Please note that the posts on The Blogs are contributed by third parties. The opinions, facts and any media content in them are presented solely by the authors, and neither The Times of Israel nor its partners assume any responsibility for them. Please contact us in case of abuse. In case of abuse,
Hillel International in the Former Soviet Union
Between the Russian Communist Revolution of 1917 to the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, generations of Soviet Jews had lost touch with their Jewish heritage. The Jews populating Russia and the Pale of Settlement which covered parts of Ukraine, Poland, Moldova, and Belarus had known discrimination and pogroms. But for the most part, until the rise of Communism, most of them still chose to practice Judaism and many lived in predominantly Jewish communities. However, with the advent of Communism, Jews could no longer openly practice their faith, teach their children in Yiddish, or openly perpetuate their Jewish heritage. Communism is of