requests were denied, highlighting a tenacious fight against Soviet oppression.

0 Philosophy Communities

Divinity and History in the World of Chabad

Chesky Kopel in Lehrhaus · 5 May 2025

Eli Rubin's new book, "Kabbalah and the Rupture of Modernity: An Existential History of Chabad Hasidism," provides an in-depth analysis of Chabad thought through the lens of the kabbalistic concept of tzimtzum, or God's contraction to create the finite cosmos.

0 Communities History

Resistance by Entrepreneurship

Tel Aviv Review · 28 Apr 2025

Dr. Anna Kushkova explores how Jewish underground entrepreneurial networks flourished in the Soviet Union, defying socialist norms and aiding in the survival of Jewish communities.

0 Art Culture

Visual Moment | The Secret Life of an Art Deco Diva

Diane M. Bolz in Moment · 16 Apr 2025

Tamara de Lempicka was a pioneering Art Deco artist known for her glossy portraits and sensual nudes that epitomized the style of the 1920s.

0 Jewish Law Leadership

You Asked, Rabbi Ulman Answered

Nomi Kaltmann in Lehrhaus · 5 Mar 2025

Nomi Kaltmann reviews "MiLishkat HaDarom," a collection of rabbinic questions and answers by Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, Senior Dayan of the Sydney Beth Din and a well-regarded authority on Jewish family law.

0 Music History

Reviving Jewish folk tunes that were nearly lost forever

Jennifer A. Stern in Forward · 26 Feb 2025

Sofia Magid, a Soviet-Jewish musicologist active between 1928 and 1938, made significant contributions to preserving Jewish folk music by recording a rich collection of Yiddish songs and Hebrew chants in Belarus and Ukraine.

0 History Culture

Nine Lives

Maxim D. Shrayer in Tablet · 24 Feb 2025

Maxim D. Shrayer's extensive eulogy for his father, David Shrayer-Petrov, captures the multifaceted Jewish life lived across several decades from Soviet Leningrad to Boston.

0 Communities History

For Finland's tiny Jewish community, a complicated history of fighting for the czar and the Nazis

Jon Kalish in Forward · 24 Jan 2025

Finland's Jewish community, numbering about 1,500 today, traces its roots to Russian military conscripts in the 1850s.

0 Television/Film History

A lost film about Jewish immigrants on the Lower East Side returns to the big screen in NYC

Joseph Strauss in Forward · 14 Jan 2025

Breaking Home Ties, a silent film from 1922 about Russian Jewish immigrants on New York's Lower East Side, has been rediscovered and restored for the New York Jewish Film Festival.

0 Communities Antisemitism

Israelis with Soviet roots unite in solidarity in Tel Aviv amid the war

Larry Luxner in JTA · 14 Jan 2025

Amid heightened tensions and security challenges in Israel, over 500 Israelis with roots from former Soviet states gathered in Tel Aviv for a Limmud FSU festival celebrating Jewish learning and community solidarity.

0 Art Gender/Identity

This pioneering female artist's Jewish heritage is no longer a secret — but what about the rest of her life?

Olivia Haynie in Forward · 8 Jan 2025

Tamara de Lempicka, born Tamara Rosa Hurwitz, was a pioneering Art Deco artist whose life and work are explored in both a new documentary and a Broadway musical.

JL;DR

Places › Russian Federation ›

Saint Petersburg

Cities