Jewish Renewal in Odessa

What follows is another update from the field on initiatives supported by THE ASSOCIATED.  In the fifteen years that we have been working with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee in Odessa, we have been able to focus our work and participate in a renaissance of Jewish life that includes the opening of a new JCC, Hillel programs that attract hundreds of students at a time, family programs, and so much more.

This March there will be a community mission to Odessa and Budapest to learn more about the community and plan for the future of our relationship with our sister city in the former Soviet Union.  If you are interested in participating, e-mail Jonathan Strausberg at jstrausberg@associated.org.

Jewish Renewal Report from Odessa

Only 20 years ago, it would have been unimaginable in Odessa to witness: 

A Rosh Hashanah celebration in a local dinner-theater

A high-profile week of Jewish culture  with a klezmer concert

A summer retreat camp for Jewish families

Yet over the past two decades, the Odessa Jewish community, in partnership with JDC and THE ASSOCIATED: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore, has begun to flourish once again.

The legendary city that spawned authors such as Hayim Nahman Bialik and Isaac Babel now once again has a Jewish literary scene, with Jewish authors regularly addressing rapt audiences of Hesed Shaarey Tzion seniors and young Jewish writers honing their craft at Beit Grand's Young Jewish Writers Club. The city where famed Zionist leader Vladimir Jabotinsky started his life's work, has created the Jewish Youth Congress where young Jews study the results of Jabotinsky's dream and begin their own path to community involvement.

These programs and events are at the heart of JDC's Jewish Renewal Programs in Odessa. Using Migdal JCC, Moriah JCC, Hillel and, most importantly, the Beit Grand Jewish Campus as a base, these renewal programs are providing Odessa's Jews with the knowledge they need to understand their past and the motivation and skills they need to shape their community's Jewish future.

Original Goals of the Project                             

From the elderly grandparents for whom JDC programming reflects the customs and traditions they remember from their youth, to the youngest toddlers hearing the shofar for the first time, JDC's Renewal Programs in Odessa are providing a vital link to Jewish life, restoring the traditions of the past and paving the way for the future. In addition to providing Odessa's Jews with the resources they need to explore their heritage, JDC also aims to provide the community with the tools it needs to translate this heritage into the future, creating vibrant, self-sustaining Jewish life.

While restoring Jewish life and promoting self-sufficiency are the over-arching goals of the program, JDC has also identified the following specific objectives:

Increased Outreach

Sustainability

Continuity of Programs

Self-Sufficiency

Timeframe for Meeting Objectives

Building a strong Jewish community after decades of communism takes time. Yet the objectives described above are evidence that the Odessa community is able to meet increasingly ambitious goals each year, its reach to the unaffiliated now growing wider and deeper.  Some of the milestone and community events this year are:

Odessa Jewish Campus:

Spring was a season of celebration at the Beit Grand Jewish Campus in Odessa. In mid-March, Beit Grand hosted its first ever Purim celebrations. These included three separate parties for the children of the community, a party for Hesed clients and a special event for students at Odessa's Jewish schools.

In June, the community gathered once again, this time to celebrate "Days of Jewish Culture." Encouraged by the success of last year's Klezmer Festival, JDC – in collaboration with Beit Grand, Migdal JCC, Hillel, the Israeli Cultural Association andother Odessa Jewish organizations – decided to expand the event into a week-long affair entitled "Days of Jewish Culture."

In addition to klezmer music, this year's week-long extravaganza featured movies and documentaries on Jewish themes, numerous art exhibits, theater and dance performances and tours of the city, with a special focus on Jewish sites.

In August, Beit Grand held two separate Open Houses designed to introduce unaffiliated community members to the Campus' varied programming.

As the leaves began to turn, the Beit Grand Jewish Campus was busy with Rosh Hashanah celebrations, an academic conference on the Holocaust and a special program entitled "People of the World Inscribe the Bible."

In addition to the aforementioned holiday celebrations, Beit Grand celebrated the fact that the Odessa Hillel has now joined the ranks of community organizations that call the Campus home.  

Fall also ushered in a new year for Beit Grand's Menorah programming, most notably the opening of the Anavim kindergarten, a Montessori-style education program designed to attract middle class families. In addition to Anavim, Menorah now offers a drama studio headed by a prominent Odessa actress; an Art Center which features a child-friendly ceramic and pottery studio; sports programs for children and parents; and pre-school enrichment programs.

Hillel:

Beit Grand's newest resident, the Odessa Hillel Organization, is helping to increase the Campus' appeal, attracting a new demographic to Campus activities and adding yet another generation to the city's Jewish home. In August, Hillel spearheaded the Jewish Youth Congress, an intensive experience that strengthens the Jewish knowledge and leadership skills of promising young adults.

