Euroasian Jewish News

The Conference of the Council of Federation of Jewish Organizations and Communities of Russia (Vaad in Russia), devoted to decad

The Conference of the Council of Federation of Jewish organizations and communities of Russia - Vaad (Vaad in Russia); Regional Council of Jewish organizations and communities of Ural region and heads of federal, regional and local Jewish national-cultural autonomies took place in Ekaterinburg on December 8-9. The Conference was devoted to decade of activity of Vaad in Russia and of Regional Council, and also to discussion of various questions of the Jewish community development in Russia.
Over 40 heads and activists of Jewish associations and autonomies from Krasnoyarsk and Novosibirsk up to Krasnodar and Nalchik have taken part in the Conference. Among those who greeted participants there were: the Minister of Russian Federation on Affairs of Nationalities, V.Zorin; the Chief Rabbi of Russia, Adolf Shaevich; the President of Russian Jewish Congress, E.Satanovsky and executive Vice-president of the Conference of Heads of Jewish organizations of Russia, P.Feldbljum; the mayor of Ekaterinburg, A.Chernetsky; the international director on human rights of UCSJ organization, the president of the American Association of Jews from the former USSR L.Stonov.
The President Vaad in Russia, the co-chairman of Federal Jewish national-cultural autonomy, professor Mikhail Chlenov, has conducted substantial report. The Vice-president of Vaad in Russia, Roman Spektor, and a presidium member of Vaad in Russia, Michael Oshtrah, have submitted reports on ten years` activity of Vaad in Russia and of the Regional Council. Then the wide discussion of activity of both regional and local autonomies and estimation of Jewish life development in Russia have taken place.
The Conference has accepted three resolutions. In the resolution about attitude to introduction in the state comprehensive school of a subject "basis of orthodox culture" they condemned religious orthodox education at schools and expressed fear this subject would lead to segregation of pupils in relation to religion and would stimulate interreligious and interethnic intensity.
In the resolution on anti-Semitism, in particular, there was marked unavailability of the Office of Public Prosecutor to stop infringement of Russian legislation in sphere of interethnic and interreligious relations. Therefore the Office of Public Prosecutor has closed criminal cases on the facts of distribution anti-Semitic materials by the Ekaterinburg diocese and releasing such xenophobe newspapers as "Russian community of Ekaterinburg", "Kolokol", "I am Russian" and some other editions and telecasts. The third resolution was devoted to vision of the further development of system of national-cultural autonomy in Russia.

On information of a member of EAJC General Council, Michael Oshtrah