Let My People Grow: Hillel and the Jewish Renaissance in the Former Soviet Union
When the Soviet Union collapsed, much of its Jewish population emigrated, but those who remained were often disconnected from Judaism. It was into this vacuum that Hillel stepped, gradually building a network of Hillel centers across the Former Soviet Union, serving tens of thousands of Jewish students and creating a Jewish future in the FSU. Rabbi Yossie Goldman led Hillel’s efforts to rebuild Jewish identity among university students in the FSU. In Let My People Grow, Goldman tells the story of Hillel in the FSU from its humble beginnings in Moscow and its first steps and missteps in the chaos that followed the fall of communism through to nourishing an indigenous Jewish leadership that sustains the community to this day. In a journey in time across the breath of the FSU with its myriad languages, cultures and Jewish communities, Goldman tells this amazing story. As Goldman tells us: “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”
1144166867
Let My People Grow: Hillel and the Jewish Renaissance in the Former Soviet Union
When the Soviet Union collapsed, much of its Jewish population emigrated, but those who remained were often disconnected from Judaism. It was into this vacuum that Hillel stepped, gradually building a network of Hillel centers across the Former Soviet Union, serving tens of thousands of Jewish students and creating a Jewish future in the FSU. Rabbi Yossie Goldman led Hillel’s efforts to rebuild Jewish identity among university students in the FSU. In Let My People Grow, Goldman tells the story of Hillel in the FSU from its humble beginnings in Moscow and its first steps and missteps in the chaos that followed the fall of communism through to nourishing an indigenous Jewish leadership that sustains the community to this day. In a journey in time across the breath of the FSU with its myriad languages, cultures and Jewish communities, Goldman tells this amazing story. As Goldman tells us: “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”
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Let My People Grow: Hillel and the Jewish Renaissance in the Former Soviet Union

Let My People Grow: Hillel and the Jewish Renaissance in the Former Soviet Union

Let My People Grow: Hillel and the Jewish Renaissance in the Former Soviet Union

Let My People Grow: Hillel and the Jewish Renaissance in the Former Soviet Union

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Overview

When the Soviet Union collapsed, much of its Jewish population emigrated, but those who remained were often disconnected from Judaism. It was into this vacuum that Hillel stepped, gradually building a network of Hillel centers across the Former Soviet Union, serving tens of thousands of Jewish students and creating a Jewish future in the FSU. Rabbi Yossie Goldman led Hillel’s efforts to rebuild Jewish identity among university students in the FSU. In Let My People Grow, Goldman tells the story of Hillel in the FSU from its humble beginnings in Moscow and its first steps and missteps in the chaos that followed the fall of communism through to nourishing an indigenous Jewish leadership that sustains the community to this day. In a journey in time across the breath of the FSU with its myriad languages, cultures and Jewish communities, Goldman tells this amazing story. As Goldman tells us: “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781644698020
Publisher: Academic Studies Press
Publication date: 03/01/2022
Series: Contemporary Jewish Studies
Pages: 290
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.00(d)
Language: Russian

About the Author

Rabbi Yossie Goldman, a pioneer in international Jewish education, was born in Tel Aviv and raised in the United States. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, he founded twenty-seven Hillels across the Former Soviet Union. As director of global expansion for Hillel International, he opened Hillels in Israel, Germany, Poland, Hungary and France. He and his wife Judy live in Jerusalem.

Table of Contents

The Builders ix

A Brief Historical Background xi

1 Genesis 1

Darkness before the Light 1

A Three-Hour Read Lasts a Lifetime 2

Aliyah 4

Mosaic 4

Undercover 5

2 Hillel 9

The Hebrew University 9

The Green Light 10

History in the Making 11

The Moscow Jewish University 14

First Steps and Missteps 15

Indigenization 17

3 Beginnings 19

The First Rosh Hashanah 19

Freedom's Challenge 20

The Lamed Vavniks 20

First Programs 22

Jewish Camping 24

What are Friends for? 29

Creating a Lay Board 30

4 Never a Dull Moment 33

Travel in the FSU 33

Traditions 35

5 Watch out Napoleon! 37

Kiev 37

Sasha and Dasha 41

St. Petersburg 41

The Shidduch 43

Doing Jewish 44

6 The Formative Period 46

The Pesach Project 46

How to Conduct a Seder 47

The Lunatic Rabbi 49

Enter the Rudin Family 49

Laying the Groundwork 51

7 Expansion 53

Progress 55

Kishinev 59

Study Mission 61

Pesach Project 1997 63

Minsk 65

Kharkov and Odessa 67

8 Challenges and Achievements 69

Who is a Jew? 69

The Mechanisms of Survival 71

A Magnet 72

The VC Story 73

The New Russians 75

Jews and the Church 79

Kosher Shrimps 79

The Fish Rabbi 80

The "Kosher" Meat Market 81

Cold Chicken Soup 82

9 The Tefillah Challenge 84

Introducing Shabbat 86

Shabbat on Wheels 87

Prayer Initiative - Unity in Diversity 90

The Kishinev Model 91

Hillel's Communal Services 93

Morning Prayers 93

High Holiday Prayers 95

10 An Unfolding Story 98

Common Agenda 98

111 Restructuring 101

Expanding the Pesach Experience 102

Stages 104

Empowerment 105

The Answers 107

12 A Timely Evaluation 109

Shanah Tovah 110

13 Engagement and Study 115

Giraffes in the Cities 115

The Elijah Promise 116

Target Populations? 118

Birth of Lehrhaus 119

P2P Training 121

14 A New Year 122

Odessa and Kishinev 125

The Dreidel Path 127

Birthright Israel 128

Congress 2000 130

New Hillel Haggadah 131

Learning Leadership 135

Not Enough Prayer Books 137

The Charles Schusterman z"l Leaders Congress 138

A Sampling of Programs 140

Afikoman 142

Brethren Meet 143

15 Analysis and Evaluation 145

Local Leadership in Action 147

Around the FSU Lehrhaus Network 149

Message of Freedom 152

16 Visions and Strategies For the Road Ahead 157

Am Echad 162

Getting Bigger and Bigger 163

Around and About 165

17 A Visit To Exotic Lands 167

Outbidding a Dowry 169

The Jewish House 170

Tbilisi 171

Kutaisi 173

The Never-Ending Meal 174

Epilogue 177

Appendix 181

Glossary 183

Index 191

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