Project name is an abbreviation. It stands for “Memory. Education. Generation. Action”.

“During the World War II and even after it, many ancient Jewish cemeteries were destroyed. The tombstones were used for various domestic purposes. For example, as a building material for houses or road. Most of these cemeteries today remain hidden under forests or fields,” says Elena Kulevnich, Executive Director of Hillel Minsk.

According to her, the descendants of Jews living in Belarus often cannot find any traces of their ancestors. “They have nowhere to bring the memorial stone. They cannot find traces of their family, although they know for sure that their family roots are in Belarus, a country once full of Jewish communities, while Yiddish was the second most common language here.”

As part of the MEGA project, Hillel volunteers and students find cemeteries underground, explore the scope of reconstruction and restoration work. The preparation process includes the necessary calculations, drawing up a program and route, finding resources and experts. Then the organizers announce the recruitment of volunteers: Jewish young leaders aged 18 to 30.

Among the achievements of the project, the organizers note several restored cemeteries across the country at once – in Dyatlovo, Shatsk, Zembin, Mir, Motol, Kopyl and Vishnevo. In Brest, according to Minsk Hillel, about 1,000 tombstones have been preserved and restored.

More information about the Hillel Minsk MEGA project can be found in the article by the head of the organization – on the Jewish Heritage Europe website.

One of the priorities of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress is the preservation and restoration of the Jewish heritage of the countries of the Euro-Asian region. Throughout its history, the EAJC has supported numerous projects in this area.

All-Russian Union of Jewish Students (RUJS)

Young volunteers of the All-Russian Union of Jewish Students delivered grocery sets to elderly members of the Samara community in Moscow. The Representative Office of the Samara Region supported the charity action initiated and held by the Representative Office of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress in Russia.

The All-Russian Union of Jewish Students continues a series of online meetings, organized jointly with the Jewish Agency for Israel (Sokhnut).

The representatives of Sokhnut, Yuri Shakhar and Roman Polonsky informed the students about the internship and study opportunities in Israel, the Israeli medical insurance system, and the history of the 1990s post-Soviet aliyah. The managing partner of the Israeli investment platform JSCapital, chief editor of the IT Business Week magazine, Roman Gold told the participants about Israel’s unique innovation ecosystem.

Hillel Russia

With the beginning of the self-isolation regime, Hillel Russia continues to support Jewish youth by organizing educational activities, coordinating volunteer activities and targeted assistance programs while involving activists as project leaders.

Online Hebrew study groups have started in Moscow and St. Petersburg preserving the dynamics of traditional classroom learning. In Moscow, the Alpha+ program brought together newcomers and those continuing the fall course. In St. Petersburg, online Hebrew lessons for beginners have started.

Hillel Russia supports World War II veterans and Holocaust survivors while also engaging students in commemorative events dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the victory over Nazism.

In Khabarovsk and Yekaterinburg, volunteers delivered flowers and food packages to 58 veterans. In Yekaterinburg, young people gathered at ZOOM to sing their favorite songs from the World War II years together.

The World Shabbat, dedicated to the victory over Nazism, gathered 220 Russian-speaking students from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Azerbaijan. 

In Moscow, Hillel Russia gathered volunteers to decrypt documents, diaries, and letters collected by the Holocaust Foundation. In Yekaterinburg, the evening in memory of the Holocaust victims and heroes of the resistance concluded with a minute of silence.

Hillel CASE

As part of the Hillel Art Labs project, dozens of students took part in the workshops on creative thinking by the actress and director Julia Savina.

The regional Quiz Box games continue gaining popularity among the youth of Hillel. During this difficult period, the Quiz Box project, which combines fun and Jewish education, became the flagship and inspiration for other Jewish projects in the region. Dozens of teams from different countries take part in Quiz Box games.

Students of the CASE region took part in the World Shabbat initiative, which brought together Jewish youth from Khabarovsk to Baku. Over 170 connections in Zoom, over 100 views on FB.

The Limmud Brain Labs project attracted 35 teams and more than 150 participants to its traditional game.