In September, Hillel marked the end of a successful year with a Rosh Hashanah celebration in Odessa's Bernardazzi dinner theater. 5769 saw Hillel celebrate the 85th anniversary of Hillel International and the 10th of Hillel in Odessa. In addition, despite the global financial crisis, Odessa Hillel managed to implement new projects – including an English club and newspaper – while attracting new members to its activities, giving it plenty of reason to celebrate.

Migdal JCC:

Migdal JCC had a busy spring, hosting an elaborate Purim party in March and playing an important role in the "Days of Jewish Culture" in June, with the Migdal Or Theater Troupe performing at both the opening and closing events and the Shorashim Museum hosting a number of special photography exhibits on Jewish themes.

In August, Migdal hosted its 13th annual Halom Family Camp in a resort-area near Odessa. In September an Open House introduced new creative programming, being conducted by Migdal's Student's Club and the Shorashim Museum. The High Holiday celebrations were also a highlight of this month.

Mazel Tov and Beitenu:  

After a brief summer vacation, Mazel Tov and Beitenu were open for business again in September, inviting visitors to preview their offerings. The fall holidays were marked with a special Rosh Hashana puppet show written and performed by the Mazel Tov children, a Yom Kippur event for parents and children and a special Sukkot show where the children were both the entertainers and the audience. The thrill of the holiday season lives on in the hearts of Mazel Tov's young participants – whose numbers grow each month - as they attend Hebrew classes, dance practice or engaging art programs throughout the year.

Moriah JCC:  

The bi-annual Moriah Almanac came out in June 2009, right in time for the "Days of Jewish Culture" event, providing a tangible reminder that Odessa's Jewish culture continues to thrive. A Moriah professional is now working with Beit Grand, providing professional advice to clubs such as the Young Jewish Writers Club and the Tour Guide Course - which aims to connect young people to their roots by training them as tour guides of Jewish Odessa - and advising on various Campus exhibits. Moriah helped curate "Jewish Odessa in Black and White" – an exhibit of books and Judaica - as part of the Beit Grand Open House Program.

Challenges to Achieving Original Goals and Adaptations

Odessa is faced with attracting a target audience that is deeply unaffiliated with Jewish community and retaining their involvement, while dealing with the financial challenges of the economic downturn.   In Odessa these challenges are magnified, a result of the city's history and the fact that Ukraine has been especially hard hit by the global economic crisis.

In working to attract the unaffiliated – approximately 63% of Odessa's Jewish population - and keep them involved in Jewish communal life, the Odessa Jewish community is fighting not just apathy but a legacy of religious repression. With this in mind, JDC – working in partnership with the local community – is constantly creating events that keep Jewish life on the city's radar. Events like the "Days of Jewish Culture" are widely publicized not just in the Jewish community but throughout Odessa, helping attract the unaffiliated to community events. The challenge of retaining one-time visitors is being met by new ongoing community programs, like the prestigious Anavim kindergarten, which provides high-quality education alongside Jewish content.  In addition, this year both Migdal and Beit Grand designed informative Open Houses designed to acquaint visitors with their extensive programming. 

Project's Impact on Participants and the Broader Community

"When I made the Holocaust movie "Heavy Sand" in the 1980s, I thought it would never be released. Now I am talking to a hall with over 200 people about the film. Now, not only are we able to speak openly about the tragic past, but we look with optimism to the future. That is the essence of the Days of Jewish Culture."

Thus spoke film producer D. Barshchevsk at this past June's opening of Days of Jewish Culture in Beit Grand.  In fact, he could have been referring to any of the many Jewish Renewal activities currently underway in Odessa—activities that would have been unimaginable 20 years ago.

The impact of programs such as the Days of Jewish Culture, and others like it, are measured quantitatively – with an impressive 11,550 persons attending renewal activities in Odessa over the past six months, 300 previously unaffiliated persons expressing an interest in continued Beit Grand activities and 150 expressing an interest in activities at Migdal JCC.  But qualitatively there are results as well.

The Klezmer festival was able to expand into a week-long celebration of Jewish culture, supported by city institutions and widely covered by local media.  Parents from the Mazel Tov program – most of whom were uninvolved with the community when they began sending their children to Mazel Tov – voluntarily gathered to help build the communal Sukkah at Migdal JCC—an indication of the spontaneous, creative energy now at work in Odessa's community.  The fact that Beit Grand was chosen to host the international project, "People of the World Inscribe the Bible,"— which has visited religious and community centers throughout the world—shows how Beit Grand has truly become identified as Odessa's Jewish home and center of Jewish life.

Unanticipated Outcomes  

Odessa's community, which has always shown tremendous drive and initiative, rose to a new level this past year, flocking to activities at Beit Grand and supporting Migdal JCC.

The overwhelming success of this past year's renewal activities, despite the political and economic unrest that shook Ukraine, were not fully anticipated and are a stirring testimony to the community's strength and the value of Jewish Renewal programming to Odessa's Jews.