Historically, Jews merchants were always present in Central Asia, especially along the Great Silk Road. Then, during the Middle Ages, the Jews settled in the city of Taraz. However, only in the middle of the 19th century, in the process of colonization of the Kazakh steppes by the Russian army, Jews appear in Kazakhstan on a larger scale.

Before 1917, synagogues have functioned in the cities of Uralsk, Aktyubinsk, Petropavlovsk, Semipalatinsk, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kyzyl-Orda, Chimkent, and Nur-Sultan. At the time of World War II, the Jewish population of Kazakhstan has reached about 700 thousand people.

The modern Jewish community has revived its existence since 1989 when the first national cultural center “Shalom” was registered in Almaty. In 1992, the Association of Jewish National Organizations of Kazakhstan “Mitsva” was founded. The Association aims at coordinating the dynamic activities of Jewish organizations and community centers, promoting the development of Jewish cultural and communal life in Kazakhstan.

The JFuture Jewish Educational Sunday School, a special project of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, functions in Almaty.