The Be-in-Touch volunteer project has started helping single elderly members of the Jewish community, World War II veterans, and children with disabilities. The project operates in Minsk, Kiev, Dnieper, Kharkov, Odessa, and Lviv. Over the course of three months, students will deliver grocery packages as well as maintain regular communication with people who need support during this difficult period.

In total, over a thousand students take part in Hillel’s programs, including English and Hebrew study groups, educational and entertainment projects, quizzes, and flashmobs.

Representative office of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress in Central Asia (Mitsva Association)

The Torah study project “On the Road” continues its popular classes online. For more than 20 years, representatives of different generations have gathered to learn the wisdom of the Torah, and they didn’t stop now.

People from Kazakhstan, who had previously attended the classes at the Rimon Jewish Community Center, these days, resumed their participation online. Natalia Rynkovskaya, the longtime teacher of the project, notes that although classroom teaching is more effective, the recent online experience can be useful for conducting classes with an international audience.

The youngsters of the Pavlodar Jewish community were among the winners of the competition dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany. The young leaders of the Merkaz ethnocultural association were the best in the creative contest “In Memory of the War Heroes”.

Ten young activists of the Jewish community of Almaty took part in the international flashmob honoring the Jerusalem Day. 200 peers from the CIS countries confessed their love to the capital of Israel, the spiritual center of the Jewish people.

During a series of lessons about Ashkenazi Jewish culture, young community leaders acquainted the traditions of Eastern European Jews as well as the atmosphere of Jewish shtetls. In August, the School of Madrichs’s students will conduct community classes dedicated to the unique culture of the Eastern European Jewry.

For two months now, the Shaat Hebrew Club is holding its lessons online. The audience of the Club has expanded significantly, including not only Almaty residents but also representatives of other Kazakhstan Jewish communities.

Dear friends, your perseverance and professional attitude make a difficult time much easier. Together, we can be stronger for those who need us.

All-Russian Union of Jewish Students

The All-Russian Union of Jewish Students (RUJS) hosted an online meeting with a deputy of the Russian Duma, a member of the State Duma Committee on Health, Boris Mendelevich.

Professor of Tel Aviv University, Director General of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, Dr. Haim Ben Yaakov, discussed with students the relationship between Jews and Judaism, nationality and religion.

In cooperation with the Jewish Agency for Israel (Sokhnut), RUJS held a webinar on internships and studies in Israel. The new online project for spoken Hebrew study is well underway.

Hillel CASE

Hillel Kharkov launched a new regional project “Hillel is everywhere”. Participants share excerpts from their favorite books, quotes, nigunim, and Jewish wisdom on the project’s Telegram channel. Each week, the coordinator of educational programs presents a weekly Torah portion. The number of project participants is growing every day.

More than 400 students took part in an online lecture and conversation with the renowned psychologist Igor Geller. The Hillel Talks project also hosted online meeting with Nathan Sharansky.

The Quiz Box intellectual marathon attracted 85 Jewish teams from seven countries. Congratulations go to Nathan and his team (Kiev) on their victory!

The Kabbalat Shabbat ceremony brought together students from the CASE region: 10 online broadcasts, 5 countries, and more than 450 participants! Every Saturday, people share hundreds of photos of their Shabbat celebration, and the Minsk Hillel members even recorded a special Shabbat song.

48 new teams took part in the new and extremely successful Limmud Brain Labs project, which gathered about 300 participants.

Проект Кешер

Project Kesher, an international women’s organization with representation in five countries, has switched to distance learning and communication with its participants. Now, the L’Dor v’Dor webinars bring together Jewish mothers and daughters from Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus.

Online classes, training, and masterclasses are aimed at strengthening family relations, Jewish learning, and community activism in local Jewish communities. The number of participants is growing from meeting to meeting.

Еврейская община Грузии 

The Jewish Cultural and Educational Foundation (JCC Tbilisi) twice a week offers online lessons for kids by the Shalom Sesame program and the Mishpakha family club meetings, including Jewish learning and Hebrew lessons. The Jewish University classes have moved online and continued as scheduled.

The Jewish Youth Club arranges regular Zoom-meetings, and the School of Madrihim offers online lectures weekly. Sunday school and sports training also continue online.

Еврейская община Молдовы

The Jewish community of Moldova launched a new Telegram channel reporting about the communal social and charitable activities during the coronavirus shutdown. Here you can also find special safety instructions, addresses from Jewish leaders, community information, and world Jewish news.

Еврейская община Казахстана 

The Jewish community of Kazakhstan holds competitive intellectual games attracting Jewish teams from five countries. The Shalom Family Club continues studying Jewish tradition online while the Rimon community center theater project is already rehearsing a mini-performance for the Shavuot celebration. 

A young volunteer and entomologist, Innokenty Treskunov introduced his rich and unusual collection of insects to virtual visitors from Kazakhstan, Israel, Russia, Moldova, and Germany.

A virtual bakery, organized at the initiative of Almaty and Karaganda synagogues, gathered dozens of the Kazakhstan Jewish communities’ activists. As a sign of hope and solidarity during the coronavirus pandemic, each woman at her kitchen performed a mitzvah of separating challah from the dough. This beautiful ritual symbolizes victory over impurity. 

Hatikvah is a symbol that has developed a variety of significations in performances carried out in different contexts and times. Despite the pandemic shutdown, young Jews from six countries joined in to sing Hatikvah and congratulate the State of Israel on its 72nd birthday. Thank you, Hillel CASE!

Hillel CASE unites one program center with 13 regional organizations, working with young Jewish adults in Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and Belarus. The Euro-Asian Jewish Congress is proud to support one of the FSU leading Jewish student organizations.

The representative office of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress in Central Asia (Mitsva Association) is expanding the database of online courses and content while training teachers-volunteers in the field of online education.

Hebrew lesson taught by volunteers was the first online lesson in the new format. Chess, choreography, and fitness lessons followed. Children’s educational virtual program Mini Club, which is basically an online development center, is coming soon.

The traditional Shabbat weekly meetings also went online, and the first online Shabbat has already brought together 11 families. Soon, online classes on Pesach history and tradition will begin.

The Kesher project, an international women’s organization with representation in 5 countries, supported by the EAJC, has announced a series of webinars: from a financial literacy course to an online meeting on the development of Jewish female leadership.

Hillel CASE (Central Asia Southeastern Europe), which operates with the support of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, has developed and implements a diverse online program covering a large number of young participants from around the world.

151 teams from Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, Israel, the Netherlands, and the US took part in the fourth game of the online Quiz Box project season.

Hillel CASE students gathered online to meet Shabbat together. More than 100 students from Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Israel shared photos of their Shabbat on Instagram.

The soulful online Havdalah ceremony – a Jewish religious ceremony that marks the symbolic end of Shabbat and ushers in the new week, has been organized by Hillel Kiev, which also launched a new author’s project in collaboration with Limmud Labs: the intellectual game Limmud Brain Labs with the participation of 44 teams from Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, Israel, Azerbaijan, Russia, and Germany. The premiere of the project attracted more than 200 participants, and this is only the beginning.

The Jewish Association of the Philippines, affiliated with the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, continues teaching preschool children online. As for adults, the community offers online challah preparation and Shabbat lessons.

Hillel Russia, supported by the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, adapted all the country’s Hillels to distance work and moved the educational programs online. As part of the new Shabbat Home program, visitors will receive a set that includes Siddur, Shabbat candles, two challahs, and a bottle of kosher juice or wine. Hillel Russia also offers special online sessions for those who conduct Shabbat on their own for the first time. The whole team contributes to the development of online programs, including the celebration of Pesach.

The international educational platform JFuture, the flagship project of the EAJC, held its first online lesson in 28 cities around the world. More than 500 kids gathered together to learn a lot of interesting things about the history and traditions of Pesach. JFuture also offers children interactive Hebrew lessons online.

The All-Russian Union of Jewish Students (RUJS), with the support of the EAJC, launched a new online project helping young people to study and use conversational Hebrew. Students attend fascinating online meetings and discussions with Israeli journalists, political and public figures, as well as prominent rabbis and artists.

Dear friends, together we will overcome difficult times and unite even more to protect our loved ones, the Jewish people, and the whole world. Stay home!

Hillel CASE (Central Asia Southeastern Europe), which operates with the support of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, has united student centers in Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Azerbaijan through a Purim carnival.

Minsk Jewish Student Cultural Center Hillel, in collaboration with Israeli cultural center Nativ, offered a Purim art master class in a real artist’s studio specially decorated for Purim. Inspired by the amazing atmosphere, the participants created wonderful paintings telling the ancient story of the most fun Jewish holiday.

Hillel Minsk, in partnership with the Jewish Volunteer Movement, also launched a real Purim mail: Hillel student volunteers conducted a master class for children from the Jewish Family Support Center. Kids created Purim handmade gifts, and special Purim postmen delivered them to the address during the holiday.

Hillel Kiev welcomed Purim traditionally, by reopening a Purim bakery for children to make hamantashen from scratch. This year, more than 250 handmade hamantashen cookies have been made in the bakery. The next day they were delivered as a gift to the wards of the Hesed Shaare Tikva.

Odessa Hillel invited students to the Roaring 20s Purim Party: live music, carnival, quizzes, contests, dances, games! Odessa students got in the mood of Purim and had fun.

Hillel Kharkov chose the graceful style of the 60s as a theme for a Purim carnival. The evening opened with a traditional Purimshpil, an original musical show about the ancient story of Purim, created and performed by the students. And, as it happens every Purim in Kharkov, the annual Hillel Purim Hype Awards ceremony took place. Later, the musical Purimshpil was also presented to the wards of the Hesed Shaare Tikva as a Purim gift.

Students of Hillel Baku joined the entire Jewish community of Baku, dressed up in costumes and celebrated Purim with Megillah reading, a celebratory meal, and joyful music.

All Purim events of the All-Russian Union of Jewish Students (RUJS) were held thanks to the support of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress.

The Haverim Jewish community at the Moscow State University (MSU), with the participation of the All-Russian Union of Jewish Students (RUJS) and the MSU Jewish Club, hosted the Purim Rock & Roll Party. Students of the MSU and other Moscow universities came together to listen to the story of Purim and, of course, to drink l’chaim – to life.

The All-Russian Union of Jewish Students (RUJS) and the Union of Israeli Students at MGIMO (Jewish Club) arranged a meeting of students with rabbi Alex Artovsky. A lively discussion about Purim ensued, and then students participated in a Purim quiz contest.

The Jewish Club of the St. Petersburg State University in cooperation with the All-Russian Union of Jewish Students (RUJS) welcomed Purim with a Megillah reading and traditional hamentashen. As part of the entertainment program, students tried their hand at Hebrew calligraphy, played games, participated in a Purim quiz and competition for the best costume.

For a whole week, Hillel Russia, supported by the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, welcomed Purim with costume parties, intellectual quests, dance, and karaoke battles. For many participants in seven cities of Russia, the Hillel Russia event was the first experience of a Purim celebration.

In Moscow, young people gathered for the Neon Purim Party at the Garage club with a light show, the quest “Finding the Esther Scroll”, dances, and games. In St. Petersburg, the Noah’s Ark Party brought together students dressed up as the Jewish biblical heroes. In Yekaterinburg, at the Space Purim Party, students took part in a team laser tag tournament and a virtual reality game route. In Khabarovsk, the Wild West Purim Party engaged the guests into the Indians and Cowboys game. In Saratov, guests went through seven rounds of a Purim intellectual team quiz. In Penza, guests gathered at the festive table with traditional treats while in Novosibirsk, teams competed in the Purim Stars karaoke battle.

“The Purim сarnival unites young people. This is a vivid and bright impression associated with the Jewish people, friends, and fun. We at the EAJC are sincerely glad that Jewish students of the Euro-Asian region are interested in the history and tradition of their people, largely due to the leaders and activists of Jewish student organizations,” said the Director General of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, Dr. Haim Ben Yaakov